Charles Menges is a financial advisor at Ameriprise in Barrington, IL, holding a Series 66 designation with one year of industry experience. His prior work includes roles at Korpack, Merkle Korff Industries (a Nidec Company), Golfcritique.com, D&W Fine Pack, and Menges Roller Company. Ameriprise offers a retirement-income planning service aimed at individuals approaching or in retirement who meet specific eligibility criteria, providing written Recommendation Reports that address income sources, Social Security options, and tax-smart withdrawal strategies. The firm combines research, modeling, and tax-efficiency analysis to generate tailored retirement income recommendations.

Ronald Kapraun is a financial advisor with Cetera in Schaumburg, IL, holding a Series 63 designation and over 36 years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at Raymond James & Associates and Martingale Investment Group. Outside of advisory work, he is a partner in Kapraun Family Farm, LLC, and serves as a teacher aid providing religious education at Resurrection Catholic Church. Cetera Investment Advisers LLC serves a diverse client base, including individuals, retirement plans, corporations, and institutional accounts, offering a range of portfolio management and financial planning services. The firm operates a multi-manager platform that allows advisors to implement model portfolios, select third-party managers, or build custom strategies.

Jeremy Piwnicki is a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley with 22 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has worked at Morgan Stanley Private Bank since 2015, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney since 2009, and Citigroup Global Markets from 2004 to 2009. He is based in Crystal Lake, IL. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management serves individuals and institutional clients by offering a range of advisory programs, including tailored financial planning through its Financial Advisors and Estate Planning Strategies Group. The firm manages approximately $2.74 trillion in client assets and utilizes structured planning tools and scenario modeling as part of its advisory process.

Rej Hoxha is a Financial Consultant at Fidelity Investments, a role he has held since 2026. Prior to this position, he served as an Investment Consultant at Fidelity Investments from 2024 to 2026. His career in financial services began in 2019 and includes experience as a Financial Advisor at Thrivent from 2021 to 2024, and as a Retirement Account Executive at Horace Mann Brokerage from 2019 to 2021. In his work, Rej focuses on developing and implementing wealth strategies to benefit clients and their families both currently and in the future. He leverages Fidelity's brand, technology, and financial planning resources, working alongside his team to provide approachable financial insights. Outside of his professional responsibilities, Rej has personal interests that include fitness, football, golf, caring for pets, and volunteering.

Steven Urosevich is a financial advisor at Wells Fargo Clearing with 29 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 designations and has worked at several notable firms, including Morgan Stanley Private Bank, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets, and U.S. Bancorp Investments. He is based in Schaumburg, Illinois. Wells Fargo Advisors is a national securities firm serving individual, corporate, and institutional clients with investment advisory services, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and brokerage solutions. The firm manages approximately $671 billion in assets and uses research and analytics from the Wells Fargo Investment Institute alongside third-party data to support its investment approach.

Samuel Ruiz is a Planning Consultant at Fidelity Investments, where he collaborates with advisors to assist their clients in achieving financial clarity and confidence. He provides personalized guidance and planning services, helping individuals navigate key financial decisions, including retirement and investment strategies as well as long-term goal setting. His role focuses on simplifying complex financial topics and delivering actionable insights to empower clients throughout their financial journey. Samuel has held multiple positions at Fidelity Investments, beginning as a Financial Representative from 2023 to 2025, then serving as a Relationship Manager in 2025, before assuming his current role as Planning Consultant in 2025. Through these roles, he has developed experience in supporting clients and advisors with financial planning and relationship management. Outside of his professional responsibilities, Samuel enjoys skiing, tennis, and traveling.

Robert Gajewski Jr. is a financial advisor at Edward Jones with seven years of industry experience. He has held roles at Edward Jones since 2018 and previously worked at Service Printing Corporation and Trend Graphics Inc. He holds the Series 66 designation. Edward Jones is a full-service wealth management firm serving individual and institutional clients, including high-net-worth households, corporate clients, and charitable organizations. The firm manages over $1 trillion in assets and offers a range of advisory programs, investment strategies, and affiliated services supported by a nationwide network of more than 23,000 financial advisors.

Ashley Childress is a financial advisor with UBS Financial Services, holding a Series 66 designation and with two years of industry experience. Prior to joining UBS, Ashley worked in various roles including coaching junior alpine ski racers at Wilmot Mountain, a seasonal position held since 2021. UBS Financial Services serves individual, corporate, and institutional clients through brokerage and investment advisory services, utilizing proprietary research and model-based asset allocations to tailor financial plans. The firm combines wealth management with institutional trading capabilities and provides a broad range of capital markets services.

Anna Lysenko is a financial advisor at Merrill with 4 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 66 designation and has been with Merrill since 2003. Outside of her advisory role, she serves as a co-trustee of the D P Living Trust in Deer Park, Illinois. Merrill, together with its affiliate Managed Account Advisors LLC, provides managed account services to Bank of America fiduciary clients through the Select Portfolio Solutions Program. The firm offers a range of model-based and discretionary investment strategies for individuals, high-net-worth clients, pension plans, corporations, and charitable organizations.

Jennifer Curtiss is a Series 66-licensed advisor at Robert W. Baird & Co. with 17 years of industry experience. She has been with Robert W. Baird since 2008. Outside of her advisory role, she serves as President of the Picnic Grove Homeowners' Association and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Village of Fox River Grove. She is part of The DDK Group within Robert W. Baird’s Private Wealth Management practice, which advises individuals, families, pensions, corporations, and institutional clients. The group provides tailored financial planning and portfolio management services, utilizing a range of strategies and both in-house and third-party managers.

