IWI Strategy Forum 2024

Brian Levitt is a global market strategist at Invesco. In this role, he is responsible for the development and communication of the firm’s investment outlooks and insights. He is the cohost of Invesco’s “Greater Possibilities” podcast. Levitt joined Invesco when the firm combined with OppenheimerFunds in 2019. He started at OppenheimerFunds in fixed income product management in 2000 and then transitioned into the macro and investment strategy group in 2005. Levitt has been quoted in the press, including Barron’s, Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Yahoo! Finance. Levitt earned a BA degree in economics from the University of Michigan and an MBA with honors in finance and international business from Fordham University.

Rick Casagrande is team lead of portfolio advisory for the Invesco investment solutions team. In this role, he is responsible for advisory solutions efforts in the U.S. retail marketplace, with a focus on providing multi-asset portfolio analysis and guidance. He also manages a team of portfolio advisory consultants located across the country. Casagrande joined Invesco in 2020. Before joining the firm, he worked at OppenheimerFunds for seven years culminating in a role as a senior portfolio strategist for the portfolio consulting team. Before that, he was a fixed income product manager responsible for helping to build the global debt, high yield, and senior loans franchises. Before OppenheimerFunds, he worked at BNP Paribas as an analyst in their asset liability management department. Casagrande earned a BA degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Karl Desmond is a client portfolio manager for the Invesco Solutions team, which develops and manages asset allocation strategies and comprehensive portfolio solutions across institutional and private client channels. In this role, he and his team work with institutions and financial professionals, with a focus on multi-asset portfolio construction, research, and guidance. Desmond joined Invesco in 2022. Before joining the firm, he spent three years with Fidelity Investments as director of the investment product group. Before Fidelity, he spent several years with OppenheimerFunds and Columbia Threadneedle. In these prior roles,  Desmond focused on investment product strategy, development, and management, with a specific focus on equity factor, sector and thematic investing. He has been in the industry since 2010. Desmond earned a BA degree in economics/business from Lafayette College.

Bridgit Bateman is a model consultant for the Midwest division at Invesco. In this role, she builds long-lasting, trusted partnerships with intermediary clients, focusing on model portfolios and guiding advisors through portfolio construction and manager selection. Bateman helps advisors understand outsourcing investment management options and their practices, tailoring consultations to varying levels of technical expertise. Bateman joined Invesco and the financial services industry in 2020 as a division associate. Before her current role, she served as an internal market consultant, driving sales in the Greater Miami area by building partnerships with financial advisors, showcasing Invesco products, and implementing territory sales strategies. She took a consultative approach, prioritizing client needs while leveraging internal resources for education, coaching, and portfolio construction. Bateman earned a BS degree in business administration and human resources management from Illinois State University. She holds the Series 7 and 63 registrations.

Jeff Bennett is a senior portfolio manager and head of manager selection for the Invesco Solutions team, which develops and manages asset allocation strategies and comprehensive portfolio solutions across institutional and private client channels. In this role, he leads portfolio management responsibilities for manager selection across the platform, which leverages Invesco’s fundamental, systematic, and alternative strategies to deliver precise, tailored outcomes to unique investor needs. Bennett joined Invesco when the firm combined with OppenheimerFunds in 2019. Before joining the firm, he was a senior portfolio manager and manager due diligence specialist in the OppenheimerFunds Global Multi-Asset Group (GMAG). Before joining OppenheimerFunds in 2016, he was with Alliance Bernstein as a managing director on the alternative investment management team, focusing on asset allocation and portfolio construction, as well as manager identification and due diligence. He was also director of research for Fischer & Co. Before that, he was the primary analyst at Summit Private Investments, a fund of hedge funds that focuses on long/short and event-driven strategies. Bennett earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MBA in analytic finance and econometrics from the University of Chicago. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) charterholder.

John Nersesian is head of advisor education for PIMCO, providing advanced wealth management and investment consulting education to financial professionals. Previously, he was senior managing director of wealth management services for Nuveen Investments. Before this, he was a first vice president at Merrill Lynch Private Client Group, where he was also a leader of advanced training for financial consultants. Nersesian served as a board member of the Investments and Wealth Institute from 2006 to 2017, and as chairman for the 2014–2015 term. He is a faculty member for the IWI Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®) and Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) education programs held at Yale University. He has 37 years of investment and financial services experience and earned an undergraduate degree in business and economics from Lehigh University.

Lauren Goodwin is an economist and the chief market strategist at New York Life Investments. She leads the firm’s Global Market Strategy team and is responsible for economic and market research, asset allocation, and thought leadership to empower investment decision-making. Goodwin’s research focuses on the investment implications of an evolving macroeconomic and capital markets environment. She has written extensively on global economic developments, policy, portfolio construction, megatrends, and geopolitics. Goodwin authored the CFA Institute’s curriculum on geopolitical risk.

Goodwin is a member of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, a highly regarded program for select, intellectually curious, motivated, and philanthropic professionals. She has a unique ability to explain complex economic and market issues in a relatable and actionable way. Goodwin regularly represents the firm as a keynote speaker at conferences and in television and print media outlets, including Bloomberg, CNBC, The New York Times, Nikkei, and The Wall Street Journal. She is also the host of the firm’s economic and market podcast, “Market Matters.”

Before joining the firm, Goodwin held economist positions at JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Frontier Strategy Group, and the OECD. She is a CFA® charterholder, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California, and earned a Master’s degree in international economics from Johns Hopkins.

Tony Davidow is responsible for developing and delivering the Franklin Templeton Institute's insights on the role and use of alternative investments through independent research, participating in industry conferences and webinars, and engaging directly with key partners and clients. He also serves as the host of the “Alternative Allocations” podcast. The Franklin Templeton Institute harnesses the depth and breadth of the firm's global investment expertise and extensive in-house research capabilities to deliver unique investment insights to clients. Before his current role, Davidow was retained by Franklin Templeton to develop a comprehensive alternative investment educational program for financial advisors. He previously held senior leadership roles with Morgan Stanley, Guggenheim, and Schwab, among other firms. Davidow began his career working for a New York-based family office and has worked directly with many institutions and ultra-high-net-worth families over the years. He is a frequent writer and speaker with deep expertise in the use of alternative investments, asset allocation and portfolio construction, as well as goals-based investing. Davidow received the prestigious Investments & Wealth Institute Wealth Management Impact Award in 2020 for his contributions to the wealth management industry; and was awarded the Stephen L. Kessler writing award in 2017, and honorable distinction in 2015. He is the author of "Goals-Based Investing: A Visionary Framework for Wealth Management," and "Private Markets: Building Better Portfolios with Private Equity, Private Credit, and Private Real Estate." In 2023, Franklin Templeton's Alternative Investment education program was recognized by WealthManagement.com with a "Wealthie" award for its contribution to financial advisor success, and in 2024, the “Alternative Allocations” podcast was recognized with a "Wealthie" for Thought Leadership. Davidow earned a BBA in finance and investments from Bernard M. Baruch College and has earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) designation from the Investments & Wealth Institute and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Davidow formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Investments & Wealth Institute, and served as the Chair, Investment & Wealth Monitor, Editorial Advisory Board.

