The Nautilus Group®
The Nautilus Group
The Nautilus Group® is an exclusive resource accessible to Member Agents working with affluent, high net worth and business owner clients. Nautilus provides a range of consultative services and technical case design to support its Member Agents in presenting estate, business, charitable, insurance and retirement strategies to their clients and their clients' advisors in these key areas: Family Protection, Estate and Legacy Planning, Business Succession and Exit Planning, Executive Benefits, and Philanthropy.
Since every client has unique requirements, The Nautilus Group® staff and its Member Agents employ an individualized case development strategy, working on a team basis with the clients' professional advisors.
Member Agents of The Nautilus Group®, through their expertise and commitment to this team approach, can provide resources, services and solutions that help their clients work with their own professional advisors to attain clarity on their financial situation and also help achieve their business and estate planning objectives.
This consultative process fosters an understanding between the client, the Nautilus Member Agent, and the client's circle of advisors. Working hand in hand with the Nautilus staff, Member Agents present their clients with state-of-the-art planning strategies and customized case analyses designed to meet the clients' complex objectives. The one-on-one case design process used by Nautilus is tailored to the unique requirements of each client, achieving a better understanding of the complex needs and goals of each individual.
The Nautilus Group® is located in Dallas, TX and is staffed by an elite team of professionals experienced in law, taxation, accounting, business, insurance, finance and philanthropic planning. This team provides dedicated support for Nautilus Member Agents, an elite group of experienced insurance and financial industry leaders, firmly committed to a team planning concept.
The Nautilus Group® is a service of New York Life Insurance Company. Neither The Nautilus Group®, its member agents, nor its staff provide tax, legal or accounting advice. Clients are urged to seek the advice of their own professional advisors before implementing any planning strategies.
Mark Scozzafava
Vice President and CEO
Mark Scozzafava, is a Vice President and CEO of The Nautilus Group. He
is responsible for the estate planning practice at New York Life, helping to provide
resources and tools to support agents working in the affluent and high net worth
markets. Mark joined New York Life in 2006 and has had several roles throughout his
career across multiple product lines and disciplines. Prior to joining New York Life,
Mark had various financial planning and analysis roles. Mark earned his BA from the
University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He has the series 7,
24, and 66 designations from FINRA and a certificate in management from the Harvard
Business School.
R. Matthew Pate JD, LL.M.
Nautilus Plus Prof. Consultant Leadership Team
R. Matthew Pate, JD, LL.M.,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2004 and currently leads the Nautilus Plus department,
supporting New York Life’s top agents and their ultra-high net worth clients. He applies
his extensive experience in estate, business, and philanthropic planning to provide
creative and unique solutions to complex tax and insurance planning situations. Matt
graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and returned to his native Texas
to obtain his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas and LL.M. in taxation from
Southern Methodist University.
Michelle M. Kenyon
JD, CLU®
Nautilus Plus Prof. Consultant
Michelle M. Kenyon, JD, CLU®,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2009 to provide personalized
consultative services for Nautilus Plus members. Michelle’s
professional experience includes estate planning, mergers and
acquisitions, taxation, tax controversy, and general corporate
matters. Michelle graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of
Business Administration in accounting from Texas Christian
University in Fort Worth, and she holds a Juris Doctor from
Pepperdine University School of Law in Los Angeles County.
Michelle is a member of the State Bars of Georgia and Texas
and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the Texas
State Board of Public Accountancy.
Kathryn Rodgers
JD, LL.M.
Professional Consultant Leadership Team
Kathryn Rodgers, JD, LL.M.,
has been with Nautilus since 2007. As a member of the
leadership team, she oversees the professional consultants and
works with Nautilus members to develop sophisticated estate
distribution and business planning presentations for
high-net-worth clients. She also provides research on
personal, estate, and business planning issues. Prior to
joining Nautilus, Kathryn worked as a manager at a local
accounting firm where she assisted clients with various tax
compliance issues. Kathryn received her Bachelor of Science in
accounting from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, her
Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, and
her LL.M. in taxation from Southern Methodist University in
Dallas.
Robert Ahearn
JD, LL.M., CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, CRPC®
Professional Consultant
Robert Ahearn, JD, LL.M., CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, CRPC®,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2016 as a professional
consultant, bringing substantial business, legal, and tax
experience to assist Nautilus member agents with the
development of advanced planning strategies for their clients.
