Photo by Howard Owens
Setting up shop under the Prudential name is about more than selling insurance, Michael Battaglia says. In fact, he and his business partners offer personal financial investment advice, and estate and retirement planning strategies in what he considers to be a “holistic approach.”
“It looks at all parts of someone’s financial situation,” Battaglia said while preparing for the ceremonial opening of Prudential Advisors this week at 1 Court St., Batavia. “There's kind of been that trend, I think, within the industry, especially with insurance companies that have gotten more so into the investment type retirement planning, where they're not just life insurance or long-term care, but branching out more, looking at all parts of a financial household, and helping them with, you know, transferring 401K's into an IRA. Basically, investment advice and setting up a brokerage account, kind of you name it, and anyway that we can help to provide an investment strategy.”
He said that among the three of them — Battaglia, a native Batavian, David Zauner of Corfu, and Elisa Martin from Churchville — they are proud to be working for a company with a 150-year foundation, plus their own combined experience of at least 30 years in the field.
Martin has primarily been a financial planner, which rounds out the financial advisor services of Zauner and Battaglia, including insurance and financial products to protect your family, save for and live through retirement, to save for education and small business.
“We all bring something different to the table,” Martin said.
Although they cut a celebratory ribbon for their new downtown office this week, the trio had a soft opening in August 2023. And despite little fanfare, customers have been finding them already, they said. They have regular hours and are available for appointments, however, “we don’t want to deter anybody to stop in and say hello,” she said.
They had been working in a Pittsford office, and when a private office in Attica closed, they wanted to close a gap of having nothing to serve customers between Buffalo and Rochester, Battaglia said.
“There really isn't any representation here. So we saw that that has been a good opportunity to help clients in this area … we’re really right here in the center of Genesee County, everybody's familiar with it. We're between Domino's and Batavia Tailors in that building, so we’re pretty visible there to them, and the traffic here is great,” he said. “So we feel we found a really visible spot that people could easily find us and fill that void that was kind of created. We do anything from life insurance, annuities, investments, and IRAs; we help small businesses with 401Ks and simple IRAs. So, financial planning.”
A lot of people don’t realize, Martin said, that the moment they stop working, they may not have certain insurance or financial protections in place.
“It’s putting a circle around them,” she said. “Everybody’s situation is different; it requires its own individual attention, to have their own correct individual plan.”
Zauner believes that no two people have the same exact financial needs.
“So it’s important to work with someone who understands your unique hopes and dreams, “ he emphasizes on the company website. “I value connecting with my clients in a meaningful way.”
Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment. For more information, call 585-993-2567.
