Christina Burroughs, MRA Associates
Christina Burroughs serves as Managing Partner for MRA Associates. She works with client families on a variety of wealth management issues such as investment planning, strategic multi-generational planning, and philanthropy. She serves on the MRA Associates Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Management Committee, and Investment Policy Committee.
Most recently, Christina was the President of GenSpring Family Offices’ Phoenix family office. Prior to that, she served as a Director at Inlign Wealth Management and Financial Advisor at Tanager Financial Services in Boston, MA.
From 2013 to 2016 Christina was named a Five Star Wealth Manager™ in Phoenix Magazine and selected as one of Arizona’s 50 highest-ranking women in the Arizona Republic’s 2014 issue of Who’s Who in Business. In 2016, Christina was named as one of the Most Influential Women by the AzBusiness Magazine.
David Canter, Executive Vice President, Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions
David heads the registered investment advisor (RIA) segment for Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions®, the business that offers a comprehensive clearing and custody platform, trading capabilities and business process and operations consulting to banks, broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, professional asset managers, strategic acquirers and retirement advisors and record keepers.
Prior to his current role, David served as executive vice president of Practice Management and Consulting for Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions and executive vice president and chief operating officer for Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services (IWS).
Bernie Clark, Schwab Advisor Services
Bernie oversees the business that provides custodial, operational, and trading support to over 7,500 independent investment advisory firms with $1.78 trillion in assets under management. A recognized industry leader, Clark has been named as one of the "IA 25" by Investment Advisor magazine, which annually ranks the 25 most influential people in the industry.
Bernie has more than 30 years of financial industry experience serving individual and institutional investors. He took on his current role as head of Schwab Advisor Services in 2010.
He serves on the board of the Foundation for Financial Planning, and the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business, Center for Services Leadership.
Kelli Cruz, Cruz Consulting Group
Kelli brings more than 20 years of experience to her role as the founder of Cruz Consulting Group (CCG), working closely with advisory firm owners and executives of financial services institutions. CCG is committed to building talent wealth and helping advisory firms realize their true potential, by providing consulting engagements in human capital, including organizational design, compensation planning, performance management, and succession planning.
Kelli is a frequent speaker at national industry conferences and a regular columnist for Financial Planning on practice management related topics. Prior to starting CCG, she founded InvestmentNews Adviser Solutions and oversaw advisor consulting engagements and the InvestmentNews/Moss Adams research studies. Kelli was a director in Advisor Services at Charles Schwab where she pioneered the industry’s first human capital practice management program for RIA advisory firms.
Before joining Schwab, Kelli also held a variety of management positions at Wells Fargo, including managing human resources for the Private Client Services Group.
Dr. John Evans, Head Strategist, Knowledge Labs™ Professional Development, Janus Henderson Investors
Elements of Extraordinary Teams
Dr. Evans works with the Professional Development Team and provides extensive consulting, training and practice management expertise. He is a sought-after expert and keynote speaker. He regularly contributes to The Orlando Sentinel newspaper on business and politics and is featured in the Advisor Center section of Barron’s magazine. Dr. Evans has authored books on client retention and client acquisition, including “The Book of WOW” and “A Genuine Persuasion System.” He also serves on the board of advisors for the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee, Florida, and Elevate USA in Denver, Colorado.
Read the latest blog posts for Dr. Evans here.
Greg Friedman, CEO, Private Ocean
Greg is a tireless advocate for Private Ocean clients. He never stops conceiving and implementing new ways to improve their wealth management experience – and their quality of life.
As Private Ocean CEO, Greg leads the development of new systems and services; sits on the investment committee; sets technology strategy for the firm, and works directly with clients on financial planning and investment strategy. He also maintains close partnerships with respected trust and estate attorneys and accountants who serve high net worth individuals.
Greg was recognized in InvestmentNews' 2017 Class of Icons and Innovators for his contribution to the advancement of the financial advice profession and for conceiving new ideas and tools that have propelled the industry forward. In 2018, Greg was named CEO of the Year at the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards.
Greg is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events on topics which include financial planning, retirement, practice management, and client service. He is also frequently cited in industry journals and publications.