Matt Sommer is the head of the Specialist Consulting Group at Janus Henderson Investors. His team comprises subject matter experts across several disciplines, including retirement planning, wealth advisory, practice management, and investment strategies. They provide clients with actionable insights and expertise to implement in their business practices to retain and gain clients. Before assuming his current role in 2023, Sommer was the head of the firm’s defined contribution and wealth advisor services team, as well as the lead behavioral finance researcher and wealth strategist. Before joining Janus in 2010, he spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and its predecessors, Citi Global Wealth Management and Smith Barney, where his roles included director of financial planning and director of retirement planning. Sommer earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Rhode Island and an MBA with a concentration in finance from Pace University’s Lubin School of Business. He also holds a doctorate degree from Kansas State University, where his dissertation, “Three Essays Investigating the Bequest Intentions and Expectations of Older Adults,” was selected for publication in the Journal of Financial Planning and the Journal of Personal Finance.

He is a frequent guest on CNBC and Bloomberg TV, a regular contributor to Kiplinger’s Building Wealth column, and has been extensively quoted in industry publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and Investment News. Sommer has 30 years of experience in the financial industry.

Tim Skelly is the managing director, institutional consulting director, and founding partner of The Palo Alto Group at Morgan Stanley, a highly skilled team of institutional and wealth management consultants with offices in Palo Alto and Newport Beach, CA. The Group is also a distinguished member of Graystone Consulting, a recognized leader in institutional consulting services. With more than 38 years of investment experience, Skelly is the head of portfolio strategy for The Palo Alto Group, as well as the lead investment officer on institutional relationships in both an advisory and discretionary role. He is the practice lead for foundations, endowments, family offices, corporate plans, government entities, hospitals and healthcare, educational institutions, and other nonprofits. Skelly gravitated to the institutional arena after working in the financial services industry at the start of his career. He made an intentional decision to pivot from a job in financial services to a career of passion. Foundations, endowments, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations appealed to him both personally and professionally. A graduate of the University of California Los Angeles, Skelly has remained committed to professional development throughout his career, earning his Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) designation and Investment Strategist certification from the Wharton School of Business in 1997. Over the years, Skelly has received numerous distinctions and professional accolades. He was named to both the Barron’s Top 50 Institutional Consulting Teams List and the Forbes Best in State List in 2019-2024. In 2006, Skelly was awarded the Harry Irvine Award at Morgan Stanley. This honor is presented to the Financial Advisor who “demonstrates the highest ethics and the greatest commitment to assuring that his/her clients continue to achieve their long-term goals.” In 2014, he was the recipient of the Tom Gorman Award by the Association of Professional Investment Consultants in recognition of his leadership, advocacy, sharing, and innovation.

Kim Ledger is the senior vice president of complex Assets for Ren, North America’s largest independent philanthropic solutions provider. In this role, she advises donors on the charitable opportunities presented by non-cash assets such as business interests, IPO stock, private equity, and artwork. Since she launched the firm’s complex asset practice in 2018, Ledger has worked with donors seeking to distribute more than $1.5 billion in assets, leveraging relationships with the nation’s leading financial institutions, elite nonprofit organizations, and community foundations to ensure that donors make informed and strategic gifts that deliver the greatest possible value for charities, donors, and their families.

Bill Smead is the founder and chairman of Smead Capital Management where he created the firm’s investment discipline. As chief investment officer, he is the final decision-maker for all investment decisions in the firm’s domestic equity portfolios. He has more than 43 years of experience in the investment industry. He started his career with Drexel Burnham Lambert in 1980.

Sara Dorosti earned her BA at UC Berkeley and her JD at Berkeley Law. She practiced as an estate planning attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman before joining Merrill Lynch as a wealth strategist. Her expertise is in the areas of estate, tax, and business succession planning. Dorosti also is currently an adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, where she teaches trust & wills.

Tim Skelly is the managing director, institutional consulting director, and founding partner of The Palo Alto Group at Morgan Stanley, a highly skilled team of institutional and wealth management consultants with offices in Palo Alto and Newport Beach, CA. The Group is also a distinguished member of Graystone Consulting, a recognized leader in institutional consulting services. With more than 38 years of investment experience, Skelly is the head of portfolio strategy for The Palo Alto Group, as well as the lead investment officer on institutional relationships in both an advisory and discretionary role. He is the practice lead for foundations, endowments, family offices, corporate plans, government entities, hospitals and healthcare, educational institutions, and other nonprofits. Skelly gravitated to the institutional arena after working in the financial services industry at the start of his career. He made an intentional decision to pivot from a job in financial services to a career of passion. Foundations, endowments, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations appealed to him both personally and professionally. A graduate of the University of California Los Angeles, Skelly has remained committed to professional development throughout his career, earning his Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) designation and Investment Strategist certification from the Wharton School of Business in 1997. Over the years, Skelly has received numerous distinctions and professional accolades. He was named to both the Barron’s Top 50 Institutional Consulting Teams List and the Forbes Best in State List in 2019-2024. In 2006, Skelly was awarded the Harry Irvine Award at Morgan Stanley. This honor is presented to the Financial Advisor who “demonstrates the highest ethics and the greatest commitment to assuring that his/her clients continue to achieve their long-term goals.” In 2014, he was the recipient of the Tom Gorman Award by the Association of Professional Investment Consultants in recognition of his leadership, advocacy, sharing, and innovation.

Joseph Mrak III is the chief executive officer of Foundation Source where he is responsible for the vision, strategy, and growth of the company as it becomes the leader in cloud-based SaaS charitable giving solutions. A well-known pioneer in SaaS-based financial technology, Mrak’s numerous innovations have helped transform the delivery of holistic wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals and families. Before Foundation Source, he served as the global head of wealth management for Refinitiv, a leader in financial markets data and infrastructure, where he managed one of the company’s four main business lines. Previously, Mrak was executive chairman of Solovis, an institutional investment management platform servicing family offices, endowments, registered investment advisors, and insurance firms, and served as chairman and chief executive officer of FolioDynamix, an integrated wealth management platform he founded in 2007 that is now part of Envestnet. Earlier in his career, Mrak was a co-founder of Placemark Investments where he helped build a more efficient, transparent, and flexible delivery model for investment management through the Unified Managed Account. He has also held executive roles at CheckFree (now Fiserv) and BISYS (now Citigroup) where he oversaw the development of end-to-end and point solutions that automated core financial services functions supporting wealth and asset managers. Mrak earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business and a BS from Marquette University.

Lauren Goodwin is an economist and the chief market strategist at New York Life Investments. She leads the firm’s Global Market Strategy team and is responsible for economic and market research, asset allocation, and thought leadership to empower investment decision-making. Goodwin’s research focuses on the investment implications of an evolving macroeconomic and capital markets environment. She has written extensively on global economic developments, policy, portfolio construction, megatrends, and geopolitics. Goodwin authored the CFA Institute’s curriculum on geopolitical risk.

Goodwin is a member of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, a highly regarded program for select, intellectually curious, motivated, and philanthropic professionals. She has a unique ability to explain complex economic and market issues in a relatable and actionable way. Goodwin regularly represents the firm as a keynote speaker at conferences and in television and print media outlets, including Bloomberg, CNBC, The New York Times, Nikkei, and The Wall Street Journal. She is also the host of the firm’s economic and market podcast, “Market Matters.”

