SOUTHBOROUGH, MA--(Marketwire - September 11, 2012) -  Pinnacle Financial Group, a leading life insurance advisory firm to high net-worth families and their advisors, announced today that Leigh S. Harter has joined the firm as Managing Director in its private client practice.

Ms. Harter will focus primarily on structuring and implementing wealth transfer life insurance plans as well as actively managing life insurance portfolios for clients and advisors. Ms. Harter will serve advisors in the greater Chicago, New York and Los Angeles areas.

"Leigh Harter's extensive experience and progressive thinking around life insurance planning for high net-worth clients add valuable depth to our team as well as geographic reach," noted Michael Mingolelli, Jr., CEO of Pinnacle. "We're excited to have Leigh on board to broaden and deepen Pinnacle's innovative, analytical life insurance strategies for clients."

Prior to joining Pinnacle, Ms. Harter was a lead advisor to clients at The Insurance Design Center (IDC). While at IDC, Ms. Harter also developed and taught a national program to educate law firms, trust companies and family offices on changes in the insurance industry and the opportunities and risks of holding life insurance capital. Prior to IDC, Leigh was Executive Vice President of Goldstein Financial.

Leigh has a B.S. in Business Administration and Economics, magna cum laude, from DePaul University. She is a Certified Financial Planner and Registered Investment Advisor and holds Series 7 and 66 certifications.

About Pinnacle Financial Group
Established forty years ago, Pinnacle Financial Group is one of the industry's fastest growing integrated consulting firms. The firm provides life insurance consulting, generational wealth planning, estate planning and succession planning for affluent families, business owners and their advisors across the country. For regional and national employers, the firm provides an array of consulting services covering executive, health, welfare and qualified retirement benefits and human resources. For more information, visit www.pinnaclefinancialconsultants.com.

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