Yonhee Gordon, Principal, Chief Operating Officer, JMG Financial Group
As Chief Operating Officer at JMG Financial Group, Yonhee is responsible for employee development and the day-to-day operations of the firm. She focuses her efforts on organizational development to ensure the sustainability of JMG’s long-term operations. Since starting at JMG in 1986, Yonhee has presented at various industry conferences on topics ranging from career development to business management strategies, in addition to being featured in various industry publications. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, a member of NAPFA, The Chicago Network and was named as one of the 2018 Women to Watch by InvestmentNews.
Laura Gregg, Director of Practice Management and Advisor Research, FlexShares Exchange Traded Funds, managed by Northern Trust
Laura joined Northern Trust in 2008 and is focused on leading the firm’s proprietary advisor and investor research and building programs to engage advisors and asset managers through industry intelligence and best practices to help them grow their businesses.
Laura has more than 20 years of asset management experience in a variety of roles including conducting industry research, as a relationship manager, marketing and communications director, leader of sales enablement team and as an investment product specialist. She frequently speaks at industry events on a range of business building strategies. Laura’s insights have been published in U.S. News & World Report, InvestmentNews, Financial Advisor Magazine, CIO Magazine and other industry trade publications.
Kristin Harad, Outsourced CMO
Kristin Harad, CFP® founded and grew an independent fee-only RIA before transitioning to training advisors. She uses her firsthand knowledge from running an RIA along with 14 years of corporate marketing and ad agency experience in strategic marketing roles working for Grey Direct, Charles Schwab, Visa, and United Airlines to help RIAs attract more of the right people. Kristin serves as an outsourced Chief Marketing Officer for independent RIAs who want experienced guidance to set and get their growth and relationship marketing plan into action. Fulfilling a lifelong dream to live and work abroad, Kristin, with her husband and two kids, moved to Sydney, Australia in 2015. She ran her consulting business remotely for nearly 3 years before returning to San Francisco last year.
Wendy Hartman, President of Buckingham Strategic Wealth
As President of Buckingham Strategic Wealth, Wendy Hartman is responsible for providing strategic leadership to the firm by working with the board of directors and the advisory department leaders to oversee and implement goals and team plans to achieve strategic priorities. Before taking the reins of the entire Buckingham experience, she most recently served as a managing director for Buckingham, with oversight of our client service and client development departments.
Before joining Buckingham in 2010, Wendy was a strategic advisor with Enterprise Trust Company. She served as a portfolio analyst with First Banks, Inc. and an equity analyst with Bank of America Capital Management.
She holds an MBA from Saint Louis University and a bachelor’s degree from Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. Wendy also holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional designation. She recently accepted a three year-term as a member of the Midwest NAPFA Board.
Kate Healy, Managing Director, Generation Next, TD Ameritrade Institutional
Kate Healy is Managing Director, Generation Next, focused on advocacy for sustainability issues facing the RIA industry. Healy leads TD Ameritrade Institutional's NextGen and Women's Leadership Initiatives, which support the future of the profession through programs designed to raise visibility, provide support and resources to guide professional development of the next generation of advisors. She is a member of the Company’s Diversity & Inclusion committee.
Healy is widely recognized as a leading advocate for the next generation of financial planners, for women advisors and for the financial planning profession and most recently recognized as one of the 2018 “10 to Watch” by Wealthmanagement.com and named as one of the industry’s 25 most influential people in 2016 by Investment Advisor magazine.
She currently serves as a trustee for the Foundation for Financial Planning and is a founding member of the CFP Board's Women's Initiative (WIN) Council, the Center for Financial Planning's Advisory Council and a founding member of the Center’s Diversity Advisory Board.