Before joining the firm, Goodwin held economist positions at JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Frontier Strategy Group, and the OECD. She is a CFA® charterholder, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California, and earned a Master’s degree in international economics from Johns Hopkins.

Wendy Goodyear is part of the sales consulting team at American Century Investments where she is dedicated to growing and deepening relationships with financial advisors in South Florida and Puerto Rico. Goodyear has been in the financial industry for more than 35 years. Before joining American Century Investments in 2008, Goodyear worked for Calamos Investments, John W. Henry & Company, and Citibank. Goodyear is a graduate of The University of Virginia. She earned her MBA from New York University.

Leslie Y. Tabor is director of business consulting and education for Schwab Advisor Services. She oversees the strategic direction of talent management programs designed to help independent registered advisors evolve and grow their firms. Since joining Schwab in 1999, Tabor has held leadership roles in operations, risk management, and business consulting and education. She is passionate about advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial services industry. She mentors young professionals and works with the Professional BusinessWomen of California, Financial Women of San Francisco, and sits on the Diversity Advisory Group and WIN Council for the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning. Tabor earned her BS in accounting from the University of Phoenix. She has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Filipina Women in 2015 by the Filipina Women’s Network, received the 2016 Industry Leader Award by the Professional BusinessWomen of California, the 2019 “See It, Be It” Role Model Award by InvestmentNews, and the 2021 Diversity and Inclusion Luminaries Award by ThinkAdvisor.

April Ferrell serves as managing director of business development and executive director of the Investments & Wealth Foundation. Ferrell most recently was with Barron’s Group, where she was global managing director wealth & asset management, heading up partnerships and relationships with the asset manager community across the globe. She also managed content from the asset manager cohort for Barron’s Advisor Summits, which included all advisor channels and wealth management firms. Ferrell originally joined Barron’s in 2010 as the national sponsorship manager. Previously, she was senior vice president, national accounts manager with BNY Mellon/Dreyfus, and spent five years with J&W Seligman in national accounts. Ferrell earned a BA in economics from the University of Virginia. She is also a CIMA® certified member of the Institute and was the winner of the 2022 Morgan Stanley Association of Professional Investment Consultants Champion Award.

Angie O’Leary is head of wealth planning at RBC Wealth Management – U.S. In this role, O’Leary and her team are focused on helping clients live life with more clarity and confidence through goals-based planning delivered by skilled financial advisors. O’Leary is a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry and sits on several industry roundtables and advisory boards. O’Leary has authored numerous white papers, published articles, and is active in the media and press; including Kiplinger, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal. She has a passion for financial literacy and is an advocate for women and their financial success. O’Leary holds a bachelor’s degree in business finance from San José State University and a master’s in accounting from Santa Clara University. She is active in her community, with long-term board work for the Wayside Recovery Center, a treatment center for women and their families recovering from substance abuse, and has a passion for family mission work in Haiti.

Samir Kerbage is the global chief investment officer of Hashdex. He earned a degree in computer engineering from the Instituto Militar de Engenharia and has a decade of experience building infrastructure for financial markets. Before joining Hashdex, Kerbage was part of Americas Trading Group, a leading electronic trading solutions company in Latin America, where he worked on the construction of ATS Brasil, a new stock exchange, and MTB, the largest electronic trading platform in the Brazilian market. Previously, he founded a high-frequency trading company and served as a military engineering officer at the Brazilian Army’s Communications and Electronic Warfare Center.

Brandon Hass is head of direct indexing and model portfolios at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). In this role, he is responsible for the overall model portfolios and direct indexing business, including strategy, design, development, and execution. In addition to leading these commercial efforts he provides thought leadership and subject matter expertise to financial professionals and senior corporate executives at some of the world’s leading asset and wealth management firms. Hass joined S&P DJI in 2022 to run commercial development of sustainability indices in North America.

Markus Aakko is the chief revenue officer at Brooklyn Investment Group. He brings more than two decades of experience, having served as executive vice president at PIMCO and managing director at Goldman Sachs. His career encompasses leadership in sales, solutions architecture, portfolio management, and driving strategic initiatives.

As director of advanced planning for Baird, Tim Steffen is responsible for researching, writing, and speaking on important planning issues that impact Baird’s clients. This includes topics related to retirement and estate planning, tax law, executive compensation, business ownership, legislative changes, and overall best practices.

Steffen originally joined Baird in 1999, serving in a variety of planning-oriented roles. He left Baird in 2019 to join the Advisor Education team at PIMCO before returning in 2021. Before 1999, Steffen worked in Arthur Andersen’s Private Client Services group in Milwaukee, where he specialized in tax and financial planning. His clients included corporate executives, business owners, and families.

Steffen earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Illinois in 1991. He is a CPA/PFS, a CFP® professional, a CPWA® professional, and a member of the American and Wisconsin Institutes of CPAs, the Investments & Wealth Institute, and the Financial Planning Association.

Commentary from Steffen on a wide range of financial planning topics has been featured in national, regional, and trade media such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Kiplinger’s, U.S. News & World Report, Morningstar, CNBC.com and InvestmentNews. In addition, he speaks to numerous client and professional groups about tax and financial planning topics and has taught financial planning classes for the Investments & Wealth Institute and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Roger G. Ibbotson is Professor in the Practice Emeritus of Finance at Yale School of Management. He also is chairman of Zebra Capital Management, LLC, an equity investment, index, and hedge fund manager. He is founder, advisor, and former chairman of Ibbotson Associates, now a Morningstar Company. He has written numerous books and articles including “Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation” with Rex Sinquefield, which serves as an annual standard reference for capital market returns.

Raymond Barrios is the president of Crescent Private Credit Income Corp. and co-chair of Crescent Cap NT Advisors, LLC’s investment committee. Barrios also serves as a managing director of Crescent and Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. Before joining the team in 2008, Barrios was a member of the Leveraged Finance Group of Jefferies & Company, Inc. Barrios earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

John D. Worth is the executive vice president for research and investor outreach at Nareit. In this capacity, Worth leads Nareit’s internal and external research efforts and directs its investor outreach and education initiatives. Nareit’s research focuses on the role of REITs and real estate in diversified portfolios and commercial real estate market dynamics. The investor outreach program brings Nareit’s research to the largest U.S. and global institutional investors. Worth has been widely quoted in the financial press on REIT and commercial real estate issues. Before joining Nareit, Worth founded the office of the chief economist of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). As chief economist, he focused on building and leading a team that monitored macro and micro risks and developed advanced models to assist in risk identification and support policy development. Worth also served as a member of the NCUA’s 401(k) investment committee. He led NCUA’s participation on the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the organization composed of the heads of the federal financial regulators and charged with identifying risks to financial stability. Before his tenure at NCUA, Worth spent nearly a decade at the U.S. Treasury, where he served as the director of the office of microeconomic analysis and acting deputy assistant secretary for microeconomic analysis during 2008. At Treasury, his office oversaw policy development and research on entitlements, health care, housing issues, and private pensions—including key contributions to the Pension Protection Act of 1996. After 2006, Worth was deeply engaged in financial crisis response, including the development of TARP. He was one of the primary architects of the financial crisis homeowner assistance and mortgage modification programs at Treasury. Worth has also worked as a consultant for Welch Consulting and the RAND Corporation. He is a graduate of the George Washington University and earned a PhD in economics from the University of Southern California.

