Michael Willman is the sole advisor at Blue Sky Investment Partners, Inc., an independent firm based in Evanston, IL. He holds a Series 65 credential and has 18 years of industry experience, having been with Blue Sky Investment Partners since 2007. Blue Sky Investment Partners serves individuals, families, trusts, estates, business entities, and retirement plan sponsors with discretionary portfolio management, comprehensive wealth management, and retirement plan advisory services. The firm constructs diversified portfolios using mutual funds and ETFs, providing regular account monitoring and rebalancing, and also works with plan sponsors on participant education and plan-level services.

Michael Cope is a CFP® professional with 19 years of experience in financial advising. He has been the sole advisor at Pinnacle Planning Advisors, LLC since 2010, operating an independent firm in Evanston, IL. Pinnacle Planning Advisors serves individual and high-net-worth clients with ongoing portfolio management and comprehensive financial planning, covering areas such as retirement, education, insurance, and estate planning. The firm emphasizes client education through seminars and workshops, manages assets directly without third-party managers, and typically operates with written discretionary authority to implement customized investment plans.

Dustin Javier is a financial advisor at Defined Capital LLC with 14 years of industry experience. He holds the CFP® and Series 66 designations. Prior to joining Defined Capital, he worked at Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc. and operates a sole proprietorship focused on fixed insurance sales. Defined Capital provides discretionary asset management, comprehensive financial planning, and retirement-plan consulting for individuals, high-net-worth clients, and plan sponsors. The firm emphasizes customized portfolio construction with regular reviews and offers a specialized limited-scope ERISA 3(21) fiduciary service for retirement plans.

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.

My goal is to provide working professionals with sound financial advice to help them best position themselves and their financial lives for success. While the majority of our clients have medical backgrounds or are business owners, our services are best targeted to those with investable assets and are in the asset accumulation phase of their life. I provide comprehensive financial planning services as well as investment advisory services. PVA Financial LLC is a SEC-registered RIA firm. We focus our business on providing PRACTICAL, VALUABLE and ALIGNED advice. I found that to be missing when I was looking for an advisor more than two decades ago and have vowed to keep focused on those three tenets. Before founding PVA Financial, I worked as a private equity executive. With over 15 years of financial services experience, I've spent the majority of my career evaluating businesses, investing in them, finding ways to accelerate their growth and improve their operational efficiency. This background has given me unique insight into the importance of building strong foundations and the necessity for clear and effective communication...both of which are incorporated into our relationships with clients. I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. I also received my MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, with a focus on Finance & Accounting. I also hold the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation, which requires comprehensive knowledge in all areas of financial planning, including insurance planning, risk management, employee benefits planning, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning. On the personal side, I enjoy spending time with my wife, three kids and our goldendoodle Leo. I was the Cubmaster for my kids Scout group (sadly a while ago) and am heavily involved in a few charitable organizations. I'm an avid Chicago Bears fan and enjoy playing tennis, basketball and golf. Additional information can be found at www.pvafinancial.com and I can be reached at [email protected]

Lauren Hunt is a CFP® professional with 11 years of industry experience. She is the sole advisor at Daybreak Wealth, LLC, where she has worked since 2022. Prior to this, she spent eight years at Pinnacle Financial Group LLC. Daybreak Wealth, LLC provides customized financial planning and ongoing wealth management to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and estates and trusts. The firm focuses on primarily passive, long-term portfolios using low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, applying principles from Modern Portfolio Theory and the Fama–French three-factor model.

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.

Erik Barnes is a financial advisor at Retirement Portfolio Partners in Warrenville, IL, holding a Series 66 designation with 17 years of industry experience. He has been with The Farm Capital Management, LLC since 2008. Retirement Portfolio Partners provides wealth management services to individuals, high-net-worth households, and families, combining portfolio management with comprehensive financial planning. The firm employs passive, cost- and tax-aware strategies using mutual funds, ETFs, and select individual securities, and offers ongoing portfolio oversight through quantitative tools and client digital portals.

Brian Gilmartin is the sole advisor at Trinity Asset Management, Inc. in Clarendon Hills, IL. He holds the CFA® designation and has 27 years of industry experience, having been with Trinity since 1995. Trinity Asset Management provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment management primarily for individual investors, including taxable brokerage and IRA accounts, as well as higher-net-worth clients and a family foundation. The firm constructs long-only portfolios using mutual funds, individual equities, ETFs, and fixed income, applying modern portfolio theory to tailor asset allocations based on client-specific factors.

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.

Eddie Patel is a CFP® certificant and financial advisor at Zendamentals with 18 years of industry experience. He has held leadership roles in multiple affiliated businesses, including accounting and tax service firms, and serves as president and CEO of Zen Wealth Management Group, Inc., which provides bookkeeping, payroll, virtual CFO, and tax preparation services. His other activities include managing holding companies involved in real estate investments. Zendamentals provides discretionary asset management to a diverse client base, including individuals, pension plans, trusts, and charitable organizations. The firm employs a range of investment strategies, including the use of derivatives and leverage, and manages approximately $160.7 million in client assets across more than 400 relationships.

Steven Johnson is a financial advisor at SRJ Financial Consulting LLC in Lombard, IL, holding a Series 65 designation with one year of industry experience. His prior experience includes roles at Willamette Management Associates and Charles River Associates. SRJ Financial Consulting LLC provides investment advisory services, financial planning, tax-planning analyses, and tax-return preparation for a diverse client base that includes individuals, small businesses, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm offers investment advice on a non-discretionary basis and features a formal no-fee program of educational seminars and workshops along with compensated tax-return preparation.

Nirmal Kartari is a financial advisor at Financial Solutions, Inc. in Skokie, IL, with eight years of industry experience. He holds the CFP® and Series 66 designations and has previously worked at Avantax Advisory Services and HD Vest Investment Services. Kartari is also the owner and sole proprietor of a tax preparation and accounting business. Financial Solutions, Inc. is a state-registered investment adviser providing investment management and comprehensive financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and businesses. The firm uses a combination of fundamental, technical, and charting analyses to build portfolios and emphasizes accounting and tax expertise in its advisory work.

John Beck is a financial advisor at Midwest Retirement Partners, LLC with 10 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has worked previously at ADP LLC, ADP Broker-Dealer Inc., and Inland Securities Corporation. Midwest Retirement Partners is an independent, single-advisor firm that primarily serves pension and profit-sharing plans. The firm emphasizes quantitative analysis and a long-term investment approach, focusing on plan consulting and referring clients to third-party advisers rather than managing individual client portfolios directly.

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.