Matthew Jackson, Vice President in the Corporate Strategy team, LPL Financial
The Pricing Conundrum – How to Level Up without Blowing Up
Mr. Jackson has spent over a decade in strategy consulting, and his recent work has focused in particular on the pricing of wealth management services in the US. While a Director at pricing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners, he authored five white papers on the future of fees in financial advice, the most recent being The Future Ready Service Model. Read the white paper, The Future of Fees by Matthew Jackson here
Hunter Judson Jr., founder and leads the Wealth Management Search Practice at Judson Group
Judson Group, which is an executive search firm started in 2002. His team primarily works with RIAs, Trust Companies, SFO/MFOs, and Banks across the country to find top talent for critical roles. Prior to Judson Group, Hunter worked with UHNW families as part of an advisory team at Bessemer Trust in Chicago, Illinois. While at Bessemer, Hunter obtained Series 7/63 licenses along with the Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) designation. Hunter graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, where he played on the soccer and golf teams. He now spends most of his time at home chasing around his two year-old son, Fitz, and newborn daughter, Harper, with his high school sweetheart turned wife, Carly.
Shaun Kapusinski, Director, Technology & Operations for Sequoia Financial Group
Shaun is highly involved in technology systems for Sequoia Financial Group. As a technology and operational expert, Shaun has a broad spectrum of experience including, co-authoring, “The Financial Advisor M&A Guidebook: Best Practices, Tools and Resources for Technology Integration and Beyond”, current member of The University of Akron's Finance Advisory Board, recipient of the Outstanding Financial Professional of the Year by the University of Akron’s Department of Finance, and founder of High Impact Financial Operations Network (HIFON).
Scott Klososky, Speaker and Author
Technology and Machine Intelligence in Personal Finance
Mr. Klososky is the founder of numerous successful technology startup companies, and this has helped him gain a unique perspective into technology’s impact on industry and humanity. He is not just an observer of digital trends, he has routinely invested in his future visions with a great track record of success.
This unique perspective and future vision have allowed Scott to travel the globe as a speaker, consultant, and author. He works with senior executives in organizations ranging from the Fortune 500 to universities, nonprofits, and countless professional associations and coalitions. Watch the YouTube video about homology featuring Scott Klososky here.
Brian Martin, Managing Director, Operations and Wealth Management & Shareholder, Accedited Investors Wealth Management
As Managing Director, Operations and Wealth Management, Brian leads Accredited’s team of dedicated Wealth Managers and Operations staff to help deliver a truly comprehensive Wealth Management experience for clients.
As a Wealth Manager, Brian has expertise in executive compensation as well as planning for complex estates and wealth transfer strategies. He also has extensive experience working with physicians and managing divorce settlements.
Brian is a Certified Financial Planner™ and earned a B.A. in Economics from Hamline University.
Jack Nicholson, Dimensional Fund Advisors
As a Vice President and Regional Manager in Financial Advisor Services, John (Jack) Nicholson partners with Regional Directors across the East Coast in order to deliver exceptional value to independent advisory firms and their end clients. As a part of this effort, Jack and his team provide advisors guidance on capital markets research and the practical implications of putting compelling investment concepts to work for their clients. In addition, Jack looks to deliver comprehensive support to the advisor's business needs in areas such as benchmarking, firm strategy, client experience, and business development.
Prior to joining Dimensional, Jack worked as a sales executive at Vanguard, focused on serving the needs of large independent advisory firms across the western US. Prior to leaving for business school, Jack spent six years building a small business as a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley.
Jack holds an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and a BBA in finance from the University of Portland.
Tom Orecchio, Modera Wealth Management Principal and Wealth Manager
Tom Orecchio is a Principal and Wealth Manager at Modera Wealth Management, LLC. With over 20 years of experience in wealth management, Tom has always believed that the best way to serve clients and provide objective advice is through the independent, fee-only approach.
Tom’s career began at Heritage Financial where he worked as a financial planner. In 1995, he joined the firm Greenbaum and Associates which eventually evolved into its current entity, Modera Wealth Management, LLC. Tom serves as one of the founding managing members of Modera Alternative Investments, LP.
Tom served as 2007 - 2008 Chairman of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and remains a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor. He is an active member of the CFA® Institute and the Financial Planning Association (FPA). Tom was the recipient of the 2013 NAPFA Robert J. Underwood Distinguished Service Award.
Ekta Patel, CFP®, Director, Advisor, Altfest Personal Wealth Management
As Director of Financial Planning, Ekta helps clients with all aspects of their investment and personal financial planning matters. She is a member of the Portfolio Action Group and works collaboratively with financial advisors to ensure Altfest’s personal touch is incorporated throughout each aspect of service.