As managing principal, chief business development officer, Becca Hajjar leads the business development team and, along with marketing, sets the strategic direction for the advisor recruitment and due diligence process. Indispensable in all of her interactions, she serves as a liaison between Commonwealth and prospective advisors, sharing her extensive knowledge of the firm and giving them a detailed understanding of what makes Commonwealth a unique registered investment advisor broker–dealer.

Noel Pacarro Brown joined Morgan Stanley in 2007, as the lead of The Conscious Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, a team founded by her mother, Gwen Pacarro more than 35 years ago. Pacarro Brown works with families, foundations, and founders to advance the mission of their money, to create purposeful lives and legacies. Pacarro Brown has been recognized by the Forbes list of Top Women Wealth Advisors, Top NextGen Advisors, Best in State Advisors, and as a Top Advisor by Working Mother Magazine. At Morgan Stanley, Pacarro Brown is part of the Women Without Limits initiative, serves as co-chair of the National Consulting Group Advisory Council, and was named to the MAKERS class of 2018. Pacarro Brown is a proud advocate of investing with impact. Her work can be found on podcasts, across national blogs, and in industry publications. She served as co-host of the “Better Money Show,” a podcast broadcast by XRAY.fm which highlights people who are driving capital to drive change, and throughout the year she can be found presenting on stage at national conferences.

Tabatha Schury started her financial services career at JPMorgan in 2010 and joined Schwab in 2015. After several years as a top-performing FC in the Wilmington Delaware branch, she joined the wealth management consulting team supporting the Mid-Atlantic region, where her partnership and collaboration with branches and the WAMS team led the region to be one of the top-performing regions in advice utilization. In addition, she created best practices for integrating Green FCs and engaging the branch network that were widely adopted throughout the East division. Schury earned a bachelor's degree in international business and accounting and an MBA. She also earned her CFP® and CWS® designation.

Oscar Vives is a financial planner with a passion for helping his clients reach their retirement and life goals. He particularly enjoys taking a complex subject, such as personal finance, and making it easy to digest. Vives has helped many families transition into retirement, including working with business owners on the transition of their companies. He has also helped many widows navigate the financial challenges that come with losing a spouse. Before joining Sensible Money, Vives worked at PNC Private Bank, PEACE Wealth Management, and Deloitte, the largest accounting firm in the world. While at the University of North Florida, he was a member of the Osprey Financial Group, where he helped invest a portion of the university’s endowment as an equity analyst. Vives holds the Certified Public Accountant, Personal Financial Specialist, and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designations. He earned a BBA in accounting and financial planning from the University of North Florida. Through his involvement in national organizations, he has been quoted in various financial outlets, including CNBC, Financial Advisor Magazine, The Journal of Accountancy, Investopedia, U.S. News & World Report, and The Street. Additionally, he has presented nationwide on various financial and retirement planning topics. Vives is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is the current chair of the Personal Financial Specialist Credential Committee. He is also on the institute’s Personal Financial Planning Conference Committee. He has been recognized by the AICPA’s Standing Ovation Program for his professional achievements in personal financial planning. He also serves on the council of professional advisors for the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.

David Blanchett is managing director, portfolio manager and head of retirement research for PGIM DC Solutions. Before joining PGIM, he was the head of retirement research for Morningstar Investment Management LLC and before that the director of consulting and investment research for the Retirement Plan Consulting Group at Unified Trust Company. Blanchett has published more than 100 papers in a variety of industry and academic journals. His research has received numerous awards from across the industry, including the Academy of Financial Services (2017), the CFP® Board (2017), the Financial Analysts Journal (2015), and the Financial Planning Association (2020, 2023). He currently is an adjunct professor of wealth management at The American College of Financial Services, a Research Fellow for the Alliance for Lifetime Income, and on the Editorial Board of the Financial Analysts Journal, Financial Planning Review, and the Journal of Retirement. Blanchett earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from the University of Kentucky, a master’s degree in financial services from The American College of Financial Services, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a doctorate in personal financial planning program from Texas Tech University.

David Armstrong is editor-in-chief and executive director of content for Informa’s Wealthmanagement.com, a leading information portal for financial advisors. He’s a longtime business journalist who spent 10 years at Forbes magazine, and previously held reporting positions at Foxnews.com and McGraw-Hill. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Meet the “Efficient Advisor Podcast” host Libby Greiwe. Her specialty? Breaking down the functions of a financial planning practice into actionable step-by-step processes designed to get you results and get you out of overwhelm. Expert interviews, done-for-you templates, and easy to implement solutions … all tied together by her mission to create ease in your business. Greiwe promises to deliver actionable step-by-step solutions you can implement right away to save time, money, and frustration. The goal — to lead you from overwhelm to efficiency. She started her own financial planning business in 2004. And, over the years she scaled into a seven-figure single-advisor firm while working only 25-hours a week so she could be super involved while raising her kiddos and loving on her hubby. She knows what it takes to build a 100% referral-only practice and to not have to grind out the hours to be successful. She ran her own planning business for 16 years culminating in a sale and retirement in 2019. Now, she’s simply just obsessed with helping other amazing advisors do the same thing.

Robert Powell, CFP®, RMA®, is editor-in-chief of the Investments & Wealth Institute Retirement Management Journal, host of the IWI’s Exceptional Advisor podcast, and serves as a faculty member of the IWI’s Retirement Management Advisor certification program. He serves as the editor and publisher of Retirement Daily on TheStreet.com and as a retirement columnist for USA TODAY and MarketWatch.com. Previously, he served as a managing director of DALBAR. He is also co-chair of the Swampscott Age-Friendly Committee, the chair of the Swampscott Council on Aging/Senior Center, and a member of the Swampscott Retirement Board. He earned a BA from Marquette University and an MS in journalism from Boston University.

Nichol Bradford envisions a future where artificial intelligence (AI) amplifies humanity rather than diminishes it. A futurist, investor, and executive with more than 20 years of experience in technology and human potential, Bradford is dedicated to strengthening humanity’s mental, emotional, and social health (MESH) to drive innovation and progress. She reaches more than 100,000 people annually through thought leadership and speaking engagements, including TEDx, and serves as SHRM’s AI + HI Executive-in-Residence, where she shapes global strategies impacting 362 million workers and their families through 340,000 human resource professionals in 180 countries. Bradford is also the co-founder of Niremia Collective, a venture fund investing in the future of human potential. Passionate about unlocking human potential through human-centered AI adoption, Bradford bridges the gap between cutting-edge technology and humanity’s deepest needs. Her diverse experience includes operating World of Warcraft in China, co-founding TransformativeTech.org to build the largest network for human potential technology, and launching a $22.5 million venture fund targeting the $8.5 trillion human potential market. Bradford’s unique approach combines psychology, neuroscience, leadership, and organizational change, offering proven frameworks for successful AI integration and fostering seamless collaboration between humans and AI. Bradford’s vision is a future where workplaces empower humans through AI, fostering social cohesion, resilience, and well-being. She is committed to guiding organizations toward a world where humans and AI thrive together.

