Vladimir Kouznetsov is a CFP®-credentialed financial advisor with 12 years of industry experience. He is the principal and sole advisor at Retegy LLC, an independent firm based in Irvine, CA. In addition to his advisory role, Mr. Kouznetsov works as a software engineer at Stryker Corporation, a medical device company. Retegy LLC provides discretionary asset management and comprehensive financial planning services to individual and high-net-worth clients. The firm utilizes multiple analytical methods and a range of investment instruments, often working with third-party sub-advisors, and offers educational seminars and workshops as part of its client service approach.

Larry Beltramo is a CFP® with 15 years of experience in financial advising. He has led Beltramo Financial Services, Inc. since 2010. The firm offers personalized financial planning and discretionary investment management to individuals and institutional clients, including pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and small businesses. Its investment approach uses a core-and-satellite framework with passive index funds and ETFs as the core, complemented by selective active funds, and portfolios are managed under written investment policy statements.

Richard Ligotti is a financial advisor with Laguna Niguel Summit Wealth Management, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and possessing 27 years of industry experience. He has been with the firm since 2016. In addition to his advisory role, Ligotti is a licensed independent insurance agent offering life, long-term care, and indexed annuities. Laguna Niguel Summit Wealth Management provides financial, retirement, and insurance guidance primarily to mass-affluent and some high-net-worth individuals, families, small businesses, and pension and nonprofit plans. The firm offers planning services and insurance recommendations, referring clients to third-party investment managers and strategically utilizing turnkey asset management programs.

Ethan Namvar is a financial advisor at Centricity Financial LLC with 17 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has been affiliated with Centricity Financial since 2007. Namvar also serves as a Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, teaching approximately six hours per week during one quarter each year. Centricity Financial, LLC is a single-advisor independent registered investment adviser providing portfolio management and financial planning to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and a pooled investment vehicle. The firm employs a multifaceted investment approach that includes quantitative, fundamental, technical, and qualitative analysis, and offers both discretionary and non-discretionary mandates along with standalone consulting services.

Lee Jones is a financial advisor at Tangent Retirement with 23 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has worked at firms including Stratos Wealth Partners, LPL Financial, and U.S. Bancorp Advisors. Tangent Retirement serves individuals, families, trusts, and incorporated entities, providing comprehensive financial planning and discretionary portfolio management. The firm integrates goal-setting into its process and uses fundamental and technical analysis to guide investment decisions.

Gary Rennie is a CFP® professional with 17 years of industry experience. He has been with Rennie & Associates, an independent firm based in Irvine, CA, since 2008. Rennie & Associates provides comprehensive financial planning services to individual and high-net-worth clients, covering insurance, estate, tax, education, investment, and retirement matters. The firm employs a long-term, buy-and-hold investment approach using no-load mutual funds and ETFs, offering written plans and ongoing retainer services without discretionary trading or asset custody.

Stephen Patel is the founder of Patels and Company Capital in Irvine, CA. He holds the CFA® designation and Series 63 license and has one year of experience as a financial advisor. Prior to founding his firm, he worked for Toyota North America and currently serves as Sr. Manager of Investments at Southern California Edison, where he oversees pension and other trust assets. Patels and Company Capital provides portfolio management and investment consulting to a range of clients including individuals, families, trusts, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. The firm employs a research-driven approach with customized investment policies and offers services across public and private markets, including due diligence and modeling for private investments and diversified portfolio construction for public markets.

Bryan Gould is a financial advisor with Ultra Advisory Group in Irvine, CA, holding a Series 66 designation and 19 years of industry experience. He has worked at Northwest Asset Management, Wells Fargo Clearing, and WELLS FARGO Advisors, LLC prior to founding his current firm. He is also licensed to sell insurance in California. Ultra Advisory Group provides discretionary investment management, comprehensive financial planning, and retirement-plan advisory services to individuals, high-net-worth households, family offices, and institutional clients. The firm emphasizes customized investment programs, including a distinctive wrap fee program offered across multiple custodians.

Ryan Mc Kee is a financial advisor at Catalyst Wealth Advisors LLC in Newport Beach, CA, holding a Series 66 designation with eight years of industry experience. He has worked at several firms including Securian Financial Services, Tax & Financial Group, Firefly Capital, and managed the McKee Family Office before joining Catalyst Wealth Advisors in 2018. Catalyst Wealth Advisors LLC offers discretionary investment management and comprehensive financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and business entities. The firm employs a combination of Fundamental Analysis and Modern Portfolio Theory to create diversified, risk-based portfolios, utilizing a range of investment vehicles including no-load mutual funds, ETFs, individual equities, fixed income, interval funds, options, and private placements.

Benjamin Chang is the principal advisor at LW Pacific Investments LLC in Santa Ana, CA, with 10 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has been with LW Pacific Investments since 2014. Outside of his advisory role, Chang provides sales consulting services to Teletec Electronics Corp., a private manufacturing company, a business he has been involved in since 2005. LW Pacific Investments LLC offers customized investment advisory services to individual investors, including high-net-worth individuals and business owners. The firm employs a fundamental analysis and tactical asset management approach, utilizing ETFs, mutual funds, equities, debt securities, and REITs, and provides ongoing portfolio oversight and rebalancing through third-party custodians.