While with the firm, Ekta has had numerous speaking engagements on investments and financial planning including Altfest’s events for women clients with the aim of providing education and advocating for financial literacy.
Ekta is a CFP® licensee and a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), and was named to Financial Advisor magazine’s Due Diligence/Research Manager All-Star Team in 2012 and 2013.
Janki Patel, The Ensemble Practice
Janki Patel is a creative problem solver with experience in project and change management and a penchant for rethinking and optimizing workflows for a better user experience.
Janki is Ensemble’s Associate Consultant. Before joining the team, Janki worked in management consulting at Accenture and recruitment at Facebook. She’s very excited to be at Ensemble because it allows her to employ creative problem solving and help clients transform their businesses every day while constantly learning. Janki is passionate about employee engagement and retention as well as providing and enabling clients to provide outstanding customer service.
She studied Economics and Spanish while at the Pennsylvania State University.
Rick Schwartz, Expanding Horizons
Richard (Rick) Schwartz has more than 30 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and small businesses ─ having coached, consulted, and trained financial services professionals, CPAs, and attorneys across the country. Previously serving as a Senior Business Consultant and Director of the Executive Leadership Program at Charles Schwab, Inc., Rick currently consults and serves as principal of Expanding Horizons, a business consulting firm specializing in assisting financial services firms with business challenges.
Mr. Schwartz is the author of the Expanding Horizons Coaching program which is designed to assist senior principals and next generation leaders with the challenges they face including, talent development, strategic planning, next steps for their businesses and careers, and innovation to drive future success.
Mark Tibergien, Chief Executive Officer of Pershing Advisor Solutions
Pershing Advisor Solutions is one of the country’s leading custodians for registered investment advisors and family offices. Mark is also a Managing Director for Pershing and a member of its Executive Committee. In addition, Mark was named to BNY Mellon’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council to the CEO. Since 1976 Mark has worked with public and private companies on matters related to business management, transition planning and strategy formulation.
In a 2017 Investment Advisor survey, Mark was named The Most Influential Person in Financial Services. For his contributions to the industry, Mark was named to the 2016 InvestmentNews Icons & Innovators list which recognizes those who have shaped and transformed the financial advice profession.
John Tovar, Managing Director, Wealth Management Services, TD Ameritrade Institutional
John Tovar oversees Wealth Management Services, including trading, fixed-income sales, relationship management, customer services, technology, account services and operations for over 46,000 independent Registered Investment Advisors who custody assets at TD Ameritrade Institutional.
John joined the company in 1992, and most recently was responsible for trading and fixed income for the Institutional business. Tovar has held a variety of roles over his 16-year tenure including key management positions in Retail Brokerage Services at Jack White & Company and National Retail Services at TD Waterhouse and ultimately in TD Waterhouse Institutional in 2000.
Bob Veres, Editor and Publisher, Inside Information
Bob is also the author of The New Profession, and contributing editor and columnist for Financial Planning magazine. As a journalist, he has won several national awards, including the Jesse H. Neal Award from the American Business Media group, considered the most prestigious editorial honor in the field of specialized journalism, and the Azbee Award of Excellence from the American Society of Business Press Editors.
Over his 36-year career in the financial services world, Mr. Veres has worked as editor, contributing editor and journalist for leading financial publications. In addition, Mr. Veres co-produces the Insider’s Forum conference for independent financial advisory firms and has been named one of the most influential people in the financial planning profession by Investment Advisor magazine and was granted the Special Achievement Award for service to the profession by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA).
Sarah Wotherspoon MS, CFP, CDFA, Director of Wealth Management, Principal, Private Ocean
As the Director of Wealth Management, Sarah is responsible for ensuring the quality and consistency of financial planning advice for clients across advisors, mentoring and training advisors as they progress through various stages of experience. Sarah works with leadership in making Private Ocean’s technical and non-technical client advice and experience the best it can be.
As a financial advisor, Sarah believes in building trust and rapport with her clients and creates portfolios to help ensure they have money to both reach their goals and last their lifetime.