John Mayer is a financial advisor at Invest Capital LLC in Chicago, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses with 35 years of industry experience. He previously worked at Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated for 10 years before founding his sole proprietorship and joining Invest Capital in 2018. Outside of finance, he provides transportation services through an affiliation with Uber Technologies, Inc. Invest Capital provides investment management, financial planning, and retirement-plan advisory services to individual and high-net-worth clients, as well as ERISA-qualified plans. The firm employs a variety of analytical methods and offers tailored strategies, including both discretionary and non-discretionary authority, alongside public educational seminars and workshops.

I'm Linda Rapisardo, CFP® and founder of Canela Wealth, a flat-fee, advice-only financial planning firm for first-generation wealth builders. My clients are first-gen professionals in their 30s and 40s who have worked hard to build successful careers, but never got a roadmap for what comes next. They're often the person their family turns to with money questions, even while quietly asking themselves: Am I saving enough? Am I spending too much? What should I even be prioritizing right now? That mental load is real. And it can feel heavier when you've spent most of your life figuring things out on your own. I know that feeling. I grew up in a working-class, immigrant family where my parents navigated an unfamiliar financial system without anyone trustworthy to guide them. The 2008 financial crisis hit us hard. My parents were smart, resourceful, and hardworking, but the system wasn't designed with them in mind. I watched what it costs a family to go it alone, and it shaped everything about how I show up for clients today. My goal is to be the person my parents never had: someone who cuts through the noise, explains how things actually work, and makes sure you never feel alone navigating the financial system. I believe transparency and education are everything. As an advice-only planner, I never manage assets or earn commissions. My flat-fee structure means my only incentive is to give you excellent, unconflicted advice. I help with comprehensive financial planning, including cash flow, debt strategy, retirement projections, tax planning, insurance review, home-buying decisions, and investment guidance for those managing their own portfolios. My favorite moments are when the weight lifts. When a client stops stressing about money and starts focusing on the things they actually care about. That's why I do this work. When I'm not helping clients, I'm chasing my two kiddos, Luca (4) and Camila (1), and dreaming up our next big family trip.

Elizabeth Elswick is a CFP® professional with nine years of industry experience. She is the principal and sole advisor at Elswick Investments LLC, an independent firm based in Chicago, IL. Prior to founding her firm, she worked at Edward Jones for nearly a decade. Outside of her advisory work, Elswick is involved in the music industry as a composer and performer through her ownership of Paper Ashtray Music LLC. Elswick Investments LLC provides discretionary and non-discretionary asset management, financial planning, and ERISA retirement-plan services. The firm serves a diverse client base, including individuals, high net worth clients, trusts, estates, corporations, nonprofits, and retirement plans, offering customized portfolios using a combination of fundamental, technical, charting, and cyclical analyses.

Amy Rosenow is the founder of Bold Vision Financial (formerly Fearless Financial Planning), an advice-only financial planning and education firm focused on women, families, and entrepreneurs. Prior to Bold Vision, Amy worked as a consultant providing strategic advisory and outsourced COO services to growing start-ups and small businesses. Amy also founded Jugl LLC, a software company focused on making it easier to be a working parent. Before Jugl, Amy served as Partner, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer of Sheffield Asset Management, L.L.C. for over a decade. In this role, she oversaw a variety of functions including operations, client service, investor relations, marketing, risk management, compliance, and technology for the Chicago-based investment management firm. She began her career on Wall Street, working for Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Bear Stearns. She also serves as President of both RUOK Management investment partnership and Kaplan Rosenow Family Foundation. Amy graduated from Cornell University. She lives in Chicago with her husband, two daughters, and their two Labrador retrievers. She is involved in a variety of community and non-profit initiatives, serving as Treasurer on the board of Temple Sholom of Chicago, as a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women and the Economic Club of Chicago, and as a mentor at 1871, Chicago’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. In addition, she is the co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of the Josephine Collective, a women-led group of angel investors co-investing small amounts in early-stage startups.

Samer Simaan is a CFA charterholder and the sole advisor at Simaan Investment Management, L.L.C. He has eight years of industry experience and has been affiliated with BMO Harris Bank since 2015. Based in Chicago, IL, he leads an independent advisory firm specializing in portfolio management. Simaan Investment Management provides discretionary portfolio management services to individuals, including high-net-worth clients, corporations, and other investment advisers. The firm employs a value-oriented, margin-of-safety equity philosophy combined with tactical use of covered and listed options to generate income and manage downside risk.