Mark Lessert is a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley with 16 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has been with Morgan Stanley since 2010. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved with NAPCO Inc., a manufacturing company in Naperville, Illinois, where he advises on manufacturing processes and coffee purchasing. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is an SEC-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer serving individual and institutional clients with a range of advisory programs, including tailored financial planning. The firm manages approximately $2.74 trillion in client assets and employs a structured planning process supported by approved tools and modeling techniques.

Blake Hafferkamp is a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors, holding a Series 66 designation and eight years of industry experience. His career includes roles at Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC and Northwestern Mutual. Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network serves individuals, trusts, and institutional clients by offering investment and fee-based financial planning services across a broad range of areas, including retirement, education, and specialized planning like business-owner transition and special-needs analysis. The firm uses proprietary research and planning tools to develop tailored recommendations, with clients deciding how to implement them through various brokerage or advisory programs.

Brianna Hook is a financial advisor at Robert Baird & Co. with 10 years of industry experience. She holds the Series 66 designation and previously worked at First Investments & Planning, First National Bank of Omaha, and Raymond James Financial Services. Brianna is part of The DDK Group within Baird’s Private Wealth Management team, which serves individuals, corporate clients, pensions, profit-sharing plans, and charitable organizations. The firm offers a broad range of financial planning and portfolio management services, utilizing manager-traded and model-traded SMA strategies, tax-management, and other investment approaches.

Ashton Rudd-Washington is a Financial Consultant at Fidelity Investments, a position he has held since 2023. He has progressed through various roles within Fidelity, including Investment Consultant, Planning Consultant, and Relationship Manager from 2021 to 2023. Prior to joining Fidelity, Ashton worked at JP Morgan Chase Bank from 2017 to 2020, where he served as Lead Teller Operation Specialist, Relationship Banker, and Private Client Banker. In his role as a Financial Consultant, Ashton focuses on helping clients accumulate wealth through tax-efficient investing while minimizing risk. He collaborates with clients to co-create financial plans that address important goals such as retirement and legacy planning, including generating income strategies for retirement. Outside of his professional work, Ashton has personal interests in cooking and baking, fitness, hiking, visiting museums, and traveling.

Karen White is a financial advisor with Cetera in Schaumburg, IL, holding Series 63 and Series 66 registrations and possessing 16 years of industry experience. Her prior work includes roles at First Allied Securities LLC and LPL Financial, LLC. She is also a partner in a family business distributing health products through Shaklee.Com/Teamknopp LLC. Cetera Investment Advisers LLC serves a diverse client base including individuals, employer-sponsored retirement plans, corporate, charitable, and institutional clients. The firm offers a wide range of portfolio management and financial planning services through a multi-manager platform with over 10,000 advisors and more than $256 billion in assets under management.

Artiz Stroud is a financial advisor at Cetera with 14 years of industry experience and holds Series 63 and Series 66 registrations. His background includes a long tenure at Fidelity Investments and roles at multiple Cetera entities. Outside of his advisory work, Stroud is engaged as a professional life coach and co-owns Shepherd Effect, an organization focused on fatherhood and family education. He also operates businesses providing estate planning preparation coaching, budget coaching, and tax preparation services. Cetera Investment Advisers LLC is a nationwide SEC-registered advisory firm that serves individual, retirement plan, corporate, charitable, and institutional clients. The firm offers a multi-manager platform with a range of portfolio management programs, including model portfolios, third-party managers, and bespoke strategies, managing over $256 billion in assets through more than 10,000 advisors.

Sharon Schwager is a financial advisor at Edward Jones with a Series 66 designation and seven years of industry experience. She has held prior roles at Creekview Wealth Management and previously worked at Edward Jones. Edward Jones is a full-service wealth management firm serving individual and institutional clients with a wide range of investment strategies and advisory services. The firm manages approximately $1.01 trillion in assets and operates a large nationwide network of financial advisors and branch offices.

Curtis Whitehouse is a financial advisor at Wells Fargo Clearing with 35 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked at Wells Fargo Clearing since 2016, following a 12-year tenure at Citigroup Global Markets. Wells Fargo Advisors is a national securities firm serving individual, corporate, and institutional clients, including pension and charitable organizations. The firm provides investment advisory services, financial planning, wrap-fee programs, and retirement plan consulting, utilizing research and analytics from Wells Fargo Investment Institute and third-party sources.

Christine Messerschmidt is a financial advisor with Thrivent Investment Management in Barrington, IL, holding a Series 66 designation and 16 years of industry experience. She has worked at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its investment management division since 2010. Messerschmidt serves as a board member of the We Raise Foundation, which supports Christian nonprofit organizations addressing poverty, violence, and inequality. Thrivent Investment Management provides Dedicated Planning Services to individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit clients through a network of financial advisors. The firm offers holistic, goal-based planning analyses that cover a wide range of financial topics, delivered as either one-time or ongoing engagements separate from portfolio management.

Paul Maurin is a financial advisor at OSAIC with 34 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked at Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. since 2015. In addition to his advisory role, he is involved in general tax and accounting activities through his ownership of Accountants & Financial Planning Associates and serves as CFO of DLS Computer Services, Inc. OSAIC Wealth serves a broad range of retail and institutional clients through a multi-advisor platform, offering brokerage and advisory services including financial planning, managed portfolios, and retirement plan consulting. The firm emphasizes model-based asset allocation and portfolio optimization, supporting discretionary and advisor-managed strategies across various custodial and legacy program arrangements.