About Us

John R. Hart

John R. Hart is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Sarasota Private Trust Company as well as the Vice Chairman of New York Private Bank & Trust Company. He also serves as a Director of the Board of Cleveland Private Trust Company. Mr. Hart has over 40 years of experience in the banking sector, primarily in Investments and Private Wealth Management. He is responsible for the Private Banking and Capital Markets Divisions of Emigrant Bank. He serves as a Director of Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc., Emigrant Funding Corporation and Emigrant Agency Inc. Mr. Hart also oversees New York Private Finance which provides credit to finance strategic investments for private investors. Additionally, he oversees Aperture Media Partners, a specialty finance business in the film and television industry.

Prior to New York Private Bank & Trust, he was a Senior Director of Capital Markets at Mellon PSFS.

Mr. Hart holds an MBA in Finance from Saint Joseph’s University and a B.A. in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University.

George J. Dickson, Jr.

George J. Dickson, Jr. is Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of New York Private Bank & Trust and Emigrant Bank. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Sarasota Private Trust Company and Cleveland Private Trust Company.

Mr. Dickson has been an executive officer of Emigrant Bank since 1988. He is a founder of the Capital Markets Division and the Bank’s Asset/Liability Committee, managing the fixed income investment portfolio and directing capital markets related activities. He also advises separately managed accounts for foundations, endowments, trusts, and ultra high net worth clients of the Bank’s affiliated trust companies.

For over 30 years, Mr. Dickson has been integrally involved in all of Emigrant’s key financial initiatives, ranging from debt issuance and balance sheet hedging, to the highly successful U.S. Government and municipal bond trading programs. He created and managed the NYPB&T Municipal Liquidity Fund (MF-1 LP), a special purpose hedge fund designed to capitalize on unique opportunities that arose during the financial crisis. Prior to joining Emigrant Bank, he was an Investment Strategist at Mellon PSFS Bank in Philadelphia. Mr. Dickson holds a B.S. degree from Drexel University, with a dual major in Finance and Economics, and an M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Alison A. Guardino

Alison A. Guardino – Senior Vice President and Director of Operations at New York Private Bank & Trust. Ms. Guardino manages the Operations Team from both a client service and trade support perspective, overseeing all client activity to ensure client satisfaction. Her duties include client onboarding, KYC due diligence, process and control ownership, operational risk mitigation, client reporting and general supervision of all operational activity for both internal and external clients.

Prior to joining NYPB&T, Ms. Guardino spent over 30 years in the banking and financial services industry, specializing in Investment Bank Operations. As an Operations professional, Ms. Guardino has been able to merge strategic thinking with her vast experience to understand the big picture to enhance operational efficiency. She is enthusiastic in approaching organization wide challenges from many angles and utilizing her expertise to deliver effective solutions. She has worked in a variety of client service, client onboarding (KYC) and trade support roles at HSBC, Barclays, and Morgan Stanley.

Ms. Guardino is a graduate of Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY with a BS in Finance and Management. She is also an active member of the Kiwanis Club of New York City Young Professionals and is a Manhattan College School of Business mentor to students at her alma mater.

James A. Berger

Jim Berger is a Managing Director with New York Private Bank & Trust. He is responsible for new business development for all divisions and affiliates of Emigrant Bank. Prior to joining New York Private Bank & Trust, Mr. Berger spent 23 years in the global insurance market, specializing in the entertainment industry providing insurance and completion bonds for several Academy Award® winning films. Mr. Berger currently holds several Board seats including the Trust of the Metropolitan Opera, as well as Aperture Media Partners, a business he introduced to Emigrant Bank.

Mr. Berger and his wife support several national charities including Make-A-Wish. A graduate of Boston University, he currently sits on the alumni board of New York City.

Mr. Berger lives in Manhattan with his wife and young son. He is an avid golfer and skier.

