Conrad Kenneth Branson

30+ yrs in Finance • MIT MBA '02 • CFA Charterholder '99 • UC Berkeley '95 • Series 7 '92 • Certified Tax Preparer '87 Jason is Chief Investment Officer at ImpactAdvisor LLC I started my career on the buy-side at Seneca Capital in 1995, an institutional investment advisor that also managed customized portfolios for high-net-worth clients. I was responsible for equity trading, research, and portfolio management, including the design and implementation of our integrated portfolio trading and rebalancing software. This technology enabled us to scale assets under management 10x to $10B+ with only a 50% increase in headcount over five years, allowing our small team to manage a thousand portfolios with customizations for impact, compliance, and tax-efficiency. Other expertise: multiple hedge-fund styles — long, short, and quantitative strategies — with an emphasis on deep-dive equity analysis. More on LinkedIn → To balance the uncertainties in the markets, I strive for optimal tax strategy: a variable we can influence to boost net returns. I was a certified tax preparer at age 14. In my free time I add to update our tax bracket optimizer and organize finance events for the MIT Club of N.California. I live in San Francisco with Vesna and our three-year-old son, Milan. ImpactAdvisor LLC is a boutique advisory firm with four advisors managing approximately $90 million for around 65 households, including individuals, business owners, retirement plans, and nonprofits. The firm offers discretionary portfolio management and financial planning, employing fundamental, cyclical, and quantitative analysis. Also available are values-aligned and sustainable investing alongside a broader range of alternative and tax-aware investment solutions.

Richard Patrick is a financial advisor at Sowell Management with 22 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and has worked at Sowell Management since 2020, following a prior role at Naples Asset Management Company, LLC. Sowell Management is a fee-based registered investment adviser serving individuals, retirement plans, corporations, registered investment advisers, and institutions. The firm offers investment management, financial planning, retirement-plan advisory, and related consulting services through a multi-branch independent-contractor model with over 100 advisors.

Farid Nadjibi is the principal of Farid Consulting and holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with two years of industry experience. Prior to his financial advisory career, he has been involved with Burlwood Gallery since 2006, engaging in jewelry, collectibles, decor, and building contracting. Farid Consulting is a sole-proprietorship investment advisory firm that offers discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement/employee benefit account services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and small businesses. The firm employs a tailored, goals-based investment approach across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, options, private funds, real estate investments, and digital assets.

Gary Leonard is a financial advisor based in San Francisco, CA, with 20 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked at Montrose Securities since 2011. Outside of his advisory role, he provides consulting related to hiking activities for a local cooperative. His firm offers discretionary investment management and advisory services primarily to individual clients, managing approximately $800,000 across about 20 accounts. The firm constructs balanced portfolios tailored to client risk tolerance using fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis, employing strategies that include equities, fixed income, options, and hedging techniques.

Shailesh Patel is the founder of Patel Capital Management and holds a Series 66 designation with 14 years of industry experience. He previously worked at Fidelity Personal and Workplace Advisors and Fidelity Brokerage Services. He maintains an inactive insurance license that he intends to let expire and does not sell insurance products. Patel Capital Management is an independent, fee-only advisory firm serving a small number of high-net-worth individuals. The firm provides wealth management and financial planning, combining passive and active investment strategies and operating a direct-indexing program that employs institutional optimization and tax-management techniques.

Juan Polanco is a Series 66 licensed financial advisor with Optimo Capital in San Francisco, CA, and has 11 years of industry experience. Before founding Optimo Capital, he worked at Carr & Ferrell LLP for two years. Outside of his advisory role, Mr. Polanco works full-time as an engineer at PacBio and mentors startups and founders at the Founder's Institute and LoyalVC. Optimo Capital advises founders of venture-backed companies, recently funded startups, and private investors on portfolio supervision and capital-raising. The firm uses a combined top‑down and bottom‑up analytical approach with a supervisory and consultative model, focusing on tailored services such as Investment Policy Statements, due diligence management, and pitch material preparation.