Vlad Zagranichny Joins Legacy as CEO & Managing Partner

Sep 21

We’re excited to welcome Vlad Zagranichny, CPA, as CEO and Managing Partner of Legacy Financial Advisors.

Vlad brings more than 25 years of experience spanning accounting, finance, business advisory, and wealth management. A Cum Laude graduate of Loyola College of Baltimore with double majors in accounting and finance and a minor in psychology, he is both a Certified Public Accountant and licensed financial advisor. For business owners and families in particular, that combination provides perspective that extends well beyond an investment account.

As founder of ZAG Consulting Group, Vlad built his practice around diligent research, responsiveness, and personal service. In 2012, Baltimore SmartCEO named him one of “Baltimore’s Top Accountants.” As CEO, he brings that same approach to Legacy—seeing the connections between a client’s business, finances, family, and long-term goals rather than treating each as a separate conversation.

Built Around the Client

Legacy started with a simple idea: advice should start with the client, not a product, a parent company, or a pre-packaged solution.

Vlad has exemplified that independence and commitment to clients throughout his career. He believes good advisory relationships come from trust, consistency, listening, and understanding what matters to each client—and from empowering his team to deliver.

As CEO and Managing Partner, Vlad will help guide Legacy’s growth while building on the personal relationships and high-touch service that define our collective work.

Expanding Our Retirement Plan Expertise

Vlad’s arrival follows another significant addition to Legacy’s partnership. Two months earlier, Mike Riley, QKA®, CPFA®, joined the firm as Partner and Director of Retirement Plan Services, bringing more than two decades of specialized retirement plan experience to Legacy.

Mike began his career as a pension consultant in 2003 and has since worked with hundreds of business owners, executives, and their employees on the design, implementation, and ongoing management of corporate retirement plans.

Before joining Legacy, Mike served as the national Director of Retirement Plan Services for a leading wealth advisory firm serving small and midsize businesses. Prior to that, he was a Regional Relationship Manager for the nation’s largest third-party administrator, where he helped lead a specialized Cash Balance Combo Plan program for professional groups.

Expertise Beyond the Typical Advisory Relationship

Retirement plans occupy a highly technical intersection of investments, plan design, tax strategy, fiduciary responsibility, regulatory compliance, employee benefits, and business objectives. Mike’s experience across each of those areas gives Legacy a depth of qualified-plan knowledge that extends well beyond traditional investment advisory services.

As a Qualified 401(k) Administrator® (QKA®) and Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor® (CPFA®), Mike works with plan sponsors to design plans around the needs of their businesses and employees—balancing cost, administration, compliance, tax efficiency, employee education, and talent retention. He also specializes in resolving complex plan issues and helping sponsors navigate the increasingly technical responsibilities that come with offering a qualified retirement plan.

Together, these additions represent an important step in Legacy’s growth: adding experienced leadership while expanding the depth of expertise available to the business owners, executives, families, and retirement plan sponsors we serve.

Please join us in welcoming Vlad Zagranichny to Legacy Financial Advisors. We’re glad he’s here!