Executive Team

Robert S. Jersey

Chief Executive Officer, President & Partner

Robert (Bob) has more than 45 years of experience in the securities industry. His career in financial services began in 1972.

Since Bob founded Gar Wood Securities, LLC in 2004, the company has served money managers, family offices and high net worth individuals. Bob’s current focus is on investment banking opportunities in the cannabis industry.

Bob served as a manager for ABN AMRO’s Prime Brokerage Unit, as associate operations manager for Montgomery Securities, as Business Manager for Chicago Corporation’s Correspondent Clearing Unit, and at Bache & Co. prior to establishing Gar Wood Securities in 2004.

Bob currently holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 53, 57, 63, and 79 licenses.

Dennis Gerecke

Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice Present & Partner

Dennis has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry with a focus on client service and brokerage operations. Dennis has been in the financial services industry since 1985.

In 2004 Dennis co-founded Gar Wood Securities, LLC after serving as VP and Manager of Client Services at ABN AMRO, Assistant VP of Correspondent Clearing at The Chicago Corporation, and Operations Manager at Gardner Rich & Co. He holds a BA in Business Administration from Lewis University.

Dennis currently holds the FINRA Series 3, 4, 7, 24, 57, and 63 licenses.

Michael C. Tattas

Chief Compliance Officer, Senior Vice President & Partner

Michael (Mike) has over 25 years of experience in the securities industry, with specialty knowledge in clearing, securities regulation, and risk management. Mike has been in the financial services industry since 1986.

Since 2007, he has been the Chief Compliance Officer at Gar Wood Securities, LLC, and he has held this title with other broker dealers for the past 15 years. He is a former Chief Compliance Officer and Financial Principal of Turning Point Securities, and he served in the market regulation department at the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) and its subsidiaries.

Mike currently holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 27, 57, 63, and 99 licenses.

Sherry Gouwens

Chief Administrative Officer, Senior Vice President & Partner

Sherry is a Partner and Senior Vice President in Gar Wood Securities, LLC with over 16 years of experience in the securities industry, focusing on administration, financial operations, and compliance.

She worked at Turning Point Securities LLC, Sydan, LP, a Chicago Stock Exchange Member, and the American Bar Association, where she was Director of Law Student Division, overseeing its financials, programs, publications, and three national competitions before joining Gar Wood in 2006. She holds a master’s degree in Human Resources from Loyola University of Chicago and a BA in Organizational Management from Calumet College of St. Joseph.

Sherry currently holds the FINRA Series 99 license. 

Craig Gantar

Sales Manager & Senior Vice President

Craig has over 20 years of experience in the securities industry, including operations, client services, equity and equity option trading, compliance, and sales.

He previously worked at Terra Nova Financial LLC where he handled client onboarding and daily support.  In his early career, he worked on the Pension and Health and Welfare support desk at Hewitt Associates. Gantar has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Columbia College.

Craig currently holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 53, 57 and 63 licenses.

Bobby Jersey

Senior Vice President - Business Development and Client Relations

Bobby began his career in the financial services industry in 2010 at Gar Wood Securities, an SEC registered securities broker-dealer and member of FINRA and NFA. At Gar Wood, Bobby worked his way up from operations associate to partner/Senior Vice President, overseeing customer service for the firm’s clearing relationship with Interactive Brokers, LLC.

As part of his work, he helped Gar Wood expand its services to offer investors the ability to liquidate stocks on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Through his experience and knowledge of both securities and cannabis industries, he continues to explore other potential opportunities.

Bobby currently holds the FINRA Series 7 license.

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