The Upper Midwest Financial Group

Come Grow with Us. Our office values a growth mindset and fosters an entrepreneurial and collaborative atmosphere. Our stable, veteran management facilitates this environment to build a history and reputation you can be proud of as one of our financial planners, financial advisors and financial professionals.

Open Architecture Platform

You have flexibility. No quotas and no expectations of proprietary products to recommend.

More than Insurance

A holistic approach is what your clients need. We can help you fulfill that promise.

Looking to Grow?

We've got your back with a robust group of turnkey lead, referral, and marketing programs to grow your GDC.

Managing Director

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Eric has been with Prudential for the last 24 years and transitioned from working with clients to leading The Upper Midwest Financial Group 14 years ago. In that period of time, the office has more than doubled in the number of financial professionals and quadrupled in revenue. This has been achieved by creating a stable atmosphere that allows financial professionals to build robust practices through Financial Planning, Collaboration and Asset Management. Eric is very involved in the industry and has achieved the CHFC®/CLU® designations, a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Management . He has been married to his wife Lisa for 29 years and has two children.

Director, Sales Support & Oversight

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Marion earned her Bachelor’s in Social Work in 2001 and worked for various non-profit organizations until 2008 when she accepted a role as an Operations & Controls Specialist with Prudential. Later, Marion would accept the Operations & Controls Consultant role, and in 2019 was promoted to Director of Sales Support and Oversight with The Upper Midwest Financial Group. With a strong focus on ethics, Marion believes building a relationship with each representative is vital to creating a productive partnership that supports the growth of their practice. Marion lives in Milwaukee, with her spouse, two sons, and many pets. Marion enjoys traveling in the family RV, walking the dogs and attending her son’s break dance performances.

Regional Director

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Sandra joined the industry and started with Prudential in March of 2009. She completed our Career Development Program much like any of new inexperienced financial professionals do within our office today. This provides her an intimate understanding of the challenges and opportunities that are faced in growing a thriving enterprise. Sandra is responsible for our Practice Building Programs and loves the processes of assisting financial professionals to grow their teams while creating good, strong client relationships. She feels the client relationship is the most important ingredient to a financial professional's success.

Regional Director

LinkedIn Profile

Ismael “Ish” Cardenas joined Prudential over seven years ago to grow and develop a purpose-driven practice for financial planners, financial advisors, and their teams. As a Regional Director, Ish helps financial professionals decipher and prioritize what is meaningful to them and important to their clients. Together, they build a sustainable and scalable practice. Ish provides a wealth of opportunities for his financial professionals to grow and expand the scope and size of their business through various resources, practice building opportunities, support and leads.

Regional Director

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After many years in the banking industry, Ron went back to school and demonstrated the necessary professional experience and fulfilled educational requirements to carry the CFP® designation. Using his experience, he became a leader in financial planning at a local investment office in Milwaukee. After many years in this role, Ron came to Prudential as a Regional Director, where he currently manages the financial planning and managed money functions in our office. It is his role to help develop financial planning and assist with growing asset management. In his spare time, he can be found spending time with his family and wandering the fairways of Milwaukee.

Senior Firm Support Specialist

LinkedIn Profile

Susan joined Prudential in 2019 as the Managing Director’s Marketing Assistant. She later accepted the role of Senior Firm Support Specialist, where she supports the management team and our financial professionals. She is involved with multiple lead programs, participates in recruiting and new hire processes, office reporting and financial professional support. Susan is married to her husband Bob, has 4 grown children and 6 grandchildren.

Sales Support Specialist

Becca joined Prudential in 2021 in her role as Sales Support Specialist in our Wauwatosa office. Becca assists with onboarding of new hires, as well as assisting financial planners, financial advisors and financial professionals with trade shows and seminar events as well as marketing materials. Becca lives in Milwaukee with her spouse and 2 daughters.

Sales Support Specialist

Tonia has a BS degree in Business, along with a State of WI Life & Health License. Prior to joining Prudential, she worked at a local investment banking firm. In her current role since 2019 as a Sales Support Specialist, she supports the management team and financial professionals of Prudential Advisors in Wauwatosa, WI. She monitors business activities, compliance training requirements and assists with various day to day business needs. Tonia believes that honest, consistent and “graceful” communication is the key to good, professional relationships with representatives. Tonia lives in Milwaukee and loves spending time with family and friends, being outdoors and traveling.

Business Development Manager

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As the Business Development Manager for the Upper Midwest, Louis helps incoming financial professionals find solutions to challenges within their practices as well as develop new careers in financial planning. He was raised in California with a degree in psychology from UC Santa Barbara. Before Prudential, he held a recruiting role at Cetera.

Vanessa Welter

Financial Advisor

"Since my first role in financial services in 1992, my favorite is being a Prudential Financial Advisor where I am privileged to guide clients and small business owners to build strong financial foundations. Prudential is a world-class company that cares as much about my clients as I do. I get excited for clients when they realize positive life-changing results from our work in retirement planning, risk assessment, investment advice and eMoney software. I enjoy providing clients with quarterly meetings to review their investments and recommend well-thought strategies gleaned from a Team of top investment professionals who meet each quarter to assess market and economic conditions. I am also honored to collaborate with a Team of outstanding Prudential professionals in central Wisconsin and Regional Prudential Experts who all have very high standards of conduct in how we support each other and our clients. Their values align with mine in doing what is in the best interest for our clients. That’s why I plan to be here to support my clients for decades to come."

