Aaron J Keener Smith

Richard Espenschied is a financial advisor at Ameriprise with Series 66, Series 7, and APMA(R) designations. Before joining Ameriprise in 2025, he worked at Anheuser-Busch for nine years in economics and strategy. Ameriprise offers a retirement-income planning service designed for individuals with substantial investable assets, combining research, modeling, and tax-efficiency analysis to produce written recommendation reports. The firm provides a broad range of advisory, brokerage, and insurance solutions through affiliated companies.

Jeffrey Laughlin is a CFP® with 17 years of industry experience and has been with Fidelis Financial Planning, LLC since 2011. He holds a Series 65 license and is based in Saint Charles, MO. Outside of his advisory role, he is the owner and managing member of a non-investment related real estate entity. Fidelis Financial Planning serves middle-income and high-net-worth individuals, as well as various institutional clients, offering integrated financial planning and discretionary portfolio management. The firm employs a structured investment approach grounded in academic research, focusing on broadly diversified, low-cost funds and ETFs.

Michael Mills is the sole advisor at Mills Barrington Advisors, LLC, an independent firm based in Chesterfield, MO. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 24 years of industry experience. Mills has led his firm since its founding in 2013, following prior experience at major brokerage firms. Mills Barrington Advisors provides discretionary portfolio management and investment advisory services to individuals, trusts, and businesses. The firm emphasizes global diversification and uses a combination of quantitative analysis with fundamental and technical inputs, employing a range of strategies including margin, options, and short sales alongside longer-term holdings.

John Lotshaw is the principal of JM Lotshaw Consulting, an independent registered investment adviser based in O'Fallon, Missouri. He holds the ChFC® designation and Series 63 license and has 30 years of industry experience. Lotshaw has led JM Lotshaw Consulting since 2003. JM Lotshaw Consulting provides discretionary portfolio management and advisory services primarily to high-net-worth individuals and families. The firm manages approximately $7.9 million across seven client relationships, using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis to tailor strategies according to clients’ objectives and risk tolerances.

Describe the education and business background of the adviser’s principal executive officer: Carl Dwayne Goodin was born March 7, 1951, in Springfield, Missouri. He grew up in and around St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Lafayette High School in St. Louis County, MO, graduating with honors. He was conferred a BM in Education from the University of Missouri at St. Louis in May of 1973. He has completed coursework toward an MA in Finance and Economics from Webster University, St. Louis, MO. His grade point average in graduate studies is 4.0. He completed the CFP professional education program (College for Financial Planning, Denver, CO) in 1989. He continues to study, analyze, and research all matters related to personal financial planning, investments, insurance, estate planning, accounting, and taxation, generally devoting from 5 to 20 hours per week to independent study and advanced seminars. Carl D Goodin, CFP™: Having completed the education, examination, experience and ethics requirements he was awarded the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation in March 1989. The Financial Planning Association: Carl Goodin has been a member in good standing of the Financial Planning Association since 1985. For many years he served on the Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association of Greater St. Louis, serving as Director of Professional Development, Director of Public Relations, President Elect, and President. Financial services career and education: Carl Goodin began his career in finance and insurance in 1979 as an aircraft insurance (property and liability) underwriter. In 1981 he chose to continue serving the aviation community, but in a different capacity, primarily as a life and health insurance producer associated with the company now called Lincoln Financial Group. During this period his clientele expanded from those associated with aviation to include small business owners and other professionals. Also, during this period, he became interested in providing personal financial planning services not focused on life insurance sales. In 1986 he accepted an offer to be the regional manager of the UNUM non-cancelable disability income office in St. Louis, only to return to Lincoln Financial as regional manager in 1988. During this period, he successfully completed the examination requirements for the Missouri Uniform Securities license (Series 63), the Investment Company/Variable Products license (Series 6), the General Securities Representative (stock/bond broker's license, Series 7), the General Securities Principal license (stock/bond broker's supervisor, Series 24) and the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER. Financial Planning Associates, Inc., A Registered Investment Adviser: Believing that he could offer better, more objective advice for his clients in a more independent setting, he left Lincoln Financial and incorporated Financial Planning Associates, Inc. in 1998. Carl D Goodin, Professor, College for Financial Planning: From March 1999 until July 2005 Carl served as an adjunct faculty member of the College for Financial Planning, teaching all of the required classes for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER candidates. Those classes included: Financial Planning, Insurance, Retirement Planning, Employee Benefits, Tax Planning, Investment Planning, and Estate Planning. Carl D Goodin, Professor, University of Missouri at St. Louis: In July 2005, Carl resigned his teaching activities at the College for Financial Planning and assumed a similar teaching position as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, where he continued until 2015. Fee Only financial planning and investment management: In 2009 Carl Goodin voluntarily relinquished his securities and insurance licenses and terminated all associated residual benefits in the interest of offering his clients valuable, objective advice unaffected by conflicts of interest associated with commission compensation.

Gary Cassell is a financial advisor with Premier Wealth Advisory Services, Inc. in Chesterfield, MO, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and possessing 38 years of industry experience. He has been with Premier Wealth Advisory Services since 1998 and also has experience at Ceros Financial Services Inc. since 2012. In addition to advisory work, he is an independent insurance agent for various insurance companies. Premier Wealth Advisory Services provides portfolio management and active management services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, and retirement plans. The firm uses a combination of technical and fundamental analysis, relative strength, and modern portfolio theory with tactical timing rules, managing accounts on both discretionary and non-discretionary bases.