FORM YOUR RIA
FORM YOUR RIA

Our Team

Our team is comprised of experts within the financial services industry with decades of executive experience.

partners in your new ria

Meet Your Team of Experts

With decades of experience behind you, success will become the standard expectation.

sam.clifford Ascendia Partners

Sam Clifford

Director of Client Relationships
jeff sargent Ascendia Partners

Jeff Sargent

Chief Compliance Officer
george.stock Ascendia Partners

George Stock

Controller
thelma west Ascendia Partners

Thelma West

Head of Human Resources
chris delaura Ascendia Partners

Chris DeLaura

Chief Executive Officer - Stansberry AM
Eamonn Obrien Headshot 1 Ascendia Partners

Eamonn O'Brien

Chief Operations Officer - Stansberry AM

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Sam Clifford

Director of Client Relationships

Email Address: sam@ascendia-partners.com

Biography

As Director of Client Relationships, Sam is responsible for recruiting, onboarding, and servicing all new RIA clients. He is the point of contact and conduit with all RIA relationships with Ascendia Partners.

Prior to this role, Sam was the  CTO for Stansberry Asset Management, and was responsible for implementing new software technologies across all SAM business units. Before taking this role, he was SAM’s CBDO, guiding the organization through the transition of a new executive leadership team. Prior to joining SAM, he was the COO for MSMF Wealth Management in which he led this St. Louis based team through a period of multi-year growth.

Sam was also the Co-Founder and CIOO for Holistic Wealth Advisors, a NY based wealth management firm. Prior to transitioning, he spent over 15 years in corporate business spending 13 years at GE where he developed operational and strategic leadership skills.

He earned an MS in Business and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in conjunction with completing his Executive Business studies at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

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Jeff Sargent

Chief Compliance Officer

Email Address: jeff@ascendia-partners.com

Biography

Jeff has over twenty years of compliance experience, most recently serving as the Chief Compliance Officer of Brite Advisers USA, a New York based RIA that focused on the British Expat space.  He has also been affiliated in a compliance capacity with such respected firms as Northstar Wealth Partners, Citigroup, Robotti & Company, Principal Financial, and AXA Advisors. Jeff attended Fairfield University, where he pursued his bachelor’s degree in Finance with a minor in Economics. He holds his FINRA Series 7, 24, 53, 4, 9, 10, 53 and 63 registrations and the Series 65 registration through SAM.

Jeff broke into the business as an Operations Assistant at Alex Brown and Sons, before moving to Institutional Trading as a Trading Assistant. Additional stints as a Futures and Options Floor Trader on the LIFFE and as an Operations Manager at a Regional Broker Dealer gave Jeff the broad based experience in financial services before the migration to Compliance.

In his free time, Jeff is a competitive Masters Swimmer and is a world record holder in his age bracket in the 4 x 200 free relay.  A competitive swimmer all his life, Jeff is also a locally and nationally certified Swimming Official. Jeff and his wife, Margaret reside in Trumbull, Connecticut. They have 2 daughters, Elizabeth (BA Seton Hall ’20, MA Sacred Heart ’22) a 4-year varsity swimmer at Seton Hall and current Masters swimmer and Caroline (BS UMBC ’22), a current Graduate student at UMBC and a 4-year varsity swimmer.

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George Stock

Controller

Email Address: george@ascendia-partners.com

Biography

George is a Controller at SAM responsible for all aspects of accounting for SAM. George has over 20 years of accounting experience, most recently as Chief Financial Officer with LRG Venture Inc, which owned multiple subsidiary vehicles including a startup RIA that he assisted in opening.

George began his career with Deloitte as an auditor focused on alternative investments before continuing to McKinsey Investment Office. From there, George was VP leading the accounting team at Citigroup Fixed Income Alternatives managing $30 billion in AUM through 10 investment funds. George worked with KPMG as Senior Manager and Head of Accounting Services, leading a team in providing accounting, outsourced CFO, payroll and tax services. He has a M.S. in accounting from Saint John’s University and a CPA license.

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Thelma West

Head of Human Resources

Email Address: thelma@ascendia-partners.com

Biography

Thelma West is a seasoned HR leader and business partner with over 20 years of experience driving people strategies that fuel business growth. She has used her strong human resources background and a blend of experience across various roles in the private sector to affect positive change in the organizations she’s served.

Throughout her career, Thelma has played a key role in building two startup companies from the ground up, gaining firsthand expertise in designing HR infrastructures that support rapid growth and operational agility. She has also held senior leadership positions across multiple industries, where she’s known for aligning HR practices with broader business goals. Her approach blends big-picture thinking and strategic planning with hands-on execution—combining decisiveness, strong business acumen, and a commitment to long-term success.

Thelma specializes in talent acquisition, employee engagement, performance management, and organizational development. She holds the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) certification, further strengthening her ability to support teams in the financial services sector.

Outside of work, Thelma enjoys spending time with her friends and family (including her two doodles), traveling, and digging into home improvement projects or anything that allows her to be hands-on and creative.

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Eamonn O’Brien

Chief Operations Officer – Stansberry AM

Email Address: eamonn.obrien@stansberryam.com

Biography

As a founding member of SAM, Eamonn joined as COO prior to launch and oversees most aspects of SAM’s day-to-day operations including the trading of client portfolios.

Prior to joining SAM, Eamonn was a head trader for multiple early stage hedge funds, most notably Sabretooth Capital which was an event-driven fund that grew to manage $1 billion in assets. He was responsible for all trading and built the operations to support portfolios that invested in asset classes including equities, derivatives, credit, commodities, and interest rates.

He began his career at Deutsche Bank in the sales and trading operations group on the distressed credit desk and earned a BS in Finance from Boston College.

When not working, Eamonn can be found at home in suburban New York with his wife and two young daughters or on the golf course practicing for an amateur competition.

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Chris DeLaura

Chief Executive Officer – Stansberry AM

Email Address: chris.delaura@stansberryam.com

Biography

Christopher DeLaura is the Chief Executive Officer of SAM, an independent registered investment advisory firm that helps its clients reach their investing goals through informed active management. SAM has more than 35 associates serving clients across the country, with employees in TX, NY, MD, CA, AZ, NV, CT, and WA.

Christopher spent half of his 26-year career at UBS in several roles, including working with high net worth families as a Financial Advisor and serving as Director of the firm’s Emerging Affluent Program. After his time at UBS, Christopher joined Westport Resources, a Westport, CT based wealth advisory firm, where he served in a variety of roles including Financial Planner, Portfolio Manager, and Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure at Westport Resources, the firm became recognized as one of Barron’s Top 100 Independent Advisors.

Prior to joining SAM, Christopher spent 6 years at Fieldpoint Private Securities, where he again worked in many capacities, including Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and President, before being named the Chief Executive Officer for the company in 2020. In 2020, he led the expansion of the business into both the Orlando and Miami areas in Florida, again achieving a Barron’s Top 100 Independent Advisors ranking after growing the firm to over $4 billion in assets under management.

Christopher is an alumnus of New York University’s Stern School of Business. Outside of his work at SAM, Christopher can most often be found spending time with his family.