About Us
Our History
Since 1975, GCG Financial, LLC, has been a trusted partner for our clients. Our mission has been to enhance the financial security of the businesses and families we serve through exceptional employee benefits, risk management, and wealth management solutions.
In 2017, GCG Financial and 23 other like- minded, entrepreneurial firms came together to form Alera Group. Since then, Alera Group has grown to over 4,400 employees, 160+ locations, and thousands of clients across the country.
In 2022, we officially began embracing the Alera Group brand. What remains consistent is holding our clients at the core of our business; we focus on bringing personalized solutions, expanding our capabilities, and deepening our resources nationally.
Our Team
Trusted. Smart. Passionate.
Our team has a sincere commitment to the long- term success of our clients. With an emphasis on collaboration and teamwork, we create unique solutions that fit the distinct needs of each client. We are passionate about doing what is right for every client, driven by the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, integrity, character, fairness, trust, and confidence.
Our Presence
Our clients benefit from the expertise and resources of a large national firm, while still maintaining the advantages of local service and relationships. We leverage powerful relationships, industry experience, and resources with the goal of supporting our clients’ business strategies and elevating the experience of working with us.
Above all, our firm believes in empowering people – our clients, our team, and the individuals in the communities where we live and work.
We are headquartered in Deerfield, IL, with offices throughout Illinois and Colorado, along with more than 160 Alera Group locations across the country. Wherever you are, we can meet your needs.
Investment advisory services offered through Alera Investment Advisors, LLC. Securities offered through Osaic Wealth, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC. Osaic Wealth is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of Osaic Wealth.
Meet Our Team
Jose Alfredo Suarez, AINS, CRIS, CAWC, CLCS
Risk Management Consultant | Property & Casualty
Jose Alfredo Suarez is a Risk Management Consultant who specializes in Business Insurance with a focus on the construction, manufacturing, and hospitality industries. Jose excels at educating his clients on many controlled variables that are used to determine insurance premiums. After performing a risk management assessment, his clients can expect a tailored insurance program that provides comprehensive insurance coverage that protects their business and employees and can open the door to future contracting opportunities.
With close to two decades of experience in the insurance industry, Jose has carved out a special niche working with the top Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Women Business Enterprise (WBE) and Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE) certified companies in the Midwest. Through his education, experience and training, Jose is an expert in understanding complex insurance requirements and designing a company’s insurance program for compliance and proper risk transfer.
Jose is passionate about educating his clients on commercial insurance, how to access surety bonds and the ins and outs of developing strong safety programs. He currently serves as an insurance and bonding consultant to the Illinois Tollway under their Technical Assistance program powered by the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, is a featured speaker for the Illinois Department of Transportation Today’s Challenge Tomorrow’s Reward annual DBE conference, a featured presenter for the Chicago Transit Authority’s Building Small Business (BSB) program and has been featured in Construction Executive magazine. In 2018, Jose was recognized by Negocios Now 2018 class of 40 under 40 Latinos in Chicago and was named to Insurance Business America’s 2022 Hot 100 list.
Born and raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community, Jose would go on to become the first in his family to graduate and earn his bachelor’s degree from Cornell College double majoring in Political Science and Ethnic Studies. Jose currently holds his Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS), Associate in General Insurance (AINS), Commercial Lines Coverage Specialist (CLCS) and Certified Authority in Workers’ Compensation (CAWC) designations. Jose is an active member of the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Residential Home Builders Alliance, serves on the Advisory Council for the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, is a Board Trustee of the Humboldt Park Health Foundation, a Board Member of the Latino Real Estate Investors Council and is the co-founder of the Executive Latino Council.
Residing in Mount Prospect, Jose is married with two young boys. During his free time Jose enjoys road trips with his family, basketball, golf, triathlon training, competitive stair climbing and has competed in numerous marathons.
Stephanie Svenson
Director of Preferred Accounts | Employee Benefits
Stephanie oversees the team of Account Managers and Benefit Coordinators in the middle-market employee benefits space. She strategically partners on accounts to help develop client relationships. Stephanie provides excellent client service and has a high record of retention.
Before joining the firm, Stephanie had a career in retail leadership for 25 years. In addition to that, she ran her own business as a managing broker for a real estate brokerage firm.
Kari Tamillo
Director of Insurance Underwriting
Kari Tamillo has worked at GCG Financial since 1996 in varying capacities where currently finds herself as the Director of Insurance Underwriting. With over 21 years of experience, Kari is exceptionally well versed in the realm of insurance, overseeing and managing the individual, DI and LTC insuring process. Over her time with GCG Financial, Kari’s role has evolved extensively. This change allows Kari to hone her expertise through interactions with agents, carriers, and outside brokerage firms. The versatility of her daily role gives her a unique perspective as she serves the clients of GCG. Currently, Kari is studying for her CLU designation, which will bring even more versatility and change to her role. Above all, Kari continues to pursue growth, personally and professionally, in this industry.
In her free time, Kari enjoys going for long walks and relaxing with a good book. Additionally, she cherishes family time and loves getting together with her 3 grown children, along with her husband, Tony and their dog Paisley.
