John Middleton

CFP®, CFA®, AIF®, CAIA®

Brighton Financial Planning

Financial Planner/Investment Manager

John Middleton

CFP®, CFA®, AIF®, CAIA®

Brighton Financial Planning

Financial Planner/Investment Manager

As a fee-only financial planner, my focus is to offer unbiased financial advice to help you achieve your life goals. - John Middleton, CFP®, CFA®, AIF®, CAIA®

Fee-Only financial planner located in Flemington, NJ, (satellite offices in Richmond, Virginia and Kiawah Island, South Carolina) serving clients locally and across the country

I am a fee-only financial planner with a principal office in Flemington, New Jersey and satellite offices in Richmond, Virginia and Kiawah Island, South Carolina. I am also registered in Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia and South Carolina and notice filed in Texas. Brighton Financial Planning provides comprehensive and objective financial planning to help clients organize, grow and protect their assets through life’s transitions. As a fee-only, fiduciary, and independent financial advisor, I am never paid a commission of any kind, and have a legal obligation to provide unbiased and trustworthy financial advice.

John P. Middleton, CFA, CFP®, CAIA, AIF® is the Owner, Financial Planner & Portfolio Manager at Brighton Financial Planning.


I joined Brighton Financial Planning in 2008 and assumed ownership in 2010. I focus my efforts at Brighton on helping our clients achieve their long-term goals and objectives. I strive to accomplish this initiative through the services we offer. I provide full financial planning, financial coaching, discretionary asset management, asset monitoring and small business retirement plan advisory services. My clients often are planning for, or are, in retirement and are looking to ensure they have the income and assets necessary to provide the lifestyle they wish to lead. I assist them by forecasting their income and expense, reviewing their insurance coverages and estate documents and analyzing and managing their investment portfolios. I help them identify and address areas of concern, such as liquidity needs, time horizon, risk tolerance, insufficient or missing estate documents or insurance coverage and income/expense mismatches. We then work together to build a plan that resolves these items going forward.


Prior to Brighton, I spent 7 years with the Invesco Quantitative Strategies Group as a Senior Director and Client Portfolio Manager. Within this role, I was responsible for administrative portfolio management duties, portfolio attribution and on-going client reporting. I also wrote white papers covering such topics as Quantitative vs. Fundamental Enhanced Index Managers, SMID Cap strategies, and Transaction Cost Management. Finally, I was a frequent speaker at conferences, including to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Prior to Invesco, I was as an Officer and Senior Vice President at Mutual of America Capital Management responsible for sales and marketing efforts for the MOACM stable of investment strategies. Prior to Mutual of America, I held several positions with Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and subsidiaries. These positions included Director of Marketing & Client Service for Awad Asset Management, Regional Vice President for Heritage Asset Management, Inc., Director of Corporate New Business Development for the Investment Banking Group and Marketing Associate with the Partnership Investment Banking Group.

I graduated from Rutgers University, with a B.A. in Political Science in 1988, and from the University of Tampa, with an M.B.A in Finance in 1993. I also earned a Certificate in Financial Planning from Florida State University and a Certificate in Financial Planning Teaching from CFP Board-Columbia University School of Professional Studies.

I possess the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®), and the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designations. I also have earned the DACFP Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets.

I am a member of the Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association of New Jersey. I was the 2019-2020 Education Director for FPA-NJ, 2021 President and am the 2022 Chairperson and Major Conference Director. I am also a member of the CFA Institute, the Financial Planning Association, the New York Society of Security Analysts, the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and the CAIA Association.

I am an avid, albeit slow, triathlete and compete in both triathlons and duathlons as often as possible. My favorite discipline is biking and I spend many hours on the bike or trainer. I am also an avid golfer. I have a daughter, a Wake Forest undergrad and UNC grad school graduate and a son, a Lehigh undergrad and Duke grad school graduate. My wife is a Vanderbilt undergrad and UNC grad school graduate and is President of a regional commercial insurance company. We spend our vacation time traveling or relaxing on Kiawah Island in South Carolina.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP®(with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

I am a 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 Five Star Wealth Manager.

John Middleton is a Member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors - highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.

NAPFA members live by three important values:

  • To be the beacon for independent, objective financial advice for individuals and families.
  • To be the champion of financial services delivered in the public interest.
  • To be the standard bearer for the emerging profession of financial planning.

