Gregory Makowski, CFP®, AIF®
Founding Partner | Managing Member
Email: greg@cfsias.com
Gregory Makowski, CFP®, AIF® is a founding partner and Managing Member of CFS Investment Advisory Services, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor. He has more than four decades of experience advising institutions, retirement plans, high-net-worth individuals, and families. Greg is a frequent speaker at national industry conferences on 401(k) and retirement plan strategy and has been featured in radio, print, and digital media on retirement and investment topics.
Greg is the co-author of Common Financial Sense, a former #1 Amazon bestselling book focused on practical strategies for successful 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plan investing.
Under Greg’s leadership, CFS has earned consistent national recognition as a leading retirement plan advisory firm. The Financial Times has named CFS among the 300 Best Investment Advisors in the U.S., and since 2017 the firm has been recognized as a Top Defined Contribution Advisory Firm by the National Association of Plan Advisors. Plan Sponsor magazine has recognized CFS as one of the Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisors in the U.S., and Barron’s has repeatedly named Greg a Best-In-State Wealth Advisor. He is also a multi-year New Jersey Five Star Wealth Manager award recipient.
Greg is actively involved in professional, academic, and nonprofit leadership. He has served on the boards of Catholic Family and Community Services and Fisk University, as well as on the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics Committee. Greg previously served as an adjunct faculty member and faculty coordinator at Fairleigh Dickinson University and is currently a member of William Paterson University’s Cotsakos College of Business Advisory & Advancement Board.
Greg is a graduate of William Paterson University. He is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional and holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designation.
The Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers is an independent listing produced annually by Ignites Research, a division of Money-Media, Inc., on behalf of the Financial Times (July 2020). The FT 300 is based on data gathered from RIA firms, regulatory disclosures, and the FT’s research. The listing reflected each practice’s performance in six primary areas: assets under management, asset growth, compliance record, years in existence, credentials and online accessibility. Over 750 qualified firms applied for the award, 300 of which were selected (40%). This award does not evaluate the quality of services provided to clients and is not indicative of the practice’s future performance. Neither the RIA firms nor their employees pay a fee to The Financial Times in exchange for inclusion in the FT 300.
National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) nominees had to be individual advisor team/offices with a defined contribution book of business, in a single physical location. To be considered, firms had to submit responses to an application form, including information about their practices, notably their defined contribution (DC) assets under advisement. The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association. No fee is charged to participate.
The Barron's Top 1,200 Advisors rankings are based on data provided by over 4,000 of the nation’s most productive advisors. Factors included in the rankings: assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, regulatory record, quality of practice and philanthropic work. Investment performance isn’t an explicit component because not all advisors have audited results and because performance figures often are influenced more by clients’ risk tolerance than by an advisor’s investment-picking abilities.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization's initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.