Prior to that, Robert worked with high-net-worth individuals,
closely held businesses, farmers and ranchers, private
foundations, and public charities in both corporate and
private practice environments. He earned a Bachelor of Science
in Business Administration from the Boston University School
of Management, a Juris Doctor from the Suffolk University Law
School in Boston, and a LL.M. in taxation from the Boston
University School of Law. Robert is a member of the State Bars
of Arizona, California, and Massachusetts, and a member of the
Estate Planning Council of North Texas. He holds the FINRA
Series 7 and 66 licenses.
Roger B. Arnwine JD
Professional Consultant
Roger B. Arnwine, JD,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2022 as a professional
consultant, bringing more than 20 years of experience in tax,
estate, philanthropic and business planning in both private
practice and corporate trust departments. Roger holds a Juris
Doctor from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and
recently completed an accounting certificate program through
Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He is a member of the
Tennessee Bar and U.S. District Court.
Randolph J. Buchanan
JD, CPA, LL.M.
Professional Consultant
Randolph J. Buchanan, JD, CPA, LL.M.,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2021 as a case consultant. Prior
to that, he worked in private practice drafting various estate
planning and corporate formation documents. Randolph also has
worked at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, where he drafted
numerous tax court litigation documents, and at two public
accounting firms, where he assisted clients with various tax
compliance issues. Randolph graduated cum laude with a
Bachelor of Business Administration and a master’s degree in
professional accounting from the University of Texas at
Austin. He earned his Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist
University in Dallas and his LL.M. in taxation from New York
University in New York City.
Joon Cho JD
Professional Consultant
Joon Cho, JD, joined New York Life in 2009 as
an Advanced Planning Consultant. He was recruited to The
Nautilus Group in 2014, where he has been assisting Nautilus
members in identifying life insurance sales opportunities ever
since. Joon has worked in the financial industry since 2000
and previously ran an advisory practice for affluent and
high-net-worth clients. He also served as a commissioner for
the Fairfax County, VA, Human Rights Commission for two terms.
Joon earned his Bachelor of Arts from Calvin College in Grand
Rapids, MI, and his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law
School in Boston. He currently holds FINRA Series 7 and Series
66 licenses.
Tiffany Delaney CP
Professional Consultant
Tiffany Delaney, CP,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2016 as a paralegal. Prior
to that, she worked in private practice in California helping
clients establish comprehensive estate plans. Her experience
includes estate and business planning, estate administration,
probate, and a background in class action employment law.
Tiffany graduated from San Diego State University with a
Bachelor of Arts in communications. She then completed her
paralegal studies at the University of San Diego in 2010 and
received her Certified Paralegal credentials in 2016.
Karen Fishell CLU®
Professional Consultant
Karen Fishell, CLU®,
has been with The Nautilus Group since 1998. She works with
Nautilus members to provide detailed client presentations for
corporate executive benefit arrangements, including
non-qualified deferred compensation plans for companies and
nonprofit organizations as well as executive bonus plans.
Prior to joining Nautilus, Karen worked 11 years for one of
the nation’s largest COLI and executive benefits
organizations, providing support to top financial
professionals across the country with their executive benefits
planning design needs.
Scott Garrison JD
Professional Consultant
Scott Garrison, JD,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2015 as a professional
consultant. Before joining Nautilus, he worked in private
practice primarily focusing on estate, business, and tax
planning matters for individuals, families, and business
owners. His background includes more than ten years of
experience in estate, tax, and business planning, as well as
other legal practice areas, including real estate
transactions, oil and gas negotiations, civil litigation, and
probate administration. Scott earned his Bachelor of Arts in
English at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and his
Juris Doctor from Texas A&M University School of Law.
Arthur Reed Snyder, Jr
JD
Professional Consultant
Arthur Reed Snyder, Jr., JD,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2019 as a professional
consultant, bringing 30 years of experience as an accountant
and more than 20 years of experience as an attorney in private
practice where he served the estate and business planning
needs of high-net-worth clients and assisted with various
income tax matters, including income tax planning strategies
and compliance as well as tax controversy representation. Reed
earned his Bachelor of Science in accounting at the University
of North Texas in Denton and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from
Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock. Reed is
licensed to practice law in Texas and is admitted to practice
before the bar of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Tax
Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a
former Marine.
Eva Stark JD, LL.M.