Nicholas Mansour is a financial advisor at New Capital Management, LLC with 28 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with New Capital Management since 1995. New Capital Management is a fee-only registered adviser serving a single-family office and a small number of discretionary family accounts. The firm focuses on bottom-up growth-at-a-reasonable-price portfolio management through a core-and-satellite construction, emphasizing large- and mid-cap high-quality companies alongside selective satellite exposures.

Brian Huckstep is a CFA® charterholder and principal of Huckstep Asset Management, LLC with five years of industry experience. He previously worked at Morningstar Investment Management from 2016 to 2019. Huckstep Asset Management provides financial planning, investment management, and model portfolio services to a diverse client base including individuals, families, trusts, charitable organizations, and institutional investors. The firm focuses on low-cost, globally diversified portfolios using asset allocation as the primary driver of returns and offers both strategic and tactical portfolio strategies, including customized institutional mandates and wrap-model portfolios for third-party platforms.

Andrew Baxley is a CFP® professional based in Oak Park, IL, with 10 years of industry experience. He is the principal advisor at Two Trails Financial Planning, an independent firm he has led since 2024. His prior experience includes roles at BuilderFP, The Planning Center, TIAA, Strategic Advisers, Inc., and Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC. Two Trails Financial Planning provides comprehensive financial planning and discretionary investment management to individuals and high-net-worth clients. The firm uses proprietary portfolio models blending passive and active funds tailored to client risk tolerance and preferences, including options for values-based investing, and operates on a fee-only basis without percentage-of-AUM charges.

Larry Hightower is a CFP® with 29 years of industry experience, currently serving as the sole advisor at Hightower & Boler, LLC since 2017. His prior experience includes roles at Protective Life Insurance and EverGreen Capital Management. He also serves on the board of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning, a nonprofit organization focused on child and family development. Hightower & Boler, LLC provides fee-only investment advisory services, financial planning, and tax preparation to individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, and state or municipal government entities. The firm manages approximately $5.9 million in discretionary assets and offers customized investment strategies primarily using individual bonds and exchange-traded funds, with services notable for including institutional and government clients.

Patrick Hager is a CFA® charterholder with 17 years of industry experience. He is the sole advisor at Theta Wealth Partners, an independent firm based in Chicago, IL. Prior to founding Theta Wealth Partners in 2026, he worked at Oppenheimer for 14 years. Theta Wealth Partners provides ongoing portfolio management and investment advisory services to individuals and high-net-worth clients, employing a multi-disciplinary investment approach that includes charting, fundamental analysis, modern portfolio theory, and quantitative methods. The firm offers a wrap-fee portfolio management program and typically seeks discretionary authority for accounts.

Marc Farmer is a Series 66-licensed financial advisor with Monroe Financial Inc. in Chicago, IL, where he has worked since 2019. He has 10 years of industry experience, including prior roles at HD Vest Investment Services and HD Vest Advisory Services. In addition to his advisory work, Farmer owns a CPA firm and serves on the board of directors for the Monroe Arts Center, where he reviews and presents financial statements. Monroe Financial Inc. provides financial planning, portfolio management, and pension consulting services to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, and business entities. The firm offers a range of investment options, primarily recommending ETFs alongside mutual funds, equities, fixed income, real estate funds, and non-U.S. securities, with client strategies tailored through Investment Policy Statements and managed on both discretionary and non-discretionary bases.

Matthew Ward is a financial advisor with K.W. Andersen Investment Group, LLC, holding a Series 66 designation and 12 years of industry experience. He has worked with K.W. Andersen Investment Group since 2017 and previously with MW Financial LLC and Advocate Financial Solutions LLC. Outside of financial advising, he works as a bookkeeper for an interior design business in Chicago. K.W. Andersen Investment Group provides financial planning, investment consultation, portfolio management, and business consultation to individuals, including high net worth clients, and small businesses. The firm employs a combination of fundamental analysis and diversified strategies to construct tax-efficient, customized portfolios managed predominantly on a discretionary basis.

