Who We Are

Michael E. DeMassa, CFA, CFP®

Founder & Principal

Timothy J. Videnka, CFA, CFP®

Chief Investment Officer & Principal

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Michael E. DeMassa is originally from Norwalk, Connecticut and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a B.S. in biology and minor in chemistry. After MIT, he moved out west to Napa, California where he worked as a lab technician for Robert Mondavi Winery. While working at the winery, Mr. DeMassa became intrigued with the finance world and moved back to the greater New York City area. His search for an equity research analyst position in the biotech sector resulted in a financial adviser role at a brokerage firm in Stamford, Connecticut.

After a family reunion on Siesta Key beach, Mr. DeMassa and his wife, Elisha, moved to Sarasota, Florida in 2001 to trade the New England winters for warm sunny beaches. Mr. DeMassa continued his finance career with a local financial planning firm and his passion for knowledge helped him earn both the CFP® certification and the CFA charter. To further his industry knowledge, he worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager at a trust company where he managed assets for high net worth investors, foundations and institutions. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the Financial Planning Association.

Based on his experiences, he formed Forza Wealth Management in 2015 as an independent registered investment adviser to reduce the conflicts of interests and provide unbiased advice to his clients.

Community:

Mr. DeMassa has been involved with Junior Achievement since 2007 educating students in the classroom on business and financial topics. He was honored as the Volunteer of the Year for Sarasota County in 2011.

As Educational Council member for MIT since 2004, Mr. DeMassa is involved in the application process for local high school students interested in attending MIT. He continues to stay in touch with area alumni as board member of the MIT Club of Southwest Florida and attended the MIT Alumni Leadership Conference in 2016 held in Cambridge, MA.

Family Life:

Mr. and Mrs. DeMassa live in Sarasota, FL with their three children. They enjoy running in local races when not busy with their children’s activities.

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Timothy J. Videnka is originally from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, and graduated from Rollins College, in Winter Park, FL with a B.A. in economics and minor in business administration. After Rollins, his first exposure to finance was at a local Winter Park broker-dealer on their international bond desk where he assisted in the market making of international bonds, soon after he took a position with Lehman Brothers in New York, on the bond trading desk supporting a sales team and funding the firms balance sheet to the tune of over a billion dollars daily through repurchase agreements. He returned to Winter Park and Rollins to pursue his MBA at the Crummer Graduate School of Business. After completing his MBA, Mr. Videnka accepted a position as an investment analyst with a private family office in Sarasota, where he was responsible for analysis of real estate, private equity, and operating companies. From there, he joined Northern Trust as a portfolio manager in Sarasota managing personal and institutional investment portfolios on a discretionary basis according to clients stated risk tolerance and return requirements.

Prior to becoming CIO at Forza Wealth Management, Mr. Videnka was the head of the investment department at Caldwell Trust where he was responsible for developing and leading the investment function, including designing asset allocation strategies for the firm’s clients including individual stock and bond selection. Mr. Videnka earned the CFP® designation and is a CFA charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute in Charlottesville, VA and the CFA Society of Tampa Bay

Community:

Mr. Videnka is on the State College of Florida Asset Management Committee and is a proud supporter of Goodwill Industries Manasota, Inc.

Family Life:

Mr. and Mrs. Videnka live in Sarasota, FL with their two children (ages 19 and 16). They enjoy staying fit and active.

Read About the CFA Designation

The Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) and Certification Mark (collectively, the “CFA marks”) are professional certification marks granted in the United States and internationally by the CFA Institute.

The Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) charter is a globally respected, graduate-level investment credential established in 1962 and awarded by CFA Institute – the largest global association of investment professionals.

There are currently more than 100,000 CFA charterholders working in 135 countries. To earn the CFA charter, candidates must: 1) pass three sequential, six-hour examinations; 2) have at least four years of qualified professional investment experience; 3) join CFA Institute as members; and 4) commit to abide by, and annually reaffirm, their adherence to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.

High Ethical Standards – The CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, enforced through an active professional conduct program, require CFA charterholders to:

Place their clients’ interests ahead of their own
Maintain independence and objectivity
Act with integrity
Maintain and improve their professional competence
Disclose conflicts of interest and legal matters

Global Recognition – Passing the three CFA exams is a difficult feat that requires extensive study (successful candidates report spending an average of 300 hours of study per level). Earning the CFA charter demonstrates mastery of many of the advanced skills needed for investment analysis and decision making in today’s quickly evolving global financial industry. As a result, employers and clients are increasingly seeking CFA charterholders-often making the charter a prerequisite for employment.

Additionally, regulatory bodies in 19 countries recognize the CFA charter as a proxy for meeting certain licensing requirements, and more than 125 colleges and universities around the world have incorporated a majority of the CFA Program curriculum into their own finance courses.

Comprehensive and Current Knowledge – The CFA Program curriculum provides a comprehensive framework of knowledge for investment decision making and is firmly grounded in the knowledge and skills used every day in the investment profession. The three levels of the CFA Program test a proficiency with a wide range of fundamental and advanced investment topics, including ethical and professional standards, fixed-income and equity analysis, alternative and derivative investments, economics, financial reporting standards, portfolio management, and wealth planning. The CFA Program curriculum is updated every year by experts from around the world to ensure that candidates learn the most relevant and practical new tools, ideas, and investment and wealth management skills to reflect the dynamic and complex nature of the profession.

To learn more about the CFA charter, visit www.cfainstitute.org.

Read About the CFP Designation

The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® and federally registered CFP® (with flame design) marks (collectively, the “CFP® marks”) are professional certification marks granted in the United States by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (“CFP Board”).

The CFP® certification is a voluntary certification; no federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold CFP® certification. It is recognized in the United States and a number of other countries for its (1) high standard of professional education; (2) stringent code of conduct and standards of practice; and (3) ethical requirements that govern professional engagements with clients. Currently, more than 71,000 individuals have obtained CFP® certification in the United States. To attain the right to use the CFP® marks, an individual must satisfactorily fulfill the following requirements:

Education – Complete an advanced college-level course of study addressing the financial planning subject areas that CFP Board’s studies have determined as necessary for the competent and professional delivery of financial planning services, and attain a Bachelor’s Degree from a regionally accredited United States college or university (or its equivalent from a foreign university). CFP Board’s financial planning subject areas include insurance planning and risk management, employee benefits planning, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning;
Examination – Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination. The examination includes case studies and client scenarios designed to test one’s ability to correctly diagnose financial planning issues and apply one’s knowledge of financial planning to real world circumstances;
Experience – Complete at least three years of full-time financial planning-related experience (or the equivalent, measured as 2,000 hours per year); and
Ethics – Agree to be bound by CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct, a set of documents outlining the ethical and practice standards for CFP® professionals.

Individuals who become certified must complete the following ongoing education and ethics requirements in order to maintain the right to continue to use the CFP® marks:

Continuing Education – Complete 30 hours of continuing education hours every two years, including two hours on the Code of Ethics and other parts of the Standards of Professional Conduct, to maintain competence and keep up with developments in the financial planning field; and
Ethics – Renew an agreement to be bound by the Standards of Professional Conduct. The Standards prominently require that CFP® professionals provide financial planning services at a fiduciary standard of care. This means CFP®professionals must provide financial planning services in the best interests of their clients.

CFP® professionals who fail to comply with the above standards and requirements may be subject to CFP Board’s enforcement process, which could result in suspension or permanent revocation of their CFP® certification.