William M. (Biff) Folberth III

William M. (Biff) Folberth III, CFP, CFA is a Managing Director of New York Private Bank & Trust. For the past 47 years, he has been a professional in the New York City financial services industry. He spent the first 20 years of his career as an Investment Banker/Corporate Finance officer with Hornblower & Weeks-Hemphill, Noyes; Dean Witter (Reynolds), and Smith Barney Harris-Upham. For the last 27 years, he served as Senior Vice President and Investment Counselor in the Rockefeller Center Private Client Service (PCS) Office of the Los Angeles based Capital Group Companies/American Funds Group. As an Investment Counselor at Capital, he was a trusted advisor for 53 relationships for which the firm managed $800 million in 186 separate accounts.

Over the years, Biff has served as an officer of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board and the Columbia Business School Board of Overseers. He is Co-Secretary of the Class of 1966 at Yale, was Chairman of The Yale Alumni Fund, and is one of the 290 recipients of The Yale Medal, given for lifelong service to the University. He is past Treasurer of The American Foundation of the Blind and Chairman of the Advisory Board of The American Field Service, an organization through which he traveled as an exchange student to Holland in 1961. He has been Troop Committee Chairman, Eagle Scout with Bronze Palm, and Ordeal Member of the Order of The Arrow with the Boy Scouts of America. He currently serves as Argentier Emeritus of the New York Chapter of The Commanderie de Bordeaux.

Mr. Folberth received a BS from Yale University and graduate business degrees from both Columbia and Harvard Business Schools. He is a Certified Financial Planner and a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Andrew Gehring

Andrew Gehring is a Managing Director of Retirement Plans with Sarasota Private Trust Company. He is responsible for all Retirement Plan client relationships and business development at Sarasota Private Trust Company, and its affiliates – New York Private Bank & Trust and Cleveland Private Trust Company. Mr. Gehring has over 20 years of retirement experience specializing in Defined Contribution Plans (401(k), 403(b) 401(a), 457(b), etc.) and Defined Benefit Plans (Pensions, Cash Balance, etc.).

Mr. Gehring was nationally recognized in his field by receiving the 2016 and 2017 “Wingman” award by the National Association of Plan Administrators, which awards the top professionals in their field nationally. He holds his AIF and ARPC designations.

Mr. Gehring is a past Finance Committee Member of his church. He is also involved in fundraising efforts to provide scholarships for children to experience summer camp for families that may not otherwise be able to afford the camp experience. Mr. Gehring holds both a B.A. and M.A. from The University of Mississippi and is an active member of the U of M Alumni Association and The Grove Collective.

David Marcus

David Marcus is a Managing Director of New York Private Bank & Trust. He has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, both as a banker – raising equity and debt capital for public and private companies – and as an entrepreneur.

Prior to New York Private Bank & Trust, Mr. Marcus was Head of Capital Markets at E*TRADE Financial and prior to that was Co-Head of Capital Markets at W.R. Hambrecht & Co. Earlier in his career he worked in Equity Sales at Bankers Trust, ING Barings and Lehman Brothers where he covered family offices and hedge funds. David briefly left banking to start WorldStreet, a fintech company that streamlined the workflow between banks and asset managers. The company was acquired by Thomson Reuters.

Mr. Marcus currently serves on the board of the Del Sole Foundation and on the Advisory Board of OpenWater Group. Previously he served on the Advisory Board of AI Reverie, an AI company acquired by Meta in 2021, and on the Board of HollerMedia Inc., a social media company.

Mr. Marcus holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from Boston University and is based in Palo Alto, California.

Thomas Kania

Thomas Kania is a First Vice President at New York Private Bank and Trust Company. He manages the lending activities for all affiliates. Based in New York City, Mr. Kania handles the diverse lending needs of private banking clients.

Mr. Kania has over 20 years of advanced credit and lending experience at Bank of America, Citigroup and Fieldpoint Private. He served in such roles as Chief Credit Officer, Senior Vice President and Chief Restructuring Officer. Over the course of his career, Mr. Kania has become very skilled in real estate, mortgage, art, as well as other types of specialty lending. In addition, Mr. Kania has extensive experience in lending to privately held companies, private equity firms and hedge funds, as well as their founders, executives and investors.