Miguel Sosa serves as head of product management and strategy—fund investments, as well as head of market research and strategy at Bluerock. Sosa focuses on the TI+ fund and HI fund and works alongside the portfolio management team to specifically support client-centric initiatives. Additionally, Sosa works with senior management and portfolio teams to author institutional research pieces on topics such as alternative investment solutions, asset allocation, and thought leadership perspectives. Before joining Bluerock, Sosa worked at Artivest (formerly Altegris) where he held a role as a portfolio strategist. He was part of the research and investment solutions team under the chief information officer and primarily was responsible for sharing and authoring research and macroeconomic insights, as well as communicating fund updates to the firm. Previously, Sosa spent six years as a hedge fund portfolio specialist at Wellington Management. Before Wellington, Sosa worked at Fidelity Investments and as a systems engineer at Raytheon Company. Sosa has a dual MBA and MS in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in industrial and systems engineering (cum laude) from University of San Diego.

Peter Attia is the founder of Early Medical, a medical practice that applies the principles of Medicine 3.0 to patients with the goal of both lengthening their lifespan and increasing their healthspan. He is the host of “The Drive,” one of the most popular podcasts covering health and medicine. He also is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.” Dr. Attia received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine and trained for five years at Johns Hopkins Hospital in general surgery, where he was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including resident of the year.

Lauris Lambergs has been an Investments & Wealth Institute member and CIMA® professional since 2004. He is the co-founder and chief investment officer at Renaissance Wealth Advisors, LLC, a registered investment advisor headquartered in Massachusetts. Lambergs has actively served on a variety of Institute committees, including as the Institute’s Chair of the Investment Advisor Forum conference committee, shaping the Institute’s renowned New York City educational conference. Lambergs earned a degree in French and political science from Duke University and an MBA in international business from the Riga Business School in Latvia.

Josh Snyder serves as global investment strategist for GQG Partners. He has more than 10 years of investment experience across various banking, insurance, research, and investment advisory roles. Before he joined the firm, Snyder was a commercial portfolio manager at Regions Bank, where he oversaw a portfolio of middle-market bank loans. He also served as a research associate at Summit Strategies Group, where he was responsible for idea generation, asset manager due diligence, and asset class research in the non-U.S. equity space. Snyder earned a BS in finance from Webster University and is a CFA® charterholder.

Massi De Santis is a professor of instruction in finance and economics at the McCoy College of Business at Texas State University, and the owner of DESMO Wealth Advisors, LLC. He is a PhD economist and CFP® professional specializing in comprehensive financial planning and behavioral economics. De Santis has more than 20 years of experience in solving complex financial problems for individuals and organizations. He has previously taught finance and economics at Dartmouth College, and his academic research has been renowned in the development of award-winning investment strategies.

Steve Parrish is professor of practice and a scholar in residence at The American College of Financial Services, where he previously served as co-director of the Retirement Income Center. He also was recently an adjunct professor of estate planning and interim director of the Compliance and Risk Management department at the Drake University Law School. With more than 45 year's of experience as an attorney and financial planner, Parrish is an expert on retirement, estate, and business owner succession planning. He is a recognized industry authority, spokesperson, and author serving as an ongoing contributor for Forbes.com and is a contributing author to the 2024 e-textbook, “Retirement Plans and Retirement Planning.” He was the 2023 winner of the Kenneth Black Jr. Journal Author Award and has written for the Journal of Financial Service Professionals (where he also an associate editor), Journal of Financial Planning, and Hastings Business Law Journal. Parrish has served as an expert source for such prominent media outlets as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, National Public Radio, InvestmentNews, Money.com, U.S. News & World Report, and AARP The Magazine. He also has served as an expert witness. In addition, he is a sought-after speaker for bar associations, estate planning councils, and financial service industry meetings.

Josh Crawford is a leader in the financial services industry, bringing the power of Nobel Prize-winning investing science to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico. His expertise includes leading breakthrough educational experiences to hundreds of advisors and thousands of their clients, helping lead and engineer innovative advisor training programs, and training and developing entrepreneurs to expand themselves and their businesses. As the vice president of training and development at Matson Money, he is instrumental in bringing the award-winning* American Dream Experience to families across North America.

As chief research strategist of AlphaSimplex, Kathryn Kaminski conducts applied research, leads strategic research initiatives, focuses on portfolio construction and risk management, and engages in product development. Kaminski is a member of the investment committee. She also serves as a co-portfolio manager for the AlphaSimplex Managed Futures Strategy and AlphaSimplex Global Alternatives Strategy. Kaminski joined AlphaSimplex in 2018 after serving as a visiting scientist at the MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering. Before this, she held portfolio management positions as a director, investment strategies at Campbell and Company and as a senior investment analyst at RPM, a CTA fund of funds. Kaminski co-authored the book “Trend Following with Managed Futures: The Search for Crisis Alpha.” Her research and industry commentary have been published in a wide range of industry publications as well as academic journals. She is a contributory author for both the CAIA® and CFA® reading materials. Kaminski is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and has taught at the Stockholm School of Economics and the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, KTH. Kaminski earned an SB in electrical engineering and PhD in operations research from MIT where her doctoral research focused on stochastic processes, stopping rules, and investment heuristics. Kaminski is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst® (CAIA®) Charterholder. She began her career in the investment industry in 2008.

Noel Pacarro Brown joined Morgan Stanley in 2007, as the lead of The Conscious Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, a team founded by her mother, Gwen Pacarro more than 35 years ago. Pacarro Brown works with families, foundations, and founders to advance the mission of their money, to create purposeful lives and legacies. Pacarro Brown has been recognized by the Forbes list of Top Women Wealth Advisors, Top NextGen Advisors, Best in State Advisors, and as a Top Advisor by Working Mother Magazine. At Morgan Stanley, Pacarro Brown is part of the Women Without Limits initiative, serves as co-chair of the National Consulting Group Advisory Council, and was named to the MAKERS class of 2018. Pacarro Brown is a proud advocate of investing with impact. Her work can be found on podcasts, across national blogs, and in industry publications. She served as co-host of the “Better Money Show,” a podcast broadcast by XRAY.fm which highlights people who are driving capital to drive change, and throughout the year she can be found presenting on stage at national conferences.

Josh Stamer is passionate about helping successful individuals, families, and their trusted advisors to develop their passion for philanthropy and achieve levels of impact and fulfillment previously thought unattainable. His professional career spans leadership roles in the technology, financial services, and philanthropic sectors. Over the past decade, Stamer has partnered with trusted advisory teams to establish more private foundations than anyone in the country. Currently as chief strategy officer at Anonymous Philanthropy, Stamer leads philanthropic strategy working alongside clients and their advisors to maximize the power of the charitable capital they deploy. His favorite conversations revolve around philanthropy’s ability to weave together family, world-improving impact, and profound fulfillment. More recently, Stamer served as a senior managing director at Foundation Source, the nation’s largest provider of private foundations services. He specialized in working with wealth managers, financial advisors, attorneys, and philanthropists interested in formalizing charitable giving. Stamer is an expert in a variety of charitable giving vehicles and has been featured in Forbes and Barrons. He speaks regularly about generational wealth transfer, engaging wealth management professionals in charitable giving, and entrepreneurial philanthropy.

