Katherine Fries is a Certified Financial Planner® with 21 years of industry experience. She is currently with Beacon Pointe Advisors, LLC and previously spent over 17 years at The Family Firm. Beacon Pointe Advisors provides investment advisory and consulting services to a diverse range of individual and institutional clients. The firm employs a disciplined approach that includes allocating across third-party independent managers selected through a proprietary due-diligence process and offers a variety of services including discretionary wealth management, retirement plan consulting, and outsourced CIO solutions.

Matthew Streeter is a financial advisor with Guardian Life and holds the Series 66 designation. He has one year of industry experience, including prior roles at Park Avenue Securities and PBO Advisory Group. Guardian Life’s subsidiary, Park Avenue Securities LLC, provides brokerage and investment advisory services to individuals, corporate and retirement plan sponsors, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm offers a combination of advisor-led discretionary management and model-based strategies, along with access to proprietary programs, third-party advisory solutions, and integrated lending options.

Emily Stevens is a financial advisor at Stratos Wealth Partners, Ltd., holding a Series 66 designation with two years of industry experience. Prior to joining Stratos Wealth Partners in 2026, she worked at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and Charles Schwab Bank, SSB from 2023 to 2026. Stratos Wealth Partners is an SEC-registered enterprise advisory firm with approximately 379 advisors and $18.6 billion in assets under management. The firm serves a diverse client base, including individuals, retirement plans, corporations, nonprofits, and other institutional clients through an IAR-driven model and an open-architecture investment approach integrating multiple third-party managers and platforms.

Erick Conway is a financial advisor at Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC with 15 years of industry experience. He holds the CFP® designation and Series 66 license. Prior to joining Integrated Wealth Concepts in 2024, he worked at Von Berge Wealth Management Group, Laurel Wealth Advisors, and Wells Fargo Advisors. He is also an independent insurance agent licensed to sell life, accident, and health insurance products. Integrated Wealth Concepts serves individuals, high-net-worth clients, families, trusts, estates, businesses, and retirement plans through a network of independent advisors. The firm offers discretionary investment management, financial planning, family office, and retirement plan advisory services, utilizing customized portfolios with a long-term investment approach alongside shorter-term trades for rebalancing or cash needs.

Branden Frazier is a Certified Financial Planner® at Creative Planning with 18 years of industry experience. He has been with Creative Planning since 2012. Based in San Diego, CA, he is part of a large advisory team serving a diverse client base. Creative Planning provides investment advisory and financial planning services to individuals, corporations, foundations, trusts, and retirement plans. The firm manages approximately $217 billion in client assets and emphasizes a financial planning-led investment process that includes low-cost indexing, buy-and-hold strategies, and supplemental approaches such as direct indexing and tax-loss harvesting.

Arturo Mendez Vega is a financial advisor with Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 10 years of industry experience. His prior work includes roles at Empower Financial Services, TIAA-CREF, Tiaa, and Vanguard Marketing Corporation. Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. is an enterprise-scale advisory and broker-dealer affiliate of Voya Financial offering financial planning, portfolio management, and retirement-plan advisory services to individuals, pension plans, charitable organizations, and corporate clients. The firm employs investment policy statements and model allocations, combining in-house and external strategists with technology-enabled tools to support both non-discretionary and discretionary management arrangements.

Daniel Parent is a financial advisor with TIAA-CREF in San Diego, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 19 years of industry experience. He has been with TIAA-CREF since 2015. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC’s Advice & Planning Services division offers financial planning and discretionary managed account programs to individuals—often those connected to TIAA-administered employer retirement plans—as well as to trusts, estates, partnerships, corporate entities, and small retirement plans. The firm’s advisory model separates one-time planning services from ongoing discretionary management through managed accounts that utilize model portfolios or customized portfolios managed under client-approved investment policies.

Courtney Hincks is a financial advisor at Concurrent Investment Advisors, LLC with seven years of industry experience. Her prior roles include positions at Commonwealth Financial Network and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. Outside of her advisory work, she coaches youth lacrosse for the Coronado Lacrosse Club. Concurrent Investment Advisors is a multi-team SEC-registered advisory firm serving individuals, families, trusts, businesses, and retirement plans. The firm offers customized, primarily long-term wealth and investment management using ETFs, mutual funds, and other securities, supported by a network of approximately 286 advisors serving over 13,000 clients.

Mike Batista is a CFP® with 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has been with Creative Planning since 2015 and previously worked at Fidelity and PRUCO Securities, LLC. Creative Planning provides wealth management, financial planning, and retirement-plan advisory services to a broad client base, including high-net-worth individuals, institutions, and corporations. The firm uses a financial-planning-led investment approach that emphasizes low-cost indexing and buy-and-hold strategies while incorporating tax-loss harvesting and selective private market exposure.

Adriana Pacheco is a financial advisor with VOYA Financial Advisors, Inc. She holds a Series 63 designation and has 23 years of industry experience. Prior to joining VOYA Financial Advisors in 2014, she worked at Voya Financial Partners, LLC and Planmember Securities Corporation. Outside of her advisory role, Adriana is a professional ballroom dancer who performs at events, competes, and occasionally teaches. VOYA Financial Advisors, Inc. is an enterprise-scale advisory and broker-dealer affiliate of Voya Financial that offers financial planning, portfolio management, and retirement advisory services to individuals, pension plans, charitable organizations, and corporations. The firm uses investment policy statements and model allocations, combining internal and external strategies with technology-enabled tools to implement recommendations, primarily on a non-discretionary basis.