Donald Scrimgeour is a CFP® professional with 23 years of industry experience, serving as the sole advisor at Core Capital Management, LLC since 2007. He holds a Series 66 license and is also a licensed life and health insurance producer in California. Outside of financial advisory, he has a business interest in livestock and agricultural products through a Colorado-based LLC. Core Capital Management is a small independent firm managing approximately $12.5 million across individual, family, trust, nonprofit, and corporate clients. The firm offers discretionary investment management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting, employing active asset-allocation strategies and the use of derivatives and options in separately managed accounts.

Delia Fernandez is the sole advisor at Fernandez Financial Advisory, LLC in Los Alamitos, CA, with 33 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 63 designation and has been with her firm since 1993. In addition to her advisory work, she has served as an adjunct instructor in the Personal Financial Planning Program at UC Irvine Extension since 1995. Fernandez Financial Advisory is a state-registered, fee-only firm serving individuals, families, trusts, estates, small businesses, and employee benefit plans. The firm employs a core-and-satellite investment approach using passive index and ETF exposures combined with selected active managers, managing client assets on a non-discretionary basis with client approval required for trades.

Dong Ngo is a financial advisor at 86 Republic, LLC, an independent firm based in Irvine, CA. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has five years of industry experience. Prior to joining 86 Republic in 2020, he was self-employed for seven years. 86 Republic provides portfolio management services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and investment companies. The firm employs a fundamental analysis approach with a long-term trading strategy, offering both discretionary and non-discretionary management across a range of asset classes including mutual funds, ETFs, equities, fixed income, real estate funds, and international securities.

Joshua Iversen is a financial advisor with Syzygy Financial LLC in Newport Beach, CA, holding a Series 63 designation and 28 years of industry experience. He has been with Syzygy Financial since its founding in 2010. Syzygy Financial LLC is an independent registered investment adviser that provides portfolio management and financial planning primarily to individual clients, while also serving institutional clients. The firm manages approximately $775,906 in assets and offers ongoing portfolio management and financial planning services under asset-based fee arrangements.

Luan Vo is the sole advisor at Crimson Investment Managers, LLC in Westminster, CA, holding a Series 66 designation with 13 years of industry experience. He has worked at Pacific Southwest Financial since 2016 and founded Crimson Investment Managers in 2015. Outside of advisory services, he is a licensed insurance agent specializing in fixed insurance products for financial planning purposes. Crimson Investment Managers provides discretionary portfolio management primarily to individual and high-net-worth clients, using a combination of fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis methods. The firm employs a broad range of investment strategies, including access to private placements and venture capital, alongside options, short sales, and margin trading, managing approximately $17 million across about 28 clients.

John Gaines is a financial advisor with LPL Financial in Laguna Niguel, CA, holding the ChFC® designation along with Series 63 and Series 65 licenses. He has 56 years of industry experience and has been with LPL Financial since 2001. Gaines also operates an independent investment advisory firm, providing financial planning and consulting services. LPL Financial serves a diverse client base including individual investors, retirement plans, institutions, charities, and high-net-worth households. The firm offers a variety of advisory and brokerage services supported by an in-house research team and a broad platform that combines advisory operations with non-advisory product offerings.

Richard Smyth is a CFA® charterholder and the sole advisor at Aionios Capital Partners, LLC with four years of industry experience. Prior to founding Aionios Capital Partners in 2021, he worked for Franklin/Templeton Distributors, Inc. for 27 years. He also serves as an adjunct professor, teaching investment analysis, portfolio management, and derivatives. Aionios Capital Partners offers comprehensive portfolio management, financial planning, and family office services primarily for individuals and high-net-worth families. The firm employs a multi-disciplinary investment approach and provides a range of alternative and private investments, with a distinctive focus on family office services and concierge capabilities.

Jeffrey Tilson is a financial advisor with JST Investment Consulting in Seal Beach, CA, holding a Series 66 designation and 22 years of industry experience. He founded JST Investment Consulting in 2011 and previously worked at ProCore Advisors, LLC. JST Investment Consulting serves individuals, small businesses, high-net-worth clients, and pension/profit-sharing plans by providing ongoing portfolio management, financial planning, and educational workshops. The firm manages client accounts on a non-discretionary basis, tailoring recommendations to each client’s goals and risk tolerance through a combination of fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis.

Brian Smith is a financial advisor at Axis Point Capital with five years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked at firms including Commonwealth Asset Management, Arts & Sciences Investment Management, and The TCW Group. Axis Point Capital is an independent firm that offers fee-only investment management and performance-based advisory arrangements to individuals, trusts, estates, small businesses, and other clients. The firm specializes in a discretionary hedged equity strategy that combines a focused portfolio of long equity positions with options for hedging and selective short exposure.

My name is James, founder of HiFi Planning. I’ve spent my entire career as a financial planner and feel quite passionately about the work we do. I’ve seen good financial advice make meaningful differences in peoples’ lives many times over. I’ve also seen the financial advice industry fail to adapt to the needs of today’s working professionals. HiFi Planning is an attempt to change that. I’ve built my career at the intersection of financial planning and equity compensation, and am now sharing that expertise in an Advice-Only, DIY-friendly format. If you’ve been looking for a financial planner but aren’t interested in investment management or ongoing fees, I’d love to have a chat. When I’m not at my computer, you can usually find me around Long Beach throwing the frisbee with my dog, playing guitar at venues around town, or trying to get a laugh out of my sweet and patient wife, Lillian.