Brighton Financial Planning Inc.(BFP) was established in 1984 by James J. Chesterton, Jr. CFP® to provide high quality Financial Planning and Investment Advisory services to individuals.  John P. Middleton, CFA, CFP®, CAIA assumed ownership in 2010 under the name Middleton Financial Management LLC, dba Brighton Financial Planning.

BFP was established with a belief that individuals expect and require personalized attention and customized service to maximize their financial well-being. We believe boutique firms, such as ours, are better able to provide that level of care and attention. We believe long-term relationships between the client and advisor are both desirable and essential. A financial plan or investment strategy is not a singular event. Circumstances will change in unanticipated ways over time and strategies must be continually adapted to meet those challenges. Thus a long-lasting client-advisor relationship is critical to making the right adaptations.

As a boutique, we offer several desirable, beneficial attributes to individuals. Most importantly, we are an independent firm whose sole source of compensation is the fees paid by our clients. This independence provides us the freedom to make recommendations and decisions we believe are in the best interests of our clients.

We offer co-ordinated Financial PlanningDiscretionary Investment Management ServicesAsset Monitoring/Advisory Services, Financial Coaching, and Defined Contribution Advisory Services .

Fee-Only, Fiduciary, Independent: Three Important Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Financial Advisor.

Specialties

  • Investment Management
  • Comprehensive Financial Planning
  • Retirement Income Planning
  • College Education Planning
  • Tax Planning

Ideal Clients

  • Retirees and Near Retirees
  • Growing Families
  • Business Owners and Executives
  • Sudden Money Situations
  • Novice Investors

Working Together

  • In-Office Meetings
  • Virtual Meetings
  • Clearly Defined Fees
  • No Product Sales
  • Complimentary Initial Consultation

Professional Designations & Affiliations

  • National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)
    John Middleton is a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor

    The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors—highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.

  • Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
    John Middleton is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional - Click for Verification

    CFP® professionals are held to strict ethical standards to ensure financial planning recommendations are in your best interest. What’s more, a CFP® professional must acquire several years of experience related to delivering financial planning services to clients and pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam before they can use the CFP® designation.

  • XY Planning Network
    John Middleton is a Member of the XY Planning Network

    The XY Planning Network is the leading organization of fee-only financial advisors who are focused on working with Generation X and Generation Y clients. Our mission is to connect consumers with best-in-class financial advisors who specialize in working with clients just like you.

  • Financial Planning Association
    John Middleton is a member of The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®)

    FPA® is the largest membership organization for CFP® professionals in the U.S. and supports high standards of professional competence, ethical conduct, and clear, complete disclosure when serving clients.

  • CFA - Chartered Financial Analyst

    John Middleton is a CFA® charterholder

    The CFA Program is the most respected and recognized investment management designation in the world with less than 200,000 charterholders globally.

    This advisor has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation (CFA® charter) by passing all three of the CFA exams and gaining relevant industry experience, demonstrating their mastery of the investment analysis and decision-making skills most needed in the global investment management profession.

  • Accredited Investment Fiduciary®
    John Middleton is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF)

    Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) training empowers investment professionals with the fiduciary knowledge and tools they need to serve their clients’ best interests. Advisors who have earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation have gone through training, met the qualifications, and passed the exam allowing use of the AIF designation and they are immediately able to demonstrate the added value that they can bring to both existing and prospective clients.

  • Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst® (CAIA®)
    John Middleton is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst® (CAIA®)

    Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst® (CAIA®) is a professional designation offered by the CAIA Association to investment professionals who complete a course of study and pass two examinations. The "alternative investments" industry is characterized as dealing with asset classes and investments other than standard equity or fixed income products. Alternative investments can include hedge funds, private equity, real assets, commodities, and structured products. The CAIA curriculum is designed to provide finance professionals with a broad base of knowledge in alternative investments.

  • DACFP Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets
    John Middleton earned the Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets℠

    Financial professionals who hold the Certificate in Blockchain and Assets℠ issued by Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP) have earned the essential knowledge and skills they need to provide their clients accurate, relevant, timely and valuable advice about blockchain and digital asset management. Graduates of the Certificate program have taken the only course of its kind about this emerging ecosystem created for financial advisors by leading financial advisors.

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Office Locations:

  • 70 Church Street
    Suite 105
    Flemington, NJ 08822
  • 408 Snowy Egret Lane
    Kiawah Island, SC 29455
  • 4870 Sadler Road
    Glen Allen, VA 23060

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