Mr. Kania earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia University, cum laude. He has lived in Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine and Mongolia and is fluent in Polish, Russian and French.

He and his family live in Old Greenwich, CT.

Christine M. Ford

Christine Ford is a Vice President and Credit Officer at New York Private Bank & Trust. Her responsibilities include credit underwriting of new business opportunities as well as the maintenance and monitoring of the existing loan portfolio. She manages the loan review process, monitors covenant compliance and loan collateral, and is responsible for updating and maintaining bank policies and procedures.

Prior to joining NYPB&T, Ms. Ford spent over 25 years in the banking and financial services industry, primarily in Wealth Management and Private Banking. As a lending officer, much of her focus was on mortgage lending to Private Banking clients. She has worked at BNY Mellon, Wells Fargo, and Chase Manhattan Bank. Ms. Ford is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA with a BS in Economics.

Gail Fagan

Gail Fagan serves as Chief Fiduciary Officer for Sarasota Private Trust Company and its affiliates, New York Private Bank & Trust Company and Cleveland Private Trust Company. Ms. Fagan has over 20 years of experience as a trust and estates lawyer as well as extensive experience in fiduciary administration and risk management. She previously served as Senior Trust Counsel at Wells Fargo Bank and at The Northern Trust Company.

Prior to working in the financial services industry, Gail was a practicing attorney in Jacksonville, Florida. She earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida.

Ms. Fagan is a member of The Florida Bar, the State Bar of Texas, the North Carolina State Bar and the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Counsel. Gail is active in the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar and has served on its Executive Council for many years. Gail has been active in the community as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarasota Family YMCA and as a custody advocate for the Children’s Law Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Renee Armbruster

Renee Armbruster is a Managing Director and Senior Trust Officer with almost 25 years of experience in Southwest Florida working with high net worth families and individuals providing fiduciary expertise for their wealth and estate plans. Ms. Armbruster’s specialty is helping families ensure that their legal documents align with their needs and goals while maintaining family harmony. Having the perspective of being one of seven children in a blended family and working with hundreds of families and the largest trust companies over the years, Ms. Armbruster has the necessary perspective and knowledge. She understands the importance of identifying potential pitfalls and areas of improvement to help her clients customize their estate plan and avoid family conflict.

Prior to working in the financial services industry, Ms. Armbruster was a practicing attorney in Sarasota and she is also a Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Central Florida and a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law.

Ms. Armbruster is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the Sarasota County Bar Association, and the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council. She has been an active volunteer in the community serving Boy Scouts of America, Southwest Florida Council, Easterseals of Southwest Florida Operating Board of Directors and Foundation Board of Directors, TAC Booster Club, Inc., Board of Directors for the American Cancer Society, and as a mentor and board member for Take Stock in Children of Sarasota County.

Carmen Villa

Carmen Villa is a Vice President at New York Private Bank & Trust. Ms. Villa is part of the client services and operations team that oversees all client activity. Her duties include client onboarding and due diligence, regulatory compliance, and supervision of daily account activity to ensure optimal client satisfaction.

Prior to joining the Bank in 2006, Ms. Villa was a custody officer at The Bank of New York where she was responsible for overseeing $740 million in client account assets. She began her career at JP Morgan Chase in 1994, and spent seven years as a custody and banking officer in the Wealth Management Division.

Ms. Villa holds a B.S. degree in Material Science & Metallurgy from Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest, Romania.

Stephen Wainger

Stephen Wainger is a Consultant of New York Private Bank & Trust. Prior to his position with NYPB&T, Mr. Wainger was a Trial Attorney for the United States Justice Department, Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and a private practice Trial Attorney in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Mr. Wainger has served on the Board of Directors of both the Norfolk Academy and the Cape Henry Collegiate School. He has served on the Old Dominion University Educational Foundation, as well as the Eastern Virginia Medical School Foundation. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond Law School.