Cleveland, OH -- (SBWIRE) --11/16/2011 -- Cedar Brook Financial’s Howard Slater, founding principal and a partner in the practice of Mannen, Munday, and Slater, has earned the Master of Science in Financial Services (MSFS) degree from the Richard D. Irwin Graduate School at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

The MSFS degree program consists of advanced training on a wide variety of financial topics including pension and estate planning, financial planning, executive compensation, business and personal tax planning, security analysis and portfolio management, and financial statement analysis. Graduates must successfully complete 36 credits of individual and residency study and pass 12 rigorous examinations. The American College’s Richard D. Irwin Graduate School has awarded an average of only seventy-six degrees each year since its inception in 1977.

“I’m thrilled to have earned the well-respected MSFS degree. I’m always looking for ways to increase my knowledge so I can provide the smartest and timely advice to my clients. Last year I co-authored Plan of Action: Strategies to Help You Build and Preserve, which was another wonderful learning experience. And now it’s exciting to see my clients refer to the chapter I wrote on understanding your insurance portfolio and treating policies as assets, as we strategize to develop the optimal plan for them,” explained Slater.

About Howard Slater
Howard Slater is a founding principal of Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC (http://www.cedarbrookpartners.com) and a partner in the practice of Mannen, Munday, and Slater. He specializes in comprehensive financial planning for high net-worth individuals and closely held business owners. Howards serves as a FINRA panel arbitrator. With a commitment to the highest standards in his industry, he holds several professional designations including CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Life Underwriter®, and now, his Master’s of Science in Financial Services degree. The author and co-author of eight professional papers, Howard also created and published The Cleveland Financial View, a quarterly client financial planning newsletter. He has served on Securities America’s

Advisory Council, Lincoln Financial Advisor’s National Planning Committee and has been an invited speaker at many national planning conferences and public planning forums.

About Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC
Headquartered in Cleveland, OH, Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC (http://www.cedarbrookfinancial.com) is one of the largest independent wealth management firms in Northeast, OH. Cedar Brook’s fifty-plus professionals deliver customized, personal services including comprehensive wealth strategies, investment and insurance advice, retirement plan consulting, and group benefit programs. Physicians, corporate executives, privately held business owners, and families consider their Cedar Brook advisor to be their personal CFO. The firm offers securities through Securities America Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Cedar Brook received the Securities America 2009 Branch Office Shooting Star Award for realizing the highest increase in assets under management from the previous year. Advisory services are offered through Securities America Advisors Inc., an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC and the Securities America companies are not affiliated.

About The American College
The American College is the nation’s largest non-profit educational institution devoted to financial services. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has served as a valued business partner to banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and others for over 84 years. The American College’s faculty represents some of the financial services industry’s foremost thought leaders.