Professional Consultant
Eva Stark, JD, LL.M.,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2014 as a professional consultant
to assist member agents with the development of estate and
business planning cases. Prior to joining Nautilus, Eva worked
in private practice in tax controversy, business law, and
litigation. Eva graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of
Science in economics and finance from The University of Texas
at Dallas. She earned her Juris Doctor, with honors, from
Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where she served as a
student attorney and chief counsel at the SMU Federal
Taxpayers Clinic. She received her LL.M. in taxation from
Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.
David R. Toups
JD, MBA, CFA®, CFP®, CTFA
Professional Consultant
David R. Toups, JD, MBA, CFA®, CFP®, CTFA,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2016 and serves on the
professional consultant team, where he contributes his
training and experience in the analysis and explanation of
multi-faceted estate, trust, and business planning strategies.
Before joining Nautilus, he worked more than 14 years in the
private practice of law focused on estate, trust,
guardianship, and business planning and litigation. Prior to
practicing law, he managed money professionally as an
investment portfolio manager for several national corporate
fiduciaries. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration
in marketing from Texas A&M University in College Station;
his Master of Business Administration, with a finance
emphasis, from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX;
and his Juris Doctor, with honors, from South Texas College of
Law in Houston. David is a former U.S. Marine Corps artillery
and infantry officer.
Geoffrey Turvey JD, CPA
Professional Consultant
Geoffrey Turvey, JD, CPA,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2020 as a professional consultant
to assist agents with income tax planning strategies, business
valuation, and general estate and business planning issues.
Before joining Nautilus, Geoff worked in international public
accounting firms in Oklahoma City and Dallas-Fort Worth,
providing tax planning and compliance services to public and
privately held clients in the energy and investment management
industries. Geoff graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of
Science in business administration in accounting from Oklahoma
State University in Stillwater and earned his Doctor of
Jurisprudence from Vanderbilt University Law School in
Nashville, TN. Geoff is a Certified Public Accountant licensed
by the Oklahoma Accountancy Board and Texas State Board of
Public Accountancy and is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor.
Chad Whitfield JD
Professional Consultant
Chad Whitfield, JD,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2020, where he assists Nautilus
members in the practical application of estate planning
techniques, asset protection strategies, and succession
planning structures. He has more than 20 years of experience
in tax, planning, and design expertise within the estate,
trust, and wealth planning niche. He received his Juris Doctor
from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, FL,
and his Bachelor of Arts in political science and English from
East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. Chad is a
former board member and past president of the Tri-Cities
Estate Planning Council and served as general counsel of the
Johnson City Chamber and Johnson City Chamber Foundation for
nearly 10 years. He is a member of the Florida Bar, the
Tennessee Bar, and the U.S. Tax Court.
Rob Shapard CLU®
Finance and Technology Leadership Team
Rob Shapard, CLU®,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2013 and serves as leader of the
technology team and head of financial operations. He supports
Nautilus members and various internal departments working with
the IT team to maintain and develop technology solutions
within Nautilus systems, bridging the conversation between
technology and the business areas, and providing business and
financial analytics. Rob has more than 25 years of experience
leading customer sales/service operations, managing projects,
and analyzing data for the financial services industry. He
earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from
Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
Ashley Ellis, MBA, joined The Nautilus Group
in 2023 as the Corporate Vice President of Financial
Operations, bringing more than six years of accounting,
finance, and analytical experience in the life insurance
industry. She graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s
in marketing and an MBA concentration in finance from Southern
Illinois University.
David Ball CNA
Technology
David Ball, CNA, joined The Nautilus Group in
1995 and is primarily responsible for maintaining and
implementing new technologies into the network systems and
giving Nautilus a presence on the Internet. Before becoming a
Nautilus staff member, David was a senior technician and
worked for more than 12 years as a field service technician.
Daphna Freeman MA
Technology
Daphna Freeman, MA,
joined The Nautilus Group in 2022 as a senior associate with
the information technology department. She has more than 10
years of experience in IT support from the public and private
sector and has worked with large corporations supporting as
many as 1000+ users. Daphna is a graduate from Dallas Baptist
University with a Master of Arts in management information
systems and a Bachelor of Science from The University of
Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. She has several IT
certifications.
William Micoff
Technology
William Micoff started at New York Life’s
Advanced Planning Group in 2006 and joined The Nautilus Group
in 2011. He has more than two decades of experience as a
systems technician and Microsoft SQL DBA, Visual Basic,
VB.NET, ASP, NET, Flash, and HTML developer. Prior to joining
New York Life, he worked for Intuit on its flagship business
tax software and for Lacerte as a developer and software
support engineer. Bill has been a member of the Microsoft
Developer Network since 1998.
