Michael Davino, CFP®, is the CEO and Founder of U-Vest® Financial with offices across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. He began his advising career in 2010 with Waddell & Reed, which later transitioned into LPL Financial in 2021. For over 14 years, Michael has built a reputation for helping businesses, non-profits, and families pursue their financial goals. He believes in the power of comprehensive financial planning, helping clients align their retirement, cash flow, insurance, education, and estate goals under one cohesive strategy.
Michael’s leadership and dedication have earned national recognition, including being named to the 2025 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams* list, the 2024 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors** and Next Gen Advisors*** lists, and ranking #151 nationally on AdvisorHub’s 2024 “Advisors to Watch” list for advisors under $1 billion in assets under management.
A proud graduate of Florida State University with a degree in Finance, Michael met his wife, Kyle, during his time at FSU. Together, they have three children—Micah, Norah, and Scarlett “Scout.” The Davino family is deeply committed to advocacy and support for the Down Syndrome community, as their son Micah is blessed to be one of the children born with it.
Outside of financial advising, Michael is also an owner of Just Fruits and Exotics Plant Nursery, a family-run plant nursery where he spends much of his free time growing hundreds of varieties of fruit trees and ornamental plants. A passionate golfer, Michael enjoys exploring new courses on every trip—his favorites so far are Pebble Beach in California and Fairmont Banff Springs in Canada. He also trains regularly at Titus Sports Academy and has a fellowship there.
*Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams ranking was developed by SHOOK Research and is based on in-person, virtual and telephone due diligence meetings and a ranking algorithm that includes: a measure of each team’s best practices, client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, including: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion because client objectives and risk tolerances vary, and advisors rarely have audited performance reports. SHOOK’s research and rankings provide opinions intended to help investors choose the right financial advisor and team, and are not indicative of future performance or representative of any one client’s experience. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK Research receive compensation in exchange for placement on the ranking. For more information, please see www.SHOOKresearch.com. SHOOK is a registered trademark of SHOOK Research, LLC.
**The Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisor ranking, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings and a ranking algorithm that includes: client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, including: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK Research receives a fee in exchange for rankings.
***The Forbes ranking of Top Next-Generation Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative data, rating thousands of wealth advisors born in or after 1980. Advisors are interviewed by telephone and in person to evaluate service models, investing process, experience levels and integrity. Additional factors considered include compliance record, client retention, revenues produced for their firms and assets managed. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK receives a fee in exchange for rankings.