Five Star award winner Michael Guarino III, CDFA™, AIF®

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

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Michael Guarino III, CDFA™, AIF^®

CEO, Wealth Advisor

Granite Wealth Partners

124 East Main Street - Suite 101

Denville, NJ 07834

Office: 973-625-1112

michaelj.guarino@lpl.com
michaelj.guarino@lpl.com

Professional Approach

Michael J. Guarino III, CEO, CDFA™, AIF®, is a Wealth Advisor, and Accredited Investment Fiduciary at Granite Wealth Partners LLC, a national wealth management firm headquartered in Denville, New Jersey. Mike began his professional journey by working at UPS while attending college and later earned his degree from William Paterson University. He spent 12 years as an Information Technology Manager at ADP before founding his own firm, Guarino Wealth Management in 2008. With a strong foundation in technology, Mike’s team delivers personalized and comprehensive financial planning services, including investment strategies, retirement and college planning, and estate planning. He has been part of the financial services industry since 2006 and holds the advanced designations of Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA™) and AIF® (Accredited Investment Fiduciary®).

After 14 successful years at Guarino Wealth Management in Denville, NJ, Mike partnered with Main Street Wealth Management to continue prioritizing his clients' financial goals. In 2025 Mike founded Granite Wealth Partners, a national Wealth Management firm, where he continues to serve his clients and mentor other wealth advisors. Outside of work, Mike enjoys golfing, cooking, playing guitar, writing music, and spending time coaching his three sons in lacrosse.

Licenses and Education:

CDFA™ (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst)
AIF® (Accredited Investment Fiduciary®)
Investment Advisor Representative with Private Advisor Group
Registered Representative with LPL Financial
FINRA Licenses: Series 7 and Series 66 (held with LPL)
Life and Health Insurance Licensed
B.A. in Business from William Paterson University

See Accomplishments

This award was issued on 12/01/2024 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 03/13/2024 through 10/07/2024. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 7425 New Jersey-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 431 (6 % of candidates) were named 2025 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2024: 6,515, 462, 7%, 12/1/23, 3/13/23 - 9/29/23; 2023: 6,606, 407, 6%, 12/1/22, 3/21/22 - 10/18/22; 2022: 6380, 431, 7%, 12/1/21, 4/12/21 - 10/15/21; 6123, 459, 7%, 12/1/20, 3/30/20 - 10/23/20; 2020: 6210, 480, 8%, 12/1/19, 3/1/19 - 10/16/19; 2019: 6097, 477, 8%, 12/1/18, 3/21/18 - 10/12/18; 2018: 4383, 415, 9%, 12/1/17, 2/21/17 - 10/12/17; 2017: 3868, 664, 17%, 11/1/16, 2/25/16 - 10/7/16; 2016: 4143, 626, 15%, 11/1/15, 4/15/15 - 10/16/15; 2015: 5063, 672, 13%, 12/1/14, 4/15/14 - 10/16/14; 2014: 3315, 646, 19%, 12/1/13, 4/15/13 - 10/16/13; 2013: 4049, 733, 18%, 12/1/12, 4/15/12 - 10/16/12; 2012: 1312, 400, 30%, 11/1/11, 4/15/11 - 10/16/11.

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Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advice offered through Private Advisor Group, a Registered Investment Advisor. Private Advisor Group and Granite Wealth Partners are separate entities from LPL Financial.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.