Greg Deforest is the sole advisor at GD Investment Advisers LLC in San Francisco, holding a Series 65 designation with 11 years of industry experience. He has managed his independent firm since 2014. GD Investment Advisers LLC provides discretionary investment advice and portfolio management for individuals, small businesses, and institutional clients. The firm employs fundamental analysis to pursue absolute returns over a 3–5 year horizon with a concentrated portfolio primarily focused on U.S. equities and options, and it incorporates active use of derivatives, leverage, and performance-based fees in its separately managed accounts.

Sammy Sung is a financial advisor with ALE LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 24 years of industry experience. He has been affiliated with ALE LLC since 2015 and is also involved in real estate brokerage through Exit Excel Realty and Exit Realty Team. In addition to his advisory role, he acts as a trustee for a family trust established in 1997. ALE LLC provides portfolio management, financial planning, and pension consulting services to individuals, pension plans, pooled investment vehicles, and business entities. The firm manages primarily non-discretionary accounts using a range of analytical methods and investment strategies, and is notable for its involvement in real estate brokerage, insurance distribution, and pension consulting.

Jason Roth is a financial advisor at Centoic with two years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has prior work history spanning seven years at StackFlip LLC and seventeen years at LogicEase Solutions Inc. Centoic provides advisory services focused on education savings for individual investors through a technology-driven platform that offers subscription-based access to online educational materials, planning tools, and portfolio guidance, complemented by optional hourly financial-planning consultations. The firm emphasizes passive asset management using automated analysis and delivers advice without holding client assets.

Jake Birnberg is a financial advisor at Empowering Financial with nine years of industry experience. He previously worked at Portsmouth Financial Investment Advisory and has been involved in real estate and self-employment for over two decades. Birnberg operates a tax planning and preparation business, Deduction Detectives, and holds real estate and insurance licenses. Empowering Financial provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment management and financial planning services to individuals, small business owners, trustees, and fiduciaries. The firm employs a tailored investment approach combining fundamental, quantitative, qualitative, and cyclical analysis, and offers tax planning and IRS representation through its related tax business.

Herb Meiberger is a CFA® charterholder and principal of Gator Investment Advisors, LLC, with 11 years of industry experience. Prior to founding his independent firm in 2022, he worked at Berkeley Investment Advisors for eight years and held long-term academic positions at San Francisco State University and Hult International Business School. He also served on the San Francisco Retirement Board for 25 years. Gator Investment Advisors provides discretionary asset management to individual and high-net-worth clients, tailoring investment programs to each client’s goals and risk tolerance using fundamental and cyclical analysis. The firm maintains a small client base and operates with a designated custodian, Charles Schwab.

Stephen Miles is a financial advisor at Sutro Advisors with 24 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and previously worked at Charles Schwab Bank and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. for 13 years before joining Sutro Advisors in 2018. Sutro Advisors provides tailored investment management and financial planning to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and businesses. The firm primarily uses passive portfolios with index mutual funds and ETFs, complemented by fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis, and also offers portfolio management for corporate and institutional clients.

Aaron Baker is a financial advisor with Baker & Associates Registered Investment Advisors, LLC in San Leandro, CA. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 18 years of industry experience, including roles at DeVry Education Group and his own advisory firm. His professional activities include insurance sales and business consulting alongside financial advising. Baker & Associates Registered Investment Advisors, LLC provides portfolio management and investment advisory services primarily on a non-discretionary basis to a small number of individual clients. The firm combines traditional portfolio management with private placements, insurance brokerage, other financial product sales, and educational seminars.

Stephen De Luchi is the sole advisor at De Luchi Investment Management in Alameda, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with five years of industry experience. He has been self-employed as a consultant since 1992 and has operated his investment management firm since 1996. De Luchi Investment Management provides ongoing investment supervisory services to a primarily individual clientele as well as pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and business entities. The firm emphasizes fundamental analysis of economic value and growth potential, supplemented by technical analysis, and employs a range of strategies including long- and short-term positions, short sales, margin transactions, and option writing.

Daryl Wong is the sole advisor at Tula Investment Group LLC in Oakland, CA, holding a Series 65 credential with 13 years of industry experience. He has been with Tula Investment Group since its founding in 2013. Tula Investment Group LLC provides discretionary investment management and financial advisory services to individual and high-net-worth clients. The firm emphasizes a value-oriented, small-cap, and contrarian equity approach, complemented by opportunistic, event-driven research, and employs performance-based compensation for eligible investors.

Wenjia Liu is a CFA® charterholder with four years of industry experience, currently affiliated with Teapot Investments LLC since 2025. Prior to this, Liu worked at Nuveen for eight years and Ned Davis Research, Inc. for seven years. Teapot Investments provides advisory services to registered investment advisers, family offices, endowments, foundations, corporations, and individual clients. The firm employs a blend of fundamental analysis, proprietary quantitative models, tax-aware analysis, and probabilistic scenario testing to develop strategic asset allocations with tactical adjustments and offers flexible fee arrangements including hourly and fixed project fees.