Cassie Garrett
Administration
Cassie Garrett joined The Nautilus Group in
2022 as a senior specialist, bringing a strong background in
client relations and hospitality management. Cassie primarily
supports the case development team by ensuring final proposals
meet quality standards. Additionally, she provides guidance
and technical support to Nautilus members in submitting cases
via Nautilus Gateway and utilizing Nautilus technical content.
Cassie has an Associate’s degree in applied science from
McLennan Community College in Waco, TX.
Michelle Martinez
Administration
Michelle Martinez joined Nautilus in 2014 as
a liaison for clients, callers, and visitors. She has a strong
background in customer service and has worked with clients in
the service industry and training other offices in client
service areas. In addition to assisting guests and management
in an administrative capacity, Michelle also supports the case
development team by ensuring final proposals meet quality
standards. Additionally, she provides guidance and technical
support to Nautilus members in submitting cases via Nautilus
Gateway and utilizing Nautilus technical content.
Ashley Riley, ALMI
Administration
Ashley Riley, ALMI joined The Nautilus Group
in 2023 after serving seven years at the New York Life Dallas
General Office as a new business case manager. She primarily
supports the case development team by ensuring final proposals
meet quality standards. Additionally, she provides guidance
and technical support to Nautilus members in submitting cases
via the Nautilus Gateway and utilizing Nautilus technical
content. Ashley is a published author, has a bachelor’s degree
in history and education from the University of Texas at
Dallas, and has earned the Associate, Life Management
Institute designation from LOMA.
Heather L. Davis
JD, CLU®, ChFC®, CAP®
Marketing, Meetings, & Model Office Leadership Team
Heather L. Davis, JD, CLU®, ChFC®, CAP®,
has been with New York Life since 1999. She is part of the
leadership team at The Nautilus Group where she heads the
Marketing, Meetings, and Model Office departments. Prior to
this role, Heather managed a team of consultants at New York
Life’s Advanced Planning Group and was a member of the special
cases unit at Nautilus where she created customized business
and estate analyses for high-net-worth clients. She graduated
Phi Beta Kappa and as a Superior Scholar from the University
of Nebraska, where she received both her Bachelor of Arts and
Juris Doctor. She is also a member of the Texas State Bar
Association.
Darla Bean ALMI
Model Office
Darla L. Bean, ALMI,
started at Nautilus in 2001 to help develop the Model Office
program. In 2010, her focus shifted to working on company-wide
marketing initiatives and advisor events, meetings planning,
and assisting member agents and their staff with Nautilus
marketing assets. She also serves as editor for all Nautilus
publications. Darla graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor
of Science in mass communications from Texas Woman’s
University in Denton, TX.
Megan Hogan MA
Marketing, Meetings, & Model Office
Megan Hogan, MA, is a Senior Associate in the
Marketing, Meetings, and Model Office department. She joined
The Nautilus Group in 2020 and since then, her primary focus
has been on supporting the Model Office program and organizing
meetings for Nautilus members, their associates, and internal
staff. Megan graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock
with a Master of Arts in communication studies and a Bachelor
of Arts in communication studies with a concentration in
corporate communication.
Jasmine C. Johnson MA
Model Office
Jasmine C. Johnson, MA,
is an associate in the Marketing, Meetings, and Model Office
department. She joined The Nautilus Group in 2022, bringing
journalism and marketing experience. The Dallas native earned
her Master of Arts in journalism from the University of North
Texas in Denton and her Bachelor of Arts in journalism at the
University of Texas at Austin.
Maggie Riley MBA
MMarketing, Meetings, & Model Office
Maggie Riley, MBA, is an associate in the
Marketing, Meetings, and Model Office department. She joined
The Nautilus Group in 2022, bringing marketing and
administrative experience. Maggie earned a Master of Business
Administration and a Bachelor of Business Administration in
marketing from Angelo State University in San Angelo, TX.
Sarah Frances Trampe
MBA
Marketing, Meetings, & Model Office
Sarah Frances Trampe, MBA,
joined Nautilus in 2010 and manages the Model Office program.
She assists Nautilus members and their associates in
developing back-office efficiency, annual business planning,
and strategic marketing. Additionally, she works with Nautilus
members and associates in locating general human resources and
staff development materials. Sarah Frances holds a Master of
Business Administration with a concentration in marketing
management from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD,
and a Bachelor of Science in international trade and finance
from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
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