Resource Financial Group

Resource Financial Group

Resource Financial Group was established in 1996 by founding partner Peter M. Maris, CFP, who structured the firm from the outset as an independent registered investment advisor. The independence was intentional: Maris wanted to serve families without the product-sales incentives embedded in broker-dealer or bank-owned wealth platforms. The firm has since added partner Brian A. Pugal, who holds both CIMA and CFP designations, reinforcing a dual competency in investment management and comprehensive financial planning. The firm’s advisory model spans financial planning, retirement planning, investment management, tax planning, estate planning, and insurance review. Its stated process begins with a complimentary "Second Opinion Service" — a diagnostic review of a prospect’s current financial position — and proceeds to customized plan construction emphasizing tax efficiency. For business owners, the firm layers in entity-structuring advice aimed at maximizing wealth retention and minimizing tax leakage. The emphasis on direct client relationships and multi-disciplinary planning reflects a generalist wealth-management posture common among Midwestern independent RIAs, rather than a specialist allocation strategy. RFG operates from a single office in Wilmette, Illinois, led by Maris and Pugal as the two named wealth managers. The broader eight-person team includes client-service and marketing professionals Alexandra Moise, Amber Wood, and Elizabeth Warens, alongside analyst Bahri Kurapey and additional client-service specialists. The firm has not publicly disclosed its assets under management, total deployment figures, named portfolio holdings, or co-investment vehicles. No adjacent philanthropic foundation, real-asset arm, or club membership is referenced in publicly available materials. Structurally, Resource Financial Group distinguishes itself through independence: it is a privately held RIA with no disclosed affiliation to a wirehouse, bank holding company, or insurance carrier. That posture eliminates the cross-sell conflicts present in many wealth practices and aligns the firm with the fiduciary-only segment of the US advisory market. Governance and succession remain closely held by the two named partners, Maris and Pugal, with no indication of external capital or next-generation principals in published materials.