John J. Zielinski CFA®, CFP®

Wealth Advisor

As a Wealth Advisor, John has 36 years of investment experience, having spent the majority of that time at The Northern Company, where he was an Investment Counselor and Portfolio Manager. He held the distinction of being the lead portfolio manager on their flagship Growth Equity Mutual Fund, and he was also the Director of Investment Research. John and his team departed Northern Trust to join Neuberger Berman, a New York based investment firm which was subsequently acquired by Lehman Brothers. He most recently was a Financial Advisor with William Blair and Company. John holds an M.B.A from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University and a B.S. in Finance from Trine University. John is a Certified Financial Planner® and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

A lifelong Chicago area native, John and his wife Barbara reside in Frankfort and have two adult children. John is involved in several philanthropic organizations, including Illinois

Sportsmen Against Hunger, The Society of St. Vincent DePaul, The Epilepsy Foundation and serves on the board of Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities.

Josh Gerry

Chief Executive Officer

Josh Gerry is redefining succession planning for wealth advisors.

Widely recognized as one of the industry’s leading voices on advisor succession, Josh Gerry is CEO of VestGen Wealth Partners and a 2025 Luminaries Finalist in the M&A Leader of the Year category. He spearheaded the unprecedented merger of 10 advisory practices in December 2024 to launch VestGen, creating a fully integrated wealth management firm that empowers advisors to transition with confidence and aims to ensure clients’ continuity of care across generations. His leadership was recently profiled in a full-page InvestmentNews feature, “Seeking Success from Succession.”

With more than three decades in wealth management, Josh brings deep experience in succession, M&A, and growth strategy. Prior to VestGen, he co-founded Professional Wealth Advisors, LLC, where he scaled the firm to over $10 billion in assets while guiding advisors through successful practice transitions. He later served as CEO of Impetus Wealth Strategies, securing capital commitments to fuel advisor succession and expansion. His earlier leadership roles at AXA and MetLife gave him a deep understanding of large-scale advisor transitions across enterprise firms.

At VestGen, Josh leads the firm’s mission to solve one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: the $13 trillion in assets expected to transition as nearly 40% of advisors retire in the next decade. Josh brings both credibility and conviction to building the next generation of advisor leadership. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and contributes thought leadership on the future of succession planning and advisor M&A.

Josh holds a B.S. in Business Economics from UCLA.