Tedd Meyer is a Series 66-licensed financial advisor with seven years of industry experience. He currently works at TLG Advisors, Inc. and has previously held roles at J Alden Associates, Inc., Hornor Townsend & Kent Inc., Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co., and Northrop Grumman. Meyer is also a director at Newcleus LLC, where he provides life insurance solutions to credit unions, and he maintains an independent insurance agent role focused on life insurance sales. TLG Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser managing approximately $2.0 billion in discretionary assets, serving a diverse client base including individuals, retirement plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, businesses, and institutional investors. The firm offers investment supervisory services, comprehensive financial and estate planning, and ERISA fiduciary services, employing a research approach based on fundamental analysis and Modern Portfolio Theory.

Stephan Sandoval is a financial advisor with Principal Financial Services in San Diego, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 21 years of industry experience. He has been with Principal Securities and Principal Life Insurance since 2010. Sandoval also serves as a bank officer with Principal Bank and Principal Trust Company, supporting retirement plan account relationships across multiple offerings. Principal Securities provides brokerage and registered investment advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, retirement plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, and active-duty U.S. military personnel abroad. The firm offers financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and access to third-party money manager programs under various advisory and promoter arrangements.

Carmen Benedetti is a financial advisor at Hightower Advisors in San Diego, CA, holding a Series 66 designation with two years of industry experience. Prior to joining Hightower, Benedetti worked at Frozen Ropes and the Houston Astros. Hightower Advisors provides investment advisory and planning services to a diverse range of individual and institutional clients, utilizing a multi-manager approach that includes affiliated and third-party managers, discretionary portfolio management, and access to pooled vehicles and private funds.

Alan Pamintuan is a financial advisor at VALIC Financial Advisors with 25 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked previously at Forthright Capital Partners, Forthright Capital Advisory, Pruco Securities, and The Prudential Insurance Company of America. He is also appointed as an agent to sell non-securities insurance products. VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc. serves primarily U.S. individuals, including high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients, as well as employer-sponsored retirement participants. The firm offers wrap programs, portfolio management, and financial planning through a large network of advisors, utilizing discretionary unified managed accounts on Envestnet’s platform combined with tax-aware and impact overlays.

Jeremy Runnels is a CFP® professional with 12 years of industry experience, currently serving as an advisor at Cerity Partners LLC since 2025. Prior to joining Cerity Partners, he spent eight years at West Coast Financial, LLC. He is involved with several nonprofit organizations, including serving on the investment committee for the Lawrence Family JCC endowment and the Trusts & Estates Council at the Rady Children's Hospital Foundation. Additionally, he advises startups through the San Diego Sports Innovators business incubator. Cerity Partners advises a diverse client base, including high-net-worth individuals, families, trusts, business entities, and institutional investors, managing approximately $166.2 billion in client assets as of 2025. The firm offers customized wealth management services and employs an investment framework centered on client-specific profiles, combining quantitative screening, manager selection, and access to alternative and private market solutions.

Gary Hirschfeld is a financial advisor at Hightower Advisors in San Diego, CA, with eight years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has worked at Hightower Advisors since 2019, after four years at Delphi Private Advisors. Hightower Advisors provides investment advisory and planning services to a diverse range of individual and institutional clients, offering discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting. The firm emphasizes manager selection and multi-manager solutions and utilizes both affiliated and third-party managers with proprietary research to support portfolio construction.

Dauna Bohlken is a financial advisor at Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. with 29 years of industry experience. She holds the Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has been with Voya in various capacities since 2014. Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. provides financial planning, portfolio management, and retirement advisory services to individuals, pension plans, charitable organizations, and corporations. The firm combines in-house and external strategists with technology-enabled tools to deliver both discretionary and non-discretionary investment solutions through a large network of advisors.

Michael Simon is a financial advisor with RBC Rochdale, LLC in La Jolla, CA. He holds a Series 66 designation and has five years of industry experience. His prior work history includes roles at Merrill and City National Rochdale, as well as positions outside the financial sector, including at Cinemark and Sal's Pizza and Baglery. RBC Rochdale serves a diverse client base, including high net worth individuals, corporations, charitable organizations, and government entities. The firm employs an active, multi-strategy investment process that integrates quantitative screening, fundamental analysis, and proprietary tools to tailor portfolios across various asset classes.

Ashkan Ghahremani is a financial advisor with Guardian Life and Park Avenue Securities in San Diego, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and 18 years of industry experience. He has worked with both firms since 2015. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved with Disaster Pro, LLC, a public adjusting business that assists clients with insurance claims. Park Avenue Securities, a subsidiary of Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, provides brokerage and investment advisory services to individuals, corporate and retirement plan sponsors, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm offers a range of financial planning, consulting, and advisory solutions, combining advisor-led discretionary management with model-based strategies and proprietary programs.

Elaine Rodriguez is a financial advisor at Empower Advisory Group with Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and three years of industry experience. Her prior roles include positions at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and J.P. Morgan Securities, where she worked for four years. Empower Advisory Group primarily serves employer-sponsored retirement plan sponsors and their participants, offering financial planning and investment management services integrated with Empower’s recordkeeping and administrative platforms. The firm emphasizes long-term portfolio returns and savings rates through its planning service, supporting a large participant base with a relatively high client-to-advisor ratio.