Issam Mahmoud Bakir

I was 13 years old when I started investing. My grandfather taught me. Instead of fishing or watching baseball during summers together, he walked me through options trading (not the safest way to invest lol). Buying and selling puts, running iron condors and writing covered calls. Most kids my age were at camps or on the swim team. I was learning about risk, free cash flow, and what it means to actually own a piece of a business. I was obsessed. I kept investing through college, eventually realizing there was a whole world beyond picking stocks. Tax planning. Estate planning. Cash flow. The full picture of what it takes to build wealth and protect a family. I joined a firm out of school. Then another. I learned a lot, but kept running into the same wall: I didn't have the freedom to invest the way I believed clients deserved. In 2021, I started Baskets Capital, my own independent RIA. I wanted full control over how we serve clients. Not 10 mutual funds and calling it a day. Not telling an 85 year old "let's just see what the market does." I wanted custom portfolios of individual stocks, actively managed, tailored to each client. Then in early 2024, life hit me hard. I was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. Three months of scans and specialists led to brain surgery in May 2024. A week in the hospital, time in the Neural ICU, and a long recovery that stretched through the year. I could not have made it through without God protecting me the whole way, without Courtney by my side, and without having built my own firm years prior. Full control over my schedule is what let me focus on healing. In 2025, the best thing that has ever happened. We welcomed our daughter, Parker, into the world. She reshaped how I think about my work and why it matters. At Baskets Capital, we help families and business owners navigate tax planning, estate planning, charitable giving, and investments so they can focus on what matters most - family time. We coordinate every piece: proactive tax planning, smart giving strategies like donating appreciated stock and using donor-advised funds, and custom portfolios of individual stocks. Every dollar gets put to work with intention. If you think you're safe because nothing has gone wrong yet, and you haven't built a plan for what happens when life throws something unexpected at you, we should probably talk. Life has a thousand things it can throw. One of the best things you can do is prepare, build a plan, and walk through it with experts beside you.

Christopher Hehman is a Series 66-licensed financial advisor at FMP Wealth Advisers with one year of industry experience. Prior to joining FMP Wealth Advisers, he worked at Dimensional Fund Advisors and has academic experience at Texas Tech University and Vandegrift High School. FMP Wealth Advisers provides fee-only financial planning and investment management services to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and small businesses. The firm manages approximately $1.34 billion in client assets using model portfolio management, separately managed accounts, and retirement-plan fiduciary services, distinguishing itself by acting as an investment manager and sponsor to private pooled investment vehicles.

Kai Lamb is a financial advisor at Solaris Private Wealth Management in Austin, TX, with 22 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and has led Solaris since 2006. Outside of advising, he is a member and manager of Genesis Web Solutions, a web hosting business. Solaris Private Wealth Management serves individuals, small business owners, and nonprofit foundations, providing investment advisory, financial planning, and educational workshops. The firm uses Modern Portfolio Theory and a mix of no-load mutual funds, low-cost ETFs, individual equities, and fixed income to tailor portfolios according to each client’s risk profile.

Andrew Oskoui is a CFA® charterholder and Series 65 licensee with 12 years of industry experience. He has been the sole advisor at Blue Tower Asset Management, LLC since 2014, based in Austin, TX. Blue Tower Asset Management provides discretionary investment management to individuals, trusts, endowments, corporations, and other institutions, and also acts as a sub-adviser for other investment firms. The firm employs a value-oriented investment process focused on high-quality businesses and operates a flagship Global Value strategy that is unconstrained by market-cap or sector limits and typically concentrated in 15–25 holdings.

Mark Scott is a CFA® charterholder and Series 63 licensee with 10 years of industry experience. He is the sole advisor at Trinvest Advisors, LLC, an independent firm he has worked with since 2015. In addition to his advisory role, Scott serves as a business development consultant for a Caribbean-based financial services firm. Trinvest Advisors provides portfolio management and financial planning services to individuals, including high-net-worth clients, as well as corporations and business entities. The firm serves both U.S. and non-U.S. clients, employing a range of investment strategies that include fundamental and technical analysis, long- and short-term trading, and allocations to various asset classes such as mutual funds, ETFs, hedge funds, and private equity.

Kirti Bhanushali is the sole advisor at Dversify Advisors LLC, holding a Series 65 credential with one year of industry experience. Prior to founding Dversify Advisors, Kirti was employed at Oracle Corp for 18 years. Kirti is also involved with Dversify AI LLC, a technology affiliate related to the advisory platform. Dversify Advisors provides automated, non-discretionary investment advice and financial planning services to individual clients through an interactive digital platform. The firm focuses on delivering analyses such as retirement-income planning, Social Security strategy, and tax-related modeling without managing client assets or executing trades.