Much like you don't wait to join a gym until you're healthy, you shouldn't wait to work with a financial planner until you're wealthy. Unfortunately, the financial industry historically only wants to work with clients who have -insert any seven-digit-minimum amount of assets-. The good news is there are now plenty of financial planners who will gladly work with clients regardless of how much they have already saved. I am one of those planners. ;) I've been a financial planner for over a decade now, and I've worked lots of different clients from all walks of life. I've come to learn that sticking to the basics and keeping things simple is the best approach when helping clients develop a financial plan. My role is to help guide you on your path to financial freedom. New clients start with a financial plan. This is where we talk about your goals, time horizon, and all the numbers. We’ll review different scenarios so you can see what’s possible. By the end of the initial plan, you should be up and running, moving in the general direction of your goals. From there, we move to ongoing financial planning in which we meet semi-annually to monitor your plan and make adjustments when needed.

Jeffrey Yoakum is a CFP® professional with 23 years of industry experience. He is the sole advisor at Yoakum Wealth Management in South San Francisco, CA. His prior experience includes roles at Pacific Wealth Advisors, LLC and LPL Financial, LLC. Yoakum Wealth Management provides comprehensive financial planning and discretionary portfolio management primarily to individual clients, including high-net-worth households, and small businesses. The firm employs a Core + Satellite investment approach combining indexed core holdings with actively managed satellite positions and offers additional services such as business and divorce consultation and educational workshops.

Ziming Huang is a Series 65-licensed financial advisor at MJ Capital Management LLC with one year of industry experience. Prior to founding his firm, he worked at American Express and Acquco, and held roles in academia at Columbia University and UCLA. MJ Capital Management LLC is a fee-only registered investment adviser providing discretionary investment management and individualized planning to individuals, high-net-worth clients, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm employs a multi-disciplinary investment process combining fundamental and technical analysis with Modern Portfolio Theory, integrating both passive and active strategies alongside a proprietary quantitative algorithmic trading approach focused on liquid U.S. equities and options.

John Dowling is a CFA® charterholder and principal advisor at JFD Capital, LLC, with nine years of industry experience. He previously worked at Fairview Capital and the Golub Group (now Summitry) before founding his current independent advisory firm. JFD Capital is a small independent registered investment adviser that provides ongoing, tailored portfolio management primarily to high-net-worth individuals. The firm employs a bottom-up, fundamental research approach focusing on undervalued equities and fixed-income securities, offering discretionary management and performance-based fee arrangements to qualified clients.

Tyler Ribera is the sole advisor at RIBERA Investment Management, LLC, an independent firm based in Alameda, CA. He holds a Series 63 designation and has 26 years of industry experience, having led his firm since 1999. RIBERA Investment Management, LLC provides discretionary portfolio management and investment advice to individuals, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm employs a diversified asset-allocation approach focused on risk control and primarily uses no-load and load-waived mutual funds, ETFs, and other securities, with accounts generally managed on a discretionary basis.

Matthew Wright is the principal of Wright Financial, LLC in Pleasant Hill, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with 26 years of industry experience. His career includes roles at Geneos Wealth Management Inc, Independent Financial Group, LLC, NPB Financial Group, LLC, and Seel & Wright, LLC. He also serves as a trustee for a family trust. Wright Financial, LLC provides investment management and financial planning services to individuals, trusts, estates, and small businesses. The firm manages approximately $74 million for around 118 clients, using a non-discretionary advisory approach based on Modern Portfolio Theory and a core-and-satellite investment strategy.

Donald Wong is the sole advisor at AVEC LLC, an independent firm based in San Francisco. He holds a Series 65 designation and has five years of experience as a financial advisor, following over two decades in consulting and three years at Pacific Gas and Electric Company. AVEC LLC provides fee-only wealth management services to individuals, high-net-worth families, trusts, donor-advised funds, and business entities. The firm employs a customized, unconstrained investment approach with a focus on long-term, risk-aware portfolios implemented through a variety of investment vehicles, and offers comprehensive financial planning and family-office services under a single asset-based advisory fee.

James Koch is the principal advisor at Koch Capital Management LLC, an independent firm based in Alamo, CA. He holds a Series 65 designation and has 17 years of industry experience. Koch also operates the Informed Household financial-education platform. Koch Capital Management LLC provides investment management and retirement-planning services to individuals, families, and trusts. The firm uses a structured retirement planning approach, offering discretionary portfolios and a fixed-fee retirement program, with a focus on active risk management techniques and integrated client collaboration tools.

Matthew Stebnicki is a CFP® professional with six years of experience at Stebnicki Financial Planning, an independent firm he founded in 2020. Prior to that, he worked in software and consulting roles and spent time in full-time education. Based in San Francisco, he provides financial planning and investment management services. Stebnicki Financial Planning offers fee-only financial planning and discretionary investment management tailored to individuals and small businesses. The firm emphasizes customized investment plans considering client goals, risk tolerance, and macroeconomic trends, serving a very small client base to maintain concentrated advisor-to-client relationships.

Edi Alvarez is a CFP® and holds a Series 65 license with 18 years of experience in financial advising. He has led AIKAPA since 2014 and has been involved with Dual Enterprises since 1990, where he serves as CEO of a publishing business that produces niche books for smaller audiences. AIKAPA serves individuals, families, trusts, non-profits, corporations, and small businesses, often working with executives and business owners. The firm provides comprehensive wealth and financial planning, portfolio management, and retirement plan analysis, offering both managed and guided planning models that use diversified mutual funds and ETFs.