Our Team
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John "Woody" Abbott, CAIA® Woody joined Stifel in 2020 after 12 years with Merrill Lynch. He focuses on offering clients investment opportunities that align with their vast needs. He also understands the importance of providing services traditionally available largely to institutional clients, formulates investment plans through fundamentally driven stock and bond strategies, and provides knowledge of private equity, hedge funds, market-linked notes, and alternatives. On behalf of the team, he maintains relationships and builds bonds with C-suite executives, business owners, and high-net-worth individuals by offering a full suite of services tailored to their unique needs. He and his team are invigorated with a youthful and entrepreneurial spirit, which is directly channeled to serve clients at a high level on a daily basis. With many of his clients' net worth comprised of stock options and restricted stock, he also focuses on establishing and implementing 10b5-1 trading plans designed to help clients maximize the value of and/or monetize their restricted stock positions. Woody graduated from Southern Methodist University. He holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation, which is designed for financial professionals who manage, analyze, distribute, or regulate alternative investments. A New York native, he now lives in Dallas with his wife, Meredith, and their two sons. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis, running, cooking, and making breakfast with family. Hedge Funds and Private Equity – Investors should be aware that hedge funds often engage in leverage, short-selling, arbitrage, hedging, derivatives, and other speculative investment practices that may increase investment loss. Private equity funds are not appropriate for all investors. Hedge funds and private equity funds can be highly illiquid, are not required to provide periodic pricing or valuation information to investors, and often charge high fees that can erode performance. Additionally, they may involve complex tax structures and delays in distributing tax information. While hedge funds may appear similar to mutual funds, they are not necessarily subject to the same regulatory requirements as mutual funds.
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Shane R. Stein, CPFA™ Shane joined Stifel in 2020 after working with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith and Bank of America since 2008. Prior to 2008, he worked in the private equity and charter aviation industries. He focuses on formulating multigenerational wealth strategies and developing customized retirement and philanthropic planning strategies. He also focuses on business strategies for clients and is the team’s primary liaison to the firm’s investment bank. Depending on the client’s situation, he may employ a “homerun bucket” approach, which entails keeping 90% of assets in traditional nest egg investments and diversifying the remaining 10% into mid cap, small cap, and micro cap companies with the prospect to “hypergrow” into attractive long-term profitability, all while keeping a keen eye on the client’s specific risk profile. Shane earned an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, after also graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree. Born and raised in Dallas, he lives in North Dallas with his wife, Tracey, and their three daughters. He is an Eagle Scout, an alumnus of the National Young Leadership Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America, and a board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, as well as other regional Jewish educational organizations. He is also active in the Dallas Wharton Alumni Club, the Texas-Israel Alliance, and his synagogue. In his free time, Shane enjoys multiple artistic pursuits, including executive producing both the feature film The Game Chasers Movie and the LP record Crest by Texas singer-songwriter Barton Stanley David, both forthcoming in 2022. He has also been a theater producer, a contributing author to books on 1980s and 1990s video games, and is currently working on his first classical music composition.
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Eli J. Tabaria, CFP® Eli transitioned to Stifel in 2020 after eight years with Merrill Lynch. Having previously worked on the trading floor for a Wall Street firm and as an analyst for a national financial services firm, Eli brings a balanced combination of skills and experiences to his current role with The WEST Group. This includes being the team's primary liaison to the firm's trading platform, including one-off trades and transitioning, as well as analyzing the technical side of trades. He prides himself on providing a full-service, multigenerational approach to his practice. Eli focuses on investment analysis, portfolio development opportunities, and investment manager due diligence. Conducting both macroeconomic and investment-oriented analysis, he assists the team with its proprietary and client-specific customized strategies. He also handles block trading, 10b5-1 trading plans, as well as wealth planning strategies and reporting. He also earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification, which signifies in-depth knowledge surrounding the financial planning process, risk management, investments, tax planning and management, retirement and employee benefits, and estate planning. Eli graduated from Touro College in New York with a bachelor's degree in Finance. Born and raised in Dallas, he now lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife and their three daughters. He is active in his children's schools and community synagogue.
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Nora Brazier Nora began her financial services industry career in 2000 and joined Stifel in 2020. Prior to Stifel, she worked at CFO4Life (independent advisor) for 14 years, where she gained experience in trading. She was also a part of the firm's compliance and investment committee, among various other responsibilities, but her top priority has always been to serve clients. Nora is committed to building and enhancing valuable client relationships and believes that listening, understanding, and having a great attitude are all vital elements to maintaining an outstanding client experience. Given her extensive knowledge and experience, Nora is a key point of contact for clients and specializes in service, trading, and operations. Nora lives in Plano, Texas, with her husband, Chip, and in her spare time enjoys listening to music, watching movies, enjoying dinner, and spending time with friends.
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Nicole Ellis Nicole transitioned to Stifel in 2020 with more than 10 years of financial services and real estate experience. During this time, she worked as a sales associate for JP Morgan Chase and then moved her focus to real estate and property management. Realizing her passion for working with clients more directly, she pursued a career with Merrill Lynch and joined The WEST Group at Merrill Edge within Banc of America. Nicole works directly with clients, addressing a wide range of requests and offering knowledgeable support on their behalf. In her role as a Client Relationship Manager, she focuses on relationship management and business development while delivering customized support to clients. This allows her to better understand client accounts and deliver a more personalized experience. Nicole lives in Dallas with her husband, Andrew, and their two sons, Justice and AJ. She enjoys spending her free time reading, exercising, and spending quality time with friends and family.
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