Brian Uhlig, CPBS
Senior Partner | Employee Benefits
Brian is an Employee Benefits Consultant who, as one of the first 30 accredited advisors of The Health Rosetta, enjoys disrupting the healthcare status quo and is passionate about helping his clients create and achieve their ideal employee benefits program. Brian and his team focus on large, multi-site employers who are interested in being leaders in providing plans that improve employee health, engagement, and firm value.
Brian has a BBA in Accounting from the University of Iowa. In addition to his 20 years at the firm, his 25 years of experience include an early career in banking, leading a large office for an international consulting firm.
Brian is also a Certified Pharmacy Benefits Specialist, CPBS™ and is a Certified Outcomes Report Analysis Pro (CORA Pro) through the Validation Institute and has created a community with his clients all focused on creating better outcomes and benefits plans that work for their employees and not the healthcare system.
In 2023, Brian was named the Advisor of the Year by the Validation Institute.
Brian is married with four teenagers and stays active by playing tennis, biking, golfing and skiing.
Education: B.B.A., Accounting, University of Iowa
Resources
Alera Group Spends The Week Giving Back
In the spirit of our Generous Community Giving program, Alera Group employees participated in a week of events, both in-person and virtually, for our 2023 Community Giving week.
Chicago Housing Authority Hiring Fair
Alera Group colleagues spent the day at the Chicago Housing Authority Job Fair reviewing resumes, helping with interview prep, working on communication skills, and offering general insights and advice to people just starting their professional careers. It was time well spent helping others in the community both professionally and personally.
Feed My Starving Children
The Alera Group team volunteering with Feed My Starving Children had a positive experience measuring, bagging, weighing, sealing, and packing meals for children over the course of an afternoon. Not only did they feel like they made a difference in the lives of others, but they also enjoyed using the time as a teambuilding exercise to work with colleagues outside of their department.
Lyman Woods Nature Center
Alera Group volunteers rolled up their sleeves to beautify the nature preserve by building a new fence and cleaning up the trails for the community to enjoy now that the weather has warmed up. Despite being a physically demanding morning, everyone agreed it was a rewarding experience.
Send virtual cards to patients at St. Jude
Our remote teammates were able to participate in Community Giving Week as well! They wrote dozens of encouraging notes to patients undergoing treatment for cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
The Alera Group volunteers not only gave their time and energy to make a positive impact on our communities, but unanimously agreed that they had a great time while doing it!
Alera Group’s 2023 Office 5k Raises Money for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
On October 12 we laced up our sneakers as part of our Generous Community Giving initiative. This year’s annual 5k included a record number of participants who enjoyed running and walking the outdoor course at our Deerfield, Illinois headquarters as well as a step challenge for remote employees. To keep things interesting, we added a new 5k relay event consisting of teams of four colleagues for some additional friendly competition.
The proceeds of the money raised this year benefits Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Their mission is to improve lives by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and treat type 1 diabetes (T1D).
The day was billed a success as the rain clouds held off long enough for us to support an important cause while enjoying the company of our fellow team members.
An Alera Group Care Package
Alera Group colleagues came together last month to enjoy a lunch and celebrate our shared successes in 2023. The day had a bigger purpose though, as we rolled up our sleeves to kickoff our first Generous Community Giving event in the new year with nonprofit group, Blessings in a Backpack.
Blessings in a Backpack mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for school-aged children across America who might otherwise go hungry. By the end of the afternoon, over 100 Alera Group colleagues had packed 500 bags! Not only was it rewarding to collaborate on a physical task together, but we were thrilled to know that our work would ensure children in our community would not go hungry that weekend.
EXPERT EDUCATION
Events and Webinars
Employee Benefits
Q4 Compliance Update
Alera Group's quarterly employee benefits compliance roundup will help you stay current on the latest national regulatory developments impacting employers.
December 3, 2024 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Employee Benefits
Setting Your Strategy for the New Year: Alera Group's 2025 Employee Benefits Market Outlook
Our experts will highlight key results from Alera Group’s 2025 Employee Benefits Market Outlook Report and explain how these trends can impact your benefits program this year.
January 16, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Wealth Services
State of the Markets
Join us as we unveil the factors that drive the nation's financial pulse and how they may impact your personal finances.
January 22, 2025 at 12:00 pm CT | Virtual
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Insights
Employee Benefits
Avoiding an Employee Lawsuit Over a Tobacco Surcharge Claim
Tobacco surcharges on health insurance premiums for employees who use tobacco products are attractive options for employers looking to keep their workforce healthy while lowering their organization’s healthcare costs. But surcharges can go too far, and many employers may be unaware of the limitations. Alera Group's new whitepaper on tobacco surcharges is designed to assist employers in complying with federal regulations.
November 19, 2024
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Wealth Services
Weekly Market Update
Stocks fell last week as the postelection rally lost momentum amid an inflation uptick and cautious comments from Fed officials.
November 18, 2024
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Employee Benefits
Q4 Considerations: New HIPAA Privacy Considerations
Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Final Rule titled HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy.
November 15, 2024
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Spotlight on 2025 Benefit Limits
The IRS has released the 2025 benefit plan limits. The following chart shows some of the key limits for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 tax years.
November 15, 2024
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