Cecilia Mercado

Chief Compliance Officer-KAI

Cecilia Mercado joined Kovack Securities in August 2018 as a Compliance Associate. In November 2020, she was promoted to Vice President of RIA Compliance. In March 2024, she was promoted to Chief Compliance Officer for Kovack Advisors, Inc. Her responsibilities include:

• All regulatory and compliance matters for Kovack Advisors, Inc., including financial plans, suitability, fee and portfolio reviews.
• Resolving complex issues on a broad range of policies, regulations and firm requirements pertaining to sales practices, operations, products and training.

Prior to joining Kovack, Cecilia was a Financial Consultant and has worked in the industry for more than 15 years.

Cecilia Mercado has Series 7, 24, 52, 63, 65, and 66 licenses and attended the University of Puerto Rico.

She can be reached at (954) 358-2871 or at cmercado@kfn.com

Michel Tsaparlis

Vice President of Advisory Services

Michel joined Kovack Securities in April of 2013 as a Business Development Consultant. She was promoted to Vice President of Advisory Services in April of 2014. Her primary responsibilities include:

*Providing assistance to Registered Advisors on products and services offered through Kovack Advisors

*Answering Compliance questions

*Answering paperwork questions

*Answering billing questions

*Acting as main contact for Outside TAMPs

*Responding to requests for proposals

Michel has been in the financial services industry for approximately 20 years. She first started her career in Boston, MA, as a Registered Rep/Advisor working for such companies as, American Express and Fidelity Investments. She spent the last 16 years working in different management capacities for several Broker Dealers/RIAs. Her last position was the Chief Compliance Officer, for Investacorp Advisory Services, Inc.

Michel holds her Series 4, 7, 24, 55, 63, 65 and 79.

She can be reached at 954-670-8707 or at mtsaparlis@kfn.com

 

Chris Thomson

Vice President of Advisory Growth

Chris joined Kovack Financial in May of 2024 as Vice President of Advisory Growth. His responsibilities include:

• Updating and improving Kovack’s advisory programs
• Helping advisors drive sustainable growth through data-driven insights
• Overseeing the adoption and integration of technology solutions to enhance advisory services and operational efficiencies
• Helping develop and implement portfolio management solutions to help scale advisor’s practices
• Report to Executive Management to ensure the department’s strategic vision and goals are aligned with the overall objectives of the firm

Prior to joining Kovack, Chris worked for Investacorp Inc, whose parent companies were Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services and Securities of America. Prior to that Chris worked for 5 years at Bernstein Private Wealth Management. Chris brings with him a wealth of knowledge as he worked his way up from VP of Compliance, to Director of Compliance to Managing Director of Advisory Services. For the last 4 years Chris was the Managing Director for a Registered Investment Advisor.

Chris did his undergrad and graduate studies at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton where he majored in Finance and has his MBA in International Business. He holds his Series 7, 24, 63, 65 and 99 licenses.

He can be reached at (954) 670-8715or at cthomson@kfn.com