Jeffrey R. Brooks is a senior wealth strategist with the Specialist Consulting Group at Janus Henderson Investors. Before joining the firm, Brooks served 24 years in similar roles at Capital Group, UBS, and Merrill/Bank of America. Before entering the financial services industry, he was partner in a boutique estate planning firm in St. Louis, Missouri, and spent five years clerking for the judge of a probate court. Brooks earned both an undergraduate degree in journalism and a law degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia. He holds FINRA Series 7, 63, 66, and 24 securities licenses.

David Blanchett is managing director, portfolio manager and head of retirement research for PGIM DC Solutions. Before joining PGIM, he was the head of retirement research for Morningstar Investment Management LLC and before that the director of consulting and investment research for the Retirement Plan Consulting Group at Unified Trust Company. Blanchett has published more than 100 papers in a variety of industry and academic journals. His research has received numerous awards from across the industry, including the Academy of Financial Services (2017), the CFP® Board (2017), the Financial Analysts Journal (2015), and the Financial Planning Association (2020, 2023). He currently is an adjunct professor of wealth management at The American College of Financial Services, a Research Fellow for the Alliance for Lifetime Income, and on the Editorial Board of the Financial Analysts Journal, Financial Planning Review, and the Journal of Retirement. Blanchett earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from the University of Kentucky, a master’s degree in financial services from The American College of Financial Services, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a doctorate in personal financial planning program from Texas Tech University.

John Bowen is the founder and chief executive officer of CEG Worldwide, the world’s leading coaching firm for financial advisors. Since 2000, Bowen and his team have had the privilege of coaching elite financial advisors to build simple, elegant wealth management businesses that serve their affluent clients extremely well while building lives of significance for themselves, their teams, and their loved ones. Before founding CEG Worldwide, Bowen worked directly with affluent clients as a financial advisor for 26 years, managing up to $2 billion in assets before selling his firm. Following the sale of his firm, he became chief executive officer of Assante Capital Management. Under his leadership, Assante more than tripled assets under management to more than $25 billion. Bowen is widely recognized as a leader in the financial services industry. Over three decades, he has delivered hundreds of keynote presentations and workshops to thousands of top advisors around the world. For more than 20 years, he wrote a highly acclaimed monthly column for the leading U.S. financial services trade journal, Financial Planning. He also is the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including “Elite Wealth Planning: Lessons from the Super Rich,” “The Wealthy Client Pipeline: Leveraging Thought Leadership to Build Profitable Partnerships with Attorneys and Accountants,” and “Breaking Through: Building a World-Class Wealth Management Business.”

As head of ETF product and strategy with American Century Investments, Sandra Testani drives strategic product initiatives to launch new products and oversees the existing offerings. She works closely with chief investment officers, portfolio managers, and analysts to understand each strategy's investment process and is responsible for developing messaging, competitive positioning, and sales force education. In addition, she conducts in-depth market, asset class, and category research studies that support her coverage areas. Before joining American Century Investments in 2015, she spent 15 years as a vice president at AllianceBernstein, focusing on product management and development for the firm's alternatives platform across its private client, institutional, and retail distribution channels. She was a member of the Alternative Investment Management Committee, which oversaw the firm’s multimanager hedge fund offerings. She had previously held roles focused on asset allocation recommendations and research within its private client group. She has worked in the investment industry since 2000. Testani earned a BA in international relations with a concentration in business and economics from Boston University. She is a CFA® and CAIA® charterholder.

Jay Wampler is director and senior business management consultant for Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. He joined the Schwab business consulting team in 2021 after spending eight years at TD Ameritrade Institutional, where he led business consulting for the Central and West regions. Wampler's responsibilities include partnering with registered investment advisors to build more efficient, scalable, and profitable businesses. He enjoys collaborating with advisors to identify the right opportunities to improve the well-being of their businesses and their clients. His prior industry experience includes working as an independent financial advisor, regional vice president for RS Investments, and regional advisory consultant at LPL Financial. He earned a master’s degree in business development from Towson University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Bridgewater College.

As the director of marketing for Sharegain, a global company focused on fully-paid securities lending since 2015, Chad Smith leverages his extensive experience in global marketing strategy, brand awareness, and customer engagement to help financial advisors understand and market financial products. With a background that includes roles at leading firms such as Blackrock and Fitch Ratings, his expertise spans digital, content, social, and web marketing, with a keen focus on CRM integrations and automations to scale business development teams’ reach and impact while optimizing conversion rates.

Robert Powell, CFP®, RMA®, is editor-in-chief of the Investments & Wealth Institute Retirement Management Journal, host of the IWI’s Exceptional Advisor podcast, and serves as a faculty member of the IWI’s Retirement Management Advisor certification program. He serves as the editor and publisher of Retirement Daily on TheStreet.com and as a retirement columnist for USA TODAY and MarketWatch.com. Previously, he served as a managing director of DALBAR. He is also co-chair of the Swampscott Age-Friendly Committee, the chair of the Swampscott Council on Aging/Senior Center, and a member of the Swampscott Retirement Board. He earned a BA from Marquette University and an MS in journalism from Boston University.

Chris Jenkins is a senior vice president for Capital Group Private Client Services, the private wealth management division of Capital Group. He first joined Capital Group in 1994 and returned in 2011. Before re-joining Capital, Jenkins was a vice president at Franklin Templeton Investments. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Memphis. He also earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst® and Certified Private Wealth Advisor® designations. Jenkins is a member of the Financial Planning Association and is an active member of the Investments & Wealth Institute, where he serves on the editorial advisory board.

Jeff Ruderman is a wealth strategist for Capital Group Private Client Services. He joined Capital Group in 2011 as a senior client relationship specialist, before joining Capital Group he spent more than five years as an assistant vice president, senior private client associate with Bernstein Global Wealth Management. As a member of the Wealth Advisory Group, Ruderman provides advice on various wealth planning topics, specializing in the areas of wealth transfer, charitable planning, and working with private business owners. Ruderman earned a BA with Honors in international finance and marketing from the University of Miami and also studied international business at the Hogeschool voor Economische Studies in Amsterdam. He earned a professional designation in personal financial planning from the University of Georgia and is a CFP®.

Jason Lersch is a senior vice president and private wealth advisor at Capital Group Private Client Services, based in Chicago. He specializes in working with business owners and families with complex financial situations, offering comprehensive wealth management services. His role often involves coordinating with a client's legal, tax, insurance, and estate advisors to provide a holistic approach to financial oversight. Lersch also focuses on helping multi-generational families navigate legacy, stewardship, and governance issues, creating shared financial goals and educating younger family members about wealth responsibility. With previous experience at Northern Trust and Rabjohns Financial Group, Lersch is a Certified Financial Planner™ and serves on the advisory board of Smile Train. He earned a BA from Denison University and is dedicated to building deep, long-term client relationships driven by research and integrity.