Michael Von Lunen is the founder and sole advisor at Wheel Advisors LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with four years of industry experience. His prior work includes roles at Harrer Law, P.C., T3 Trading Group, LLC, and Purchasing Platform. Outside of financial advising, he owns and operates Ripple360 LLC, a professional coaching business assisting entrepreneurs in building and managing their businesses. Wheel Advisors LLC provides discretionary asset management and advisory services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and small businesses, with an investment approach focused on asset allocation and low-cost index investing. The firm offers financial planning and small-business consultation tailored to employers with 1–20 employees and combines percentage-based asset management with hourly-billed planning services.

Gary Harris is the principal of GH Private Wealth Management, Inc. in Chicago, IL, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with 20 years of industry experience. He has worked at Ciel Bleu Private Wealth Management Inc. since 2014 and Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company since 2012. Outside of advisory services, Harris is involved in insurance brokerage and is a silent partner in a funeral home management business. GH Private Wealth Management provides fee-based investment advisory and financial planning services to individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and business entities. The firm employs a tactical asset-allocation approach using fundamental and technical analysis and offers discretionary portfolio management, third-party money manager recommendations, and educational seminars.

Mary Deshong Kinkelaar is the sole advisor at Kinkelaar & Associates in Chicago, IL, holding a Series 65 designation with 21 years of industry experience. She has led Kinkelaar & Associates since 2004. Kinkelaar & Associates is an independent, fee-only firm providing tailored financial planning and investment advice to individuals, trusts, estates, and small businesses. The firm emphasizes strategic asset allocation using low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, offers educational workshops, and serves small-business and corporate plan clients without accepting commissions or managing client assets directly.

Zachary Fietsch is the sole advisor at Jackalope Capital and holds a Series 65 designation with six years of industry experience. He has operated Jackalope Capital since 2020 and concurrently serves as a Tax Principal and CPA at ZFP, CPA since 2016. Jackalope Capital offers discretionary investment management and financial planning to individuals, families, trusts, businesses, and charitable organizations. The firm employs a multi-disciplinary investment process and proprietary asset-allocation methodology, integrating tax and accounting considerations through its affiliation with an accounting practice.

Henry Gorecki is a CFP® with 23 years of industry experience and principal of HG Wealth Management, LLC, an independent firm he has led since 2012. Based in Chicago, IL, he holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses. HG Wealth Management serves individual investors as well as trusts, estates, foundations, charities, and businesses, providing financial planning, investment consultation, and investment supervisory services. The firm employs a Core + Satellite investment approach and offers tailored services including modular reviews and comprehensive plans, managing assets on both a discretionary and non-discretionary basis while coordinating with clients’ other professionals.

Patrick Brierton is a financial advisor with BWM LLC in Chicago, IL, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 35 years of industry experience. He worked at Ameriprise from 2009 to 2021 before joining BWM LLC in 2021. His other activities include serving in fiduciary roles such as trustee and personal representative. BWM LLC provides discretionary investment management and financial planning services primarily to high-net-worth individuals, trusts, and estates. The firm uses fundamental analysis and a long-term approach, constructing diversified portfolios mainly composed of mutual funds and ETFs, while employing individual stocks, fixed income, and options as needed.

Robert Bell is a CFP® certificant with 19 years of industry experience. He has operated Mark Bell Advisory Services, Inc., an independent advisory firm based in Chicago, since 2002. The firm is a fee-only, SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals, trusts, estates, and certain pension and profit-sharing plans. Mark Bell Advisory Services focuses on discretionary money management and financial planning for a limited client base, typically close family or friends. The firm constructs tax-aware, diversified portfolios using no-load mutual funds, ETFs, and individual bonds, and manages accounts primarily on a discretionary basis through institutional custody platforms.

Kyle Matkaitis is a CFP® professional with 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is the founder and Chief Compliance Officer of Whisper Wealth Builders, an independent advisory firm he established in 2020. Prior to founding Whisper Wealth Builders, Matkaitis worked at SNS Financial Group, LPL Financial, and Fidelity Brokerage Services. Whisper Wealth Builders serves individual and corporate clients, offering discretionary investment management alongside project-based and ongoing financial planning. The firm primarily uses passive investment strategies based on Modern Portfolio Theory while incorporating fundamental and cyclical analysis, and it also conducts educational seminars for groups such as college and professional athletes.