LOUIS COLELLA
Meet Louis Colella:
Joining the JFS team in early 2015, Lou brings over 38 years of experience helping entrepreneurs and business owners increase and manage their wealth, both in their businesses and in their other portfolios. Lou possesses extensive knowledge of investment management, wealth and estate planning, and small business consulting, especially in the business growth and transitions/exit planning areas.
In addition to holding CPA/PFS and CFP® credentials, Lou holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation from the Exit Planning Institute, designed specifically for business advisors who work closely with owners of privately held companies in the areas of growing and managing business value, and planning transitions and monetizing events. CEPAs help business owners understand the current and future value of their business, both tangible and intangible, and which exit options best align with their business, personal and financial goals. The CEPA program is a widely accepted and endorsed professional exit planning program administered through the Exit Planning Institute.
A 1985 graduate of Youngstown State University, Lou earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and earned his CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT certification and Personal Financial Planning Specialist designation through the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In addition, he has earned, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification.
Prior to joining JFS, Lou launched and led a family office in Akron, OH, worked in the CPA / public accounting industry and held senior financial management positions with several private firms.
In his free time, you might find Lou in the outdoors, fishing, golfing, hiking in nature, or spending time with family and friends.
· Started career (12 years) as a CPA in regional CPA firms whose clients were privately-owned, multi-generational businesses and their owners. Financial, Tax, Management Consulting service provision, with deep relationship building with business owners.
· Left CPA industry and accepted offer from client, a 3rd / 4th generation, 100 year old business to take juicy 3-pronged role: CFO of company, first non-family executive, leading succession and leadership team to build out primarily non-family leadership team and structure for the business – readying for 3rd to 4th generation succession, and family wealth mgmt consigliore for the family in charge of estate and intergenerational wealth transfer planning and execution. In 7 years, we successfully transitioned the company from 3rd to 4th generation leadership and governance structure, built-out and moved to high-value, big-box locations and profitability of the business, transferred 98% of the family’s business wealth into dynasty trusts fbo of 4th generation (after re-cap of operating and real estate enterprises), and positioned the company for the surprise early death of the 3rd generation operator who had recently retired.
· Recruited to private-equity portfolio company, as COO / CFO, and co-led an aggressive value-acceleration plan with strategic goal of sale to strategic buyer in 5 years. We increased size and value of the company 2.5 times in 2 years and were on track to double again in another 2-3 years, when strategic acquisition was courted and closed by the end of 2nd full year in the role. We understood what drove strategic value, and were locked-in to potential buyers, and the strategy worked at the top of the multiple range, in less than half the time planned.
· Became partner in boutique business valuation / appraisal firm, as I considered the next stage of my career. This 2-year “break” provided me the opportunity to develop more fully my passion for helping private businesses understand the value of their concentration, wealth-creating bet on their business, and assist in developing plans around how to grow this value more effectively and plan for eventual transition or exit from the business……I.e., some type of monetizing event and wealth preservation investment strategies for the future. I understood deeply, through my experiences, how to grow value in a business, and directly experienced the value of planning the estate transfer of wealth for the next generation of the family to preserve liquidity for the future generations.
· Before coming to JFS Wealth Advisors, I launched the single-family office for an entrepreneurial family. In this role, I imagined and built a full-service wealth management firm for the family and participated in the financial management of their venture capital investment fund and portfolio businesses. The 7-year role was broad and deep, and entrepreneurial. From a family wealth service perspective, my keynote achievement was transitioning over 90% of the value of the operating business and venture capital interests to dynastic, generation-skipping trusts over the 2008 – 2012 period, so that there will never be an estate tax paid on more than Billion dollars of wealth. This role again required clear focus on, and balance between, the wealth creation activities of business owners with the wealth preservation focus required for multi-generational family trust assets and income for future generations.
· Upon accepting the role at JFS Wealth Advisors in 2015, my first focus was development of scalable team operating structure of the firm, which grew significantly through acquisition between 2013 and 2021. As President of Advisor Services, I split my time between leadership / management activities to assure quality, consistency and scalability of wealth management services, and the provision of wealth management services to clients, especially business owning clients. During this time, we helped several business owners plan and execute launches and transitions of their business operations.
· Beginning in 2020, we committed to formalizing a business owner service niche that we’ve named Business Growth & Transitions Advisors’ Team, and now have 4 Certified Exit Planning Advisors (CEPA™) at JFS Wealth Advisors, including myself. We have formalized our services, and my sole focus as the team’s Managing Director, along with the team, is to assist business owner clients with all aspects of Wealth Management as well as providing the rare and high-value solutions to assist in growing the value of their concentrated business investments and help prepare them for their transition to their retirement and/or “next acts” as they monetize their business in some way. We quarterback the process, assemble other vetted subject matter experts that are like-minded and appropriately skilled, and help optimize the outcomes for business owners in all ways financial.
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Joining the JFS team in early 2015, Lou brings over 38 years of experience helping entrepreneurs and business owners increase and manage their wealth, both in their businesses and in their other portfolios. Lou possesses extensive knowledge of investment management, wealth and estate planning, and small business consulting, especially in the business growth and transitions/exit planning areas.
In addition to holding CPA/PFS and CFP® credentials, Lou holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation from the Exit Planning Institute, designed specifically for business advisors who work closely with owners of privately held companies in the areas of growing and managing business value, and planning transitions and monetizing events. CEPAs help business owners understand the current and future value of their business, both tangible and intangible, and which exit options best align with their business, personal and financial goals. The CEPA program is a widely accepted and endorsed professional exit planning program administered through the Exit Planning Institute.