Sandra D. Adams is a partner and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ at the Center for Financial Planning, Inc. She joined the Center team in 1996 and has more than 20 years of financial planning industry experience. Adams was named to Forbes 2023 Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State list for the fourth consecutive year, and Forbes 2022 Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list. She specializes in elder care financial planning and is a frequent speaker on related topics with the Michigan Association of CPAs, Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology, Society for Active Retirees, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and other public and professional groups. In addition to making frequent contributions to the Center’s “Money Centered” blog, Adams serves as a trusted source for national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Research Magazine, and Retirement Daily. She regularly contributes to the Journal for Financial Planning and Practical Compliance and Risk Management. Adams is also an instructor for the Schoolcraft College Continuing Education program on topics related to long life planning and following a fiduciary standard.

Todd Cooper leads business development and enterprise partnership collaboration for TIFIN AG to help wealth managers accelerate organic growth using artificial intelligence. TIFIN AG uses a combination of advanced algos and supervised artificial intelligence to help advisors answer specific questions to drive net new assets. Before joining TIFIN AG, Cooper spent over two decades as a senior enterprise sales leader at LPL Financial, Envestnet, and Prudential driving adoption of innovative wealth management technology solutions. At LPL, he spearheaded a new institutional channel that provided comprehensive outsourced wealth management ecosystem to adjacent wealth businesses of insurers, asset managers, and record-keepers. With Envestnet, Cooper secured partnerships with broker-dealer networks, registered investment advisors, banks, insurers and trust companies to provide unified wealth platforms. He was also instrumental in launching Envestnet “One Wealth” that integrated brokerage, advisory, and trust within a single wealth platform and developed three new independent companies focused on integrated insurance, lending, and trust solutions. While at Prudential, he helped partners with banks, RIAs and broker–dealers to deliver one of industry’s first unified managed account platforms that incorporated sleeve-based, tax optimized overlay portfolio management and multi-currency capabilities. Cooper spent the early part of his career at Neuberger Berman and Ernst and Young. An accomplished thought leader, he has developed curriculums and spoken at events across the industry as well as led wealth roundtables while at Envestnet and Prudential. Cooper is a Certified Investment Consultant Analyst® (CIMA®) and has held Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses and was a Certified Public Accountant. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a degree in accounting.

Greg Beltzer, head of technology at RBC Wealth Management–U.S., delivers a best-in-class, digitally enabled experience to advance how clients are served in the wealth management industry. An innovative leader, he enriches the digital client experience by bringing together the firm’s resources to pursue new growth opportunities and establish strategic vendor partnerships. He also leads the execution of key business technology priorities to drive measurable results. In 2018, he joined RBC Wealth Management as vice president of advisor platform and technology. Previously, he was the senior vice president of enterprise CRM at City National Bank (an RBC company) in Los Angeles. In that role, Beltzer contributed to developing and implementing several cloud technologies to modernize how the bank services its clients. Beltzer started his career at Fidelity Investments as an operations manager for their first online trading platform’s technical support. Before joining RBC, he worked in various information technology senior leadership roles in wealth management, investment banking, venture capital, and private equity. Throughout his career, Beltzer supported and led large-scale technology transformation programs and partnered with leading FinTech companies to drive technology and operational efficiencies. Beltzer graduated from Texas A&M University.

Clayton Chandler serves as the chief data and analytics officer at Osaic, one of the nation’s largest networks of independent wealth managers. In this role Chandler is accountable for leading Osaic’s consumption, production, and governance of data for its financial professionals and clients. Chandler is accountable for Osaic’s data strategy and driving innovation in the use of data across the organization, including artificial intelligence. Chandler is a member of Advisor Group’s Executive Committee. Before joining Osaic in August 2021, he served as the global head of cybersecurity and Americas chief information security officer at Credit Suisse. In this role Chandler was accountable for Credit Suisse’s cybersecurity operations and technology globally. Before joining Credit Suisse in 2014, Chandler served as technical director of high-performance data analysis at the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), where he led the design, implementation, and operations of large-scale data analytics supporting various NSA missions. Chandler’s earlier career experience is in various roles across the U.S. National Laboratory space, including Los Alamos and Oak Ridge. Chandler has earned a PhD in computational analysis and modeling from Louisiana Tech University. He is a long-time board member for multiple charitable organizations in the Washington, D.C. and New York City metropolitan areas.

Sneha Shah is an executive vice president at SEI and head of new business ventures, responsible for new business and platform identification and incubation; engaging clients, accelerators and the entrepreneurial community to invest and accelerate new ideas and solutions; and cultivating innovation that drives top-line growth. With more than 25 years of experience in business leadership, strategy, and execution globally, Shah most recently served as managing director and group head of the London Stock Exchange Group’s (LSEG) Business Accelerator, where she created and scaled new businesses at the intersection of data, artificial intelligence, and technology. Before SEG, her roles as managing director, global head of risk managed services at Refinitiv and managing director in Africa for Thomson Reuters included leveraging emerging technologies, innovation, and strategic partnerships to drive profitable growth. She has also held senior leadership roles across finance and risk, operations, sales, and client service. A global citizen with a passion for purpose-led initiatives, Shah currently serves as a board trustee for the African Leadership Foundation, the Education Development Center, and the Harambeans Alliance. She is also board chair for the Young Presidents Organization’s New York Polaris Chapter. Shah was selected for Innovate Finance’s “Women in Fintech Power List” and was a two-time winner of the Gender Mainstreaming award by Business Engage. She earned a BA in politics with international studies from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and completed the Harvard Business School’s YPO Presidents’ Program.

Don Friedman has a 22-year career of creating and producing “first-of-its-kind” buyside conferences, webinars, and roadshows for financial professionals. He was co-founder and president of Inside ETFs, the industry’s largest and most successful conference, and chief operating officer, executive vice president, and board member of ETF.com. Friedman also created Inside ETFs Europe (the continent’s largest ETF event), Inside Commodities (the largest institutional-focused U.S.-based commodities event), and Inside Fixed Income (the world’s largest independently run fixed-income event). After leaving ETF.com, he founded JV Events Group where he created “institutional investor only” events including the Liquid Alternative Strategy Summit, MLP Strategy Summit, Smart Beta Strategy Summit, ETF Strategy Summit, and the Digital Asset Strategy Summit. He sold JV Events Group to DACFP in 2020 and became its president. Before ETF.com, Friedman was a managing director of Strategic Research Institute, where he created and produced the world’s largest hedge fund conference (Blue Ribbon Hedge Fund), Europe’s largest secondaries conference (Saving Private Equity), and the world’s second-largest indexing conference (The Art of Indexing). He also ran SRI’s alternative investments group, which generated 40 percent of the firm’s revenues. Friedman earned a BS in business administration from the University of Arizona.

Adam Blumberg has been in financial services for more than 12 years, starting with an insurance broker–dealer, and moving to his own RIA that he started with his partner, Ron Dixon. He is the co-founder of Interaxis, a company dedicated to educating financial professionals about digital assets, cryptocurrency, blockchain, and other alternative assets. Their YouTube channel has more than 10,000 subscribers. In 2021, they created and launched a course and certification to teach financial advisors how to make crypto and digital assets part of their practice, which has educated more than 350 advisors and thousands of others through virtual presentations all over the world. In May 2021, they helped launch PlannerDAO, the first decentralized community for financial advisors. PlannerDAO has grown to more than 1,000 members.

