OUR APPROACH
OUR APPROACH
OUR TEAM
Prior to organizing Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors, Inc., Ezra Cornell and Robert Pochily had over 37 years of combined experience as registered representatives at a major brokerage firm. In 2007, it became clear to them that clients wanted investment advice that was tailored specifically to client needs and goals rather than prepackaged programs or products found at major brokerage firms and bank holding companies. Together they founded Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors, Inc., an independent registered investment advisory firm.
We stress competence, integrity, clear and concise communication, and the desire to always be client focused. Our team members have been carefully selected because they share the same mission.
Ezra Cornell
Chief Executive Officer
Robert Pochily
Vice President
Nelson Mead, CFPⓇ, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Cathy LaMorie
Vice President, Director of Operations
Shane O'Neill, CPA, CFPⓇ
President
Laura Barnhill, Esq.
Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer
Molly O'Neill, CFPⓇ
Financial Advisor
Ezra graduated from Cornell University and began his career in banking in 1971. Prior to joining Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors as President, he was a vice president and financial advisor at Smith Barney for nearly 29 years. Throughout his career, he has been active with several community not-for-profit organizations and he is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University. Ezra, Daphne and their family live in Ithaca, NY.
Bob is an alumnus of St. Bonaventure University and has an MBA from Syracuse University. He spent 27 years at New York State Electric & Gas Corporation, holding management positions in accounting and finance. Bob has 16 years of experience in the financial services industry, having worked nine years as a financial advisor at Smith Barney prior to the establishment of Cornell Pochily. He has volunteered his time to a number of not-for-profit organizations over the years. Bob and his wife Marnee have resided in Tompkins County for over forty years and have three grown children.
Nelson graduated from Cornell University in 1981 with a degree in business management and marketing, and has worked in financial services since 1984. He became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner in 1989 and a Chartered Financial Analyst® charterholder in 2003. Prior to joining Cornell Pochily in 2010, he was vice president and senior portfolio manager for HSBC Private Bank. Nelson serves numerous local non-profits as volunteer and board member, is an Elder at Covenant Love Community Church in Dryden, NY, and is Assistant Chief of the Freeville, NY Fire Department. Nelson and his wife Kathy have three children and reside in Freeville, NY.
Cathy has been with Cornell Pochily since the fall of 2008 as the Director of Operations. Cathy has worked in the financial services industry since 1997. She is a graduate of Ithaca High School and raised her two daughters in the Ithaca area. She is a member of the Ithaca Lions Club.
Shane joined Cornell Pochily in 2014 after eight years practicing public accounting in Boston, MA. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner and Certified Public Accountant. After serving as a Vice President, Shane was named President of Cornell Pochily in 2021. He attended Elmira College on a salutatorian scholarship, graduating magna cum laude with degrees in Economics and Business Administration. Shane, his wife Melissa and their two daughters live in Ithaca, NY.
Laura graduated from Barnard College and obtained her law degree from Northeastern University. Laura has thirty-five years of distinguished service in criminal justice as an Assistant District Attorney in New York, Tompkins and Cortland Counties, as a staff attorney in the Tompkins County Department of Social Services and most recently as an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Attorney General's Office in Binghamton and Syracuse. She began at Cornell Pochily in February 2019 to enhance our compliance work and to provide insight on legal and regulatory issues that impact our business. Laura and her husband, William Troy III, Esq., live in Ithaca and are the proud parents of three grown sons.
Molly attended Goucher College; she graduated cum laude in 2008 with a degree in Business Management. After graduating college, she spent eight years travelling the U.S., Europe and Asia for her husband's hockey career before they decided to settle down in the Ithaca area. She joined Cornell Pochily in 2016 and became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner in 2019. She, her husband, Mike, and their daughter live in Lansing, NY.
Matthew Stoutenburg
Financial Advisor
Matthew received his B.A. from State University of New York at Potsdam and his M.Ed. from the University of Buffalo. He began his career in financial services in 2013 and beginning in 2015, worked as a Financial Advisor for Edward Jones Investments. Most recently, prior to joining Cornell Pochily, he worked as a Wealth Advisor at CFCU Community Credit Union in Ithaca for just over six years. In addition to being a Financial Advisor with us, Matthew is pursuing his Certified Financial Planner designation. Matthew and his wife Grace live with their two young children in Spencer, NY.