Sara Balk

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.

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.

Lydia Idem is a financial advisor with FM Capital Group in Oakland, CA, holding a Series 65 designation and 11 years of industry experience. FM Capital Group provides investment advisory and consulting services to individuals, groups, corporations, and other business entities, offering portfolio management and handling due diligence and negotiation of private investment term sheets. The firm follows a strategic allocation approach across public securities and alternative investments and distinguishes itself by charging performance-based fees on private placements and producing educational content such as workshops and radio broadcasts.

Cassandra Cummings is a financial advisor with RC Wealth Management in Oakland, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and 19 years of industry experience. She has led RC Wealth Management since 2015. In addition to her advisory role, she provides financial literacy services through online courses and in-person events. RC Wealth Management serves individuals, high-net-worth clients, small businesses, and certain nonprofit organizations with financial planning, investment consulting, and portfolio management. The firm emphasizes fundamental analysis, downside risk mitigation, and capital preservation, offering primarily nondiscretionary portfolio management alongside educational seminars and business consultation services.

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.