Nik Fahrer serves as a director in Forvis Mazars’ national office. Fahrer is the leader of Forvis Mazars’ digital asset practice and volunteers his time as an active member of the AICPA Digital Asset Tax Task Force and Wall Street Blockchain Alliance. Fahrer is a frequent contributor of digital asset thought leadership and public speaking opportunities and is a Bloomberg published author. He also provides sophisticated income tax compliance, consulting, and planning services to multistate businesses and high-net-worth individuals. As a part of the AICPA Digital Asset Tax Task Force, Fahrer has been instrumental in advocacy efforts toward digital asset tax guidance in the United States. Fahrer is a member of the American Institute of CPAs while maintaining active CPA licenses in Colorado, Indiana, and Texas. He is a graduate of University of Evansville, Indiana, with BS degrees in accounting and management information systems.

Dr. Ross Riskin serves as chief learning officer for the Investments & Wealth Institute. His research and professional expertise focus on tax planning with respect to college and student loan advising. He also is the managing member of Riskin Wealth Management, LLC, founder and chief creative officer at visiWealth and sits on the Advisory Board for the American Institute of Certified College Financial Consultants (AICCFC). Dr. Riskin is recognized as a thought leader and expert in the areas of tax planning, college planning, and student loan advising, and he is the author of “The Adviser’s Guide to Education Planning: 1st and 2nd Editions,” which are published by the AICPA. Dr. Riskin has presented to more than 12,000 individuals through webinars, conferences, and in the classroom. He has been quoted in media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times, and InvestmentNews. He also has been published in journals such as the Journal of Wealth Management, Journal of Financial Planning, Journal of Accountancy, Tax Notes, and the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives.

Brandon Buckingham is the vice president for the Advanced Planning Group. He and his team of tax attorneys, Certified Financial Planners™, and retirement and life insurance specialists provide technical, marketing, and sales support for all matters concerning variable annuities, individual life insurance, retirement, estate, gift and income tax planning, and other advanced market topics. Before joining Prudential, Buckingham was an advanced planning attorney and national manager for John Hancock’s advanced markets department. Before that, he was an ERISA counsel for Putnam Investments in its institutional 401(k) plan department and a practicing attorney concentrating in ERISA, qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, and estate and income tax planning. Buckingham is a frequent speaker and published author on subjects including IRAs, qualified retirement plans, annuities, life insurance, and estate and income tax planning. After graduating from the New England School of Law with a JD, Buckingham earned a Masters of Tax Law from the Boston University School of Law. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona. Buckingham is admitted to the Connecticut Bar Association, the United States District Court - District of Connecticut, and the United States Tax Court.

Louis Diamond is the go-to consultant for elite financial advisors navigating career transitions, industry shifts, and business launches. He leads top teams through transitions and offers a keen understanding of the complexities of multigenerational businesses. Diamond’s combination of sharp business acumen and analytical finesse benefits advisors considering how best to serve their clients and maximize their career enterprise value. Likewise, his sage counsel helps empower independent business owners to accelerate growth through mergers, acquisitions, and strategic recruiting. As president, he steers Diamond Consultants toward scalable success, mirroring the steadfast dedication he offers clients. A magna cum laude graduate of The George Washington University with a dual degree in finance and international business, Diamond honed his expertise at Ernst & Young, Morgan Stanley, and UBS. He is a respected author and contributor to major financial media outlets and co-hosts the industry-leading “Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors.” Diamond has been recognized twice as “One of the Top Financial Advisor Recruiters You Should Know” by Business Insider and a “2024 Top Next Gen Leader” by Wealth Solutions Report.

Brian Elliott is senior vice president and head of the Institutional division and member of the Executive Management Committee and the Investment Policy Committee at Genter Capital. He brings with him more than 30 years of industry experience. Before joining Genter Capital Management, he worked at Northern Trust where he was senior vice president, foundation and institutional advisors responsible for the sales and marketing for investment management, advisory, and asset servicing services. Before Northern Trust, Elliott was the chief marketing officer for Kayne Anderson Rudnick and vice president managed accounts at Alliance Bernstein. Elliott earned a BA in economics and history at Southern Methodist University and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.

Anastasia Amoroso is a managing director and the chief investment strategist at iCapital. In this role, she is responsible for providing insight on private and public market investing opportunities for advisors and their high-net-worth clients. Previously, Amoroso was an executive director and the head of cross-asset thematic strategy for J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where she identified and invested in emerging technologies and disruptive trends such as artificial intelligence, decarbonization, and gene therapy. She also developed global tactical ideas and implemented institutional-level strategies across asset classes for clients. Amoroso regularly appears on CNBC and Bloomberg TV and is often quoted in the financial press. Before this, Amoroso served as a global market strategist on the J.P. Morgan Funds Global Market Insights Strategy team. She also managed global tactical multi-asset portfolios and performed investment due diligence at Merrill Lynch, as well as provided consultative financial advisory services to high-net-worth families and businesses. Earlier in her career, Amoroso held several financial analysis, research, and strategic business planning positions with both private and public sector organizations. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of New Mexico and is a CFA® charterholder.

Jeffrey Gundlach is chief executive officer of DoubleLine. In 2011, he appeared on the cover of Barron's as "The New Bond King." In 2013, Institutional Investor named him "Money Manager of the Year." In 2012, 2015, and 2016, he was named one of "The Fifty Most Influential" in Bloomberg Markets. In 2017, he was inducted into the FIASI Fixed Income Hall of Fame. Gundlach is a summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College with degrees in mathematics and philosophy.

Herman Brodie is the founder of Prospecta, a U.K.-based consultancy firm that advises the world’s leading financial institutions on behavioral science and its many profitable applications. He studied finance and management at the University of Manchester and previously held investment banking and consulting roles in London, Paris, and Frankfurt. Brodie is the co-author of “The Trust Mandate: The behavioral science behind how asset managers really win and keep clients” and co-author and teacher of the popular investment course “A Practical History of Financial Markets.” He is an international faculty member of both the Investments & Wealth Institute and its sister organization in Australia and New Zealand, the Portfolio Construction Forum. He also teaches behavioral ethics as a Fellow of the Center for Board Certified Fiduciaries.

Melissa Kemp currently serves as the contract executive director for the Financial Planning Association Arizona. Before accepting the executive director role in 2015, Kemp had been a chapter member since 2000. Kemp is the founder and owner of Premium Organization, an association management company, launched in 2000. Premium Organization provides administrative solutions for many nonprofit organizations, including 501(C)(3), (C)(4), and (C)(6) type entities. She also owns Premium Administration, LLC, a third-party administrator for trustees of irrevocable trusts. In 2021, Kemp served as a hearing panel volunteer with the CFP® Board of Standards Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (DEC). From 2022 through 2024, Kemp served on the DEC as a commissioner. Starting in 2025, Kemp pivoted to volunteer service on the Standards Resource Commission, guiding the CFP Board staff toward compliance and practice resources deemed most valuable to practicing financial planners. In 2017, Kemp developed a fun and interactive ethics course titled "A Pragmatic Walk Through the Ethical Looking Glass." This course quickly became popular with CFP® professionals because it incorporated gamification and competition and utilized authentic anonymous case histories from the disciplinary ethics commission archives. In 2018, when the CFP Board of Standards elected to produce its own new ethics course in advance of rolling out the new practice standards, Kemp served on the Ethics Work Group volunteering time and talent to shape the new course.