Tess Lanae Downing

Santiago Vidales Hildebrandt is a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management based in Houston, Texas. He works with high-net-worth individuals, families, family offices, and institutional clients in the US and internationally, focusing on creating personalized wealth management strategies that align with clients’ goals and priorities. Santiago collaborates closely with clients to provide a holistic, goals-based approach by leveraging Merrill’s investment resources and the banking services and lending solutions of Bank of America. Santiago’s areas of expertise include corporate executive services, family wealth management, institutional consulting, international wealth management, legacy planning, philanthropic planning, managing new wealth, small business strategies, and tax minimization. With a background in corporate and investment banking, he applies a multidisciplinary approach encompassing investments, credit and lending, trust and estate planning, and business succession planning to help clients advance their financial objectives. He holds a Personal Investment Advisor (PIA) designation and earned a bachelor's degree from The University of Georgia, along with a non-accredited certificate from Oxford University. Santiago is involved in the community through organizations such as the Houston Food Bank and Houston Habitat for Humanity. Outside of work, he enjoys activities including camping, cooking, hiking, interior decorating, pickleball, soccer, spending time with his family, tennis, traveling, and woodworking.

Helen Dao is a CFP® professional with 19 years of experience in the financial industry. She is currently with Stirlingshire Investments and had been previously with Money Concepts Capital Corp. Outside of her advisory role, she provides monthly accounting services for select clients through DAO Financial Group, LLC. Stirlingshire RIA LLC offers discretionary portfolio management to individuals, trusts, and other entities across a wide range of wealth levels. The firm employs multiple analysis methods and trading approaches, providing access to diverse investment types and model strategies through the Advyzon marketplace.

David Hillner is the founder and owner of Kindred Peak Wealth Management. He is guided by his ideals and grounded by his pragmatism. He hopes to be as helpful as possible to the people in his life. Sometimes that is helping a person obtain financial clarity and freedom – sometimes it’s just getting tacos on a Tuesday. David obtained an MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds the CFP® designation and is a CFA® charterholder. Away from the office, he enjoys playing board games and tennis, skiing, hiking, smoking briskets, and birdwatching. His greatest joy is being with his wife and their three adventurous children.

John Nau is the sole advisor at The Legacy Collaborative, Inc., an independent firm based in San Antonio, TX. He holds a Series 63 designation and has 41 years of industry experience. His career includes over a decade with World Equity Group and nearly three decades with The Legacy Collaborative. Outside of advisory services, he serves as co-trustee of a special needs trust and is involved in several life insurance and annuity-related business activities, including leadership roles in insurance producer groups. The Legacy Collaborative provides financial planning and portfolio management primarily to high-net-worth individuals, corporations, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm specializes in estate planning, business succession, retirement, and charitable planning while assisting clients in selecting professional portfolio managers rather than managing most accounts on a discretionary basis.

Bryan Stanley is a financial advisor at Definitive Advisor Group, LLC. He holds a Series 65 designation and is based in Cibolo, TX. His professional background includes roles at Rackspace Technology, Capital Venture Collective LLC, and Amazon, Inc., among others. Definitive Advisor Group provides non-discretionary investment advisory and financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, nonprofits, small businesses, estates, and trusts. The firm focuses on capital preservation and risk management, using both fundamental and technical analysis to create goal-oriented plans and facilitates access to third-party investment managers when discretionary portfolio management is required.

Garrick Ruiz is an investment advisor with Aquifer Asset Management, LLC in San Antonio, TX, holding the ChFC® designation and Series 63 and 66 licenses, with 17 years of industry experience. He has worked at several firms including Carolina Financial Securities, LLC and Usaa Investment Management Company. Ruiz is also a licensed General Lines insurance agent in Texas. Aquifer Asset Management provides discretionary portfolio management and consulting services to individual and high-net-worth clients, employing a combination of fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis across diversified mutual funds, ETFs, equities, and bonds. The firm operates with a single adviser under written discretionary authority, using client-directed custodians without aggregating trades or accepting proxy-voting authority.