Michael Jansen

Financial Advisor

"I began my financial services journey back in 1999. Joining Prudential in 2017 has taken my career to the next level – I wish I would have started my career here! I am grateful for the wonderful benefits we have available and I am blessed to work on a fantastic team here in the northeastern part of Wisconsin. My favorite activity as a financial advisor is meeting with a prospective client, discussing their financial goals and then “wowing” them as I make their goal come to life using our e-Money platform. I also am a Prudential Pathways speaker and enjoy teaching financial concepts to others who are hungry to improve their financial lives. I am excited for what is yet to come as I support my clients in making sure their financial needs and objectives are set."

Edwin Wincek

Financial Advisor

"Prudential has offered me exponentially more than just a ‘career’, coming into the business as an inexperienced Advisor straight out of college, it has allowed me the opportunity to build my own business and to support a lifestyle that I never dreamt was possible in just a handful of years. Starting without a Natural Market to lean on in the beginning can make starting in the business extraordinarily difficult, especially when you’re inexperienced, but Leads were the differentiator for me. In learning how to leverage positive relationships that clients have had with Prudential for decades in a familiar way, we can leverage the intrinsic value of the company to expand upon products and Advisor services that we now provide clients in the 21st Century, and how the company has become a true Broker Dealer/Wealth Management firm in the past 20 years. We can show clients that we can now compete with anyone, in their playground, to win business of all kinds without having to favor one product line over another. Through mentorship, senior leadership, and the vast resources of Prudential, it has helped me kickstart an incredible career. I couldn’t be happier to be here, and am grateful for the continued opportunity. Prudential is truly a special company and organization, unlike anything I’ve seen in the industry, and recommend it to anyone looking for a place to run their own practice of the future."

There are approx. 2,800 financial professionals with Prudential Advisors, aligned to 24 offices nationwide.

In 2023, we distributed 0.9 million leads and referrals to our financial professionals.*

23,000 Prospect Leads 712,000 Unaligned Leads

141,000 Referral Leads 3,000 Aligned Leads

Prudential Advisors AUM growth over the past 5 years*

Achieved Gross Dealer Concession (GDC) payout (by product)*

*As reported by Prudential Advisors Planning & Analysis team.

With our robust offering of over 15 turnkey lead and referral programs, you have access to a quality source of leads to help supplement your overall prospecting efforts and open doors to new client relationships.

Taking care of clients is your top priority, so why should you be limited to proprietary solutions? At Prudential Advisors, we are committed to enabling you to deliver the most appropriate advice and solutions. All products align to one payout grid.

Access to several top-industry productivity tools including: Clientlink (powered by Salesforce), eMoney, Morningstar, and a robust managed money platform powered by Envestnet. We also offer access to email and social media marketing tools and external leads from SmartAsset.

As a statutory financial professional or an independent financial professional, you can count on fair compensation. In fact, as an independent financial professional, you’ll receive up to 90% payouts on anything you sell. As a statutory financial professional, you will receive a full benefits package, including company-sponsored benefits.

We believe teaming is not just a program. It's a way of doing business. Financial professionals, advisors and planners who join teams are more efficient and more productive and have higher assets under management (AUM) per client.

Join Prudential Advisors and your transition will be supported by a close partnership with local office leadership, operations personnel, and dedicated resources from our Transition & Onboarding Solutions team.

Business Models

Statutory Financial Professional

Join us and get the best our office has to offer as well as benefiting from the relationships, reputation and support of Prudential. With local leadership and a global powerhouse, we both have your back.

Independent Business

We welcome independent financial professionals who want to work with us. You can enjoy upsides like no product quotas, ongoing local office support and access to Prudential expertise, including leads support and marketing.

Start a New Career at Pru

Interested in starting your career in finance or looking for a career change? Prudential offers guidance to help you recognize your needs and goals including tips to help you take your next step.

2023 Fast Start Meeting held in January at the Pfister Hotel

Building relationships, celebrating accomplishments and kicking off the New Year with an amazing group of individuals.

Advisor Event, Lambeau Field, Upper Midwest Financial Group, Prudential Advisors

Advisor Event at Lambeau Field

Exclusive financial professional event at Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, featured best practices, top-notch speakers, tours, and fun for all.

Women In Insurance Event, Upper Midwest Financial Group

Women In Insurance & Financial Services Luncheon at the Wisconsin Country Club

Helping to build the future for female financial professionals, we are proud to announce that Wisconsin has become an accredited chapter, with Regional Director Sandra Kalve serving as President of the chapter.

Interested? We'd love to hear from you.

Whether you're an experienced financial planner, financial advisor or financial professional thinking of moving your practice, a recent grad, or a professional who is interested in a career change, you can contact us confidentially. Our Business Development Director and Recruiter is the first step, so please reach out.

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