A 1985 graduate of Youngstown State University, Lou earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and earned his CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT certification and Personal Financial Planning Specialist designation through the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In addition, he has earned, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification.
Prior to joining JFS, Lou launched and led a family office in Akron, OH, worked in the CPA / public accounting industry and held senior financial management positions with several private firms.
In his free time, you might find Lou in the outdoors, fishing, golfing, hiking in nature, or spending time with family and friends.
, hs_object_source_label=IMPORT, url_slug=louis-colella, lname=Colella, cepa_attendance_sheet_url=https://exit-planning-institute.org/hubfs/Certificates%20of%20Attendance/CEPA%20NOVEMBER%202020/CERTIFICATE%20OF%20ATTENDANCE-CFP-NASBA-MASTERclass-NOVEMBER-Colella-Louis.pdf, hs_createdate=1663079394712, designations__text_=CEPA, CFP, CPA/PFS, advisor_type=Wealth Manager, custom_page_title=Exit Planning Institute - Find a CEPA | Louis Colella, email=lcolella@jfswa.com, website=https://www.jfswa.com/, contact_is_part_of_listsegment_cepa_connect_access=true, cepa_connect_profile_created=1773929302781, markets_served=Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Cleveland, notable_achievements=· Started career (12 years) as a CPA in regional CPA firms whose clients were privately-owned, multi-generational businesses and their owners. Financial, Tax, Management Consulting service provision, with deep relationship building with business owners.
· Left CPA industry and accepted offer from client, a 3rd / 4th generation, 100 year old business to take juicy 3-pronged role: CFO of company, first non-family executive, leading succession and leadership team to build out primarily non-family leadership team and structure for the business – readying for 3rd to 4th generation succession, and family wealth mgmt consigliore for the family in charge of estate and intergenerational wealth transfer planning and execution. In 7 years, we successfully transitioned the company from 3rd to 4th generation leadership and governance structure, built-out and moved to high-value, big-box locations and profitability of the business, transferred 98% of the family’s business wealth into dynasty trusts fbo of 4th generation (after re-cap of operating and real estate enterprises), and positioned the company for the surprise early death of the 3rd generation operator who had recently retired.
· Recruited to private-equity portfolio company, as COO / CFO, and co-led an aggressive value-acceleration plan with strategic goal of sale to strategic buyer in 5 years. We increased size and value of the company 2.5 times in 2 years and were on track to double again in another 2-3 years, when strategic acquisition was courted and closed by the end of 2nd full year in the role. We understood what drove strategic value, and were locked-in to potential buyers, and the strategy worked at the top of the multiple range, in less than half the time planned.
· Became partner in boutique business valuation / appraisal firm, as I considered the next stage of my career. This 2-year “break” provided me the opportunity to develop more fully my passion for helping private businesses understand the value of their concentration, wealth-creating bet on their business, and assist in developing plans around how to grow this value more effectively and plan for eventual transition or exit from the business……I.e., some type of monetizing event and wealth preservation investment strategies for the future. I understood deeply, through my experiences, how to grow value in a business, and directly experienced the value of planning the estate transfer of wealth for the next generation of the family to preserve liquidity for the future generations.
· Before coming to JFS Wealth Advisors, I launched the single-family office for an entrepreneurial family. In this role, I imagined and built a full-service wealth management firm for the family and participated in the financial management of their venture capital investment fund and portfolio businesses. The 7-year role was broad and deep, and entrepreneurial. From a family wealth service perspective, my keynote achievement was transitioning over 90% of the value of the operating business and venture capital interests to dynastic, generation-skipping trusts over the 2008 – 2012 period, so that there will never be an estate tax paid on more than Billion dollars of wealth. This role again required clear focus on, and balance between, the wealth creation activities of business owners with the wealth preservation focus required for multi-generational family trust assets and income for future generations.
· Upon accepting the role at JFS Wealth Advisors in 2015, my first focus was development of scalable team operating structure of the firm, which grew significantly through acquisition between 2013 and 2021. As President of Advisor Services, I split my time between leadership / management activities to assure quality, consistency and scalability of wealth management services, and the provision of wealth management services to clients, especially business owning clients. During this time, we helped several business owners plan and execute launches and transitions of their business operations.
· Beginning in 2020, we committed to formalizing a business owner service niche that we’ve named Business Growth & Transitions Advisors’ Team, and now have 4 Certified Exit Planning Advisors (CEPA™) at JFS Wealth Advisors, including myself. We have formalized our services, and my sole focus as the team’s Managing Director, along with the team, is to assist business owner clients with all aspects of Wealth Management as well as providing the rare and high-value solutions to assist in growing the value of their concentrated business investments and help prepare them for their transition to their retirement and/or “next acts” as they monetize their business in some way. We quarterback the process, assemble other vetted subject matter experts that are like-minded and appropriately skilled, and help optimize the outcomes for business owners in all ways financial.
, associated_resources=0, hs_object_source=IMPORT, postal_code=44429, hs_object_source_user_id=44511833, username=lcolellajfswa}- Advisor Type: Wealth Manager
- Website:
https://www.jfswa.com/ - Phone: +13306036305
- City: Youngstown
- State: Ohio
- Postal Code: 44429
- Country: United States
- Designations: CEPA, CFP, CPA/PFS
- Markets Served: Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Cleveland
- Company Name: JFS Wealth Advisors
