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 4,200 employees, 190+ 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 150 Alera Group locations across the country. Wherever you are, we can meet your needs.
Meet Our Team
Kim Slavik, AINS, CISR
Director of Select Accounts, Risk Management | Property & Casualty
Kim is a Director of Select Accounts in the Risk Management division with over 17 years of experience in the insurance industry at both large and small insurance agencies. She supervises the Select Accounts Team as they guide both prospects and clients in managing their business insurance needs. Kim is passionate about helping businesses find cost effective insurance options without sacrificing the quality of their insurance coverage.
Education: B.A. Applied Behavioral Science, Psychology
Credentials: Associate in General Insurance (AINS), Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR)
Duane Stevens, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, CLTC, CFS, BFA™
Senior Vice President, Wealth Services
Duane has been passionate about the field of financial services since 1996. He works closely with his clients to develop, implement, and review financial solutions. Duane specializes in working with small-to-medium-sized businesses in the selection and implementation of various programs, including business continuation, pension, medical, disability, and non-qualified retirement strategies. He also works with individuals and is well known in the medical community, helping physicians implement a variety of financial strategies.
Duane lives in Naperville, Illinois with his wife and two children. He enjoys golfing, boating, and traveling.
Education: B.S., Marketing and Insurance/Finance, Illinois State University.
Credentials: Behavioral Financial Advice (BFA™), Certified Financial Planner™ Professional (CFP®), Certified Fund Specialist (CFS), Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®), Certified in Long-Term Care (CLTC), Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®), and Behavioral Financial Advisor (BFATM)
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.
CA license # 0C87991
Christopher Strubel
Senior Wealth Advisor | Wealth Services
Chris came to the firm with a background in banking. The knowledge he retained from working with individuals on their day-to-day finances provided a great learning experience on how to look at the current needs of a family, as well as, future strategies. Chris now specializes in helping families and businesses owners with current and long-term financial goals. As a Senior Advisor, Chris is dedicated to developing leadership and assists both new and veteran advisors pursue their strengths. One of his passions is equipping advisors to serve their clients in the best ways possible and with the client’s needs first. Chris demonstrates the knowledge and resources to help advisors take their practices up a notch, communicating drive and vision to each advisor that he mentors.
Chris was born and raised in beautiful Colorado. After graduating from Colorado State University where he studied Business Management, he became a Golf Professional. He feels the years spent in the golf industry were vital in building his communication and teaching skills. His time in the golf industry also helped him build several life-long relationships, which he still cherishes today. Chris is a firm believer in the importance of building and maintaining relationships and his practice is built around that philosophy.
Chris enjoys various outdoor activities including golf, snowboarding, wakeboarding, softball and countless more. He is a huge sports fan and regularly attends as many sporting events as time allows. He is also very family oriented. Chris enjoys spending time with his family as much as possible and cherishes how close they all are. Chris approaches his clients and his business in the same manner, with respect, loyalty, honesty and appreciation.
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.
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.
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
Meeting the Needs of an Aging Workforce
Our experts will provide tips and insights about how to incorporate Medicare, menopause benefits, retirement, communications best practices and other hot topics for older workers into your program successfully and without breaking the bank.
October 17, 2024 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.
October 23, 2024 at 11:00 am CT | Virtual
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Employee Benefits
When Captive Insurance Makes Sense
In this session, our experts will talk about how captives work, the advantages and disadvantages and what you need to know to determine whether they make sense for your organization.
November 21, 2024 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Insights
Property and Casualty
Umbrella Insurance for Businesses: Peace of Mind in an Increasingly Unpredictable World
Whereas a skilled agent can help provide businesses with adequate insurance against property losses by following a predictable formula, the unpredictability of liability claims underscores how important it is for businesses to buy as much Umbrella/Excess Liability coverage as they can afford.
September 18, 2024
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Wealth Services
Weekly Market Update
Stocks rallied last week as investors received better-than-expected consumer and producer inflation data.
September 16, 2024
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Wealth Services
Monthly Market and Economic Update - August 2024
Read about the latest insights on the market and economy from our Director of Investments, Bob Janson.
September 12, 2024
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General Liability Insurance in 2024: Navigating a Complex Landscape
While some aspects of General Liability Insurance have largely turned a corner from a prolonged hard market, the outlook in other areas looks much less cheery. Overall, the market has finally improved after several challenging years, offering signs of stabilization.
September 12, 2024
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