WHY JERRY CHOSE TO BE A FINANCIAL PLANNER: His lack of financial literacy was not by choice. It was because personal finance was not taught in school or in his community. As a first-generation wealth builder, Jerry's money journey has been shaped by a profound understanding of both cultural and financial expectations. His experiences have uniquely positioned him to empathize with the challenges faced by first-generation families, inspiring a distinctive approach to financial guidance. His moment of profound solitude occurred during his transition from the Marine Corps back to civilian life. In uniform, Jerry felt in control, with camaraderie, financial stability, and a consistent salary. However, the day he left, all that stability vanished giving way to a cascade of emotions - depression, anxiety, and fear. Jerry, who had grown up facing financial hardships, relying on food stamps, and public aid, knew it was time to stop merely talking about wanting to build wealth and start acting. The realization struck deep: He needed to make a difference not just for himself, but for others facing similar issues. Motivated by a desire to help his family and friends, Jerry decided to be the guide he wished he'd had. He obtained his license, college degree, and joined a firm not only to enhance his life but the lives of other 1st-time wealth builders. After a few years of helping high net worth individuals grow their assets, Jerry felt the firm wasn't built to help families like his. In 2024, Jerry took the leap and launched Confianza Wealth Management as a guide for aspiring wealth builders. Jerry is on a mission to empower 1st-time wealth building families. Jerry wants to bridge the financial planning accessibility gap by helping these millennial families take control of their financial futures.

Scott Weber is a financial advisor at WealthLynk, Inc. with 20 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has worked previously at J.P. Morgan Securities and Tollminder. Weber is also an independent insurance agent. WealthLynk serves individual and high-net-worth clients, providing ongoing portfolio management and financial planning without additional fees. The firm follows a non-discretionary investment model, combining charting, fundamental analysis, and modern portfolio theory with quarterly reviews tailored to client risk tolerance and asset allocation.

Rick Alvarado is a CFP®-designated financial advisor with 36 years of industry experience. He has been with Wealth One Advisors since 2000 and has a prior affiliation with LPL Financial dating back to 1993. Rick is based in Fallbrook, CA, and holds the Series 63 license. Wealth One Advisors provides financial planning and consulting services to individuals, high-net-worth households, trusts, estates, and certain pension or profit-sharing plans, with a focus on retirement, estate, and protection planning. The firm offers written plans and consulting engagements without managing client assets, using both fundamental and technical analysis to tailor investment strategies that emphasize long-term asset allocation and periodic rebalancing.

Darren Schuringa is a CFA® charterholder and the sole advisor at Yorkville Capital Management LLC, where he has worked since 2006. He has 20 years of industry experience. Yorkville Capital Management provides discretionary portfolio management and investment supervisory services to high-net-worth individuals and various institutional and household accounts. The firm employs proprietary risk models and asset-allocation algorithms, tactical hedging, and short selling as part of its risk-management strategy.

Amy Sharp is the principal advisor at Amy T. Sharp, CFP, LLC, an independent firm based in Valley Center, California. She holds the CFP® designation and Series 63 license and has 31 years of experience in the financial industry. Outside of advising, she is co-owner of a family chocolate business, Amy's Best Sugar-Free Confections. Her firm provides financial planning and portfolio management services to individuals, businesses, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. It serves approximately 121 clients with about $62.4 million in assets under management, offering actively managed, broadly diversified portfolios tailored to client risk tolerance and goals.

Ahmet Turken is a financial advisor at Turken Investments LLC with six years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has held roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific and Becton Dickinson, where he currently serves as Senior Finance Manager responsible for financial planning and budgeting in the Biosciences division. Turken Investments provides investment management and financial planning to individuals, including executives and retirees, as well as to legal entities such as trusts and business entities. The firm serves U.S.-based clients with domestic and international interests, offering diversified portfolios constructed around written investment policies and risk questionnaires, and operates on a non-discretionary basis with client approval required for trades.

John Goodrich is a CFP® and ChFC® with 25 years of experience in financial advising. He has been the principal of Goodrich Financial Group, LLC in Escondido, CA since 2006. Outside of advising, he owns a single-family townhouse rental property in San Diego. Goodrich Financial Group provides discretionary investment supervisory services to individuals, high-net-worth individuals, and select corporate clients. The firm employs a blend of asset allocation and multiple analytical methods, using both long- and short-term strategies and active instruments such as options and margin transactions.

Jake Pezzi is a financial advisor at Pezzi Wealth Management LLC in San Marcos, CA, holding a Series 66 designation with two years of industry experience. He previously worked at LPL Enterprise, Prudential Financial Planning Services, and Pruco Securities, LLC. Outside of advisory services, he is a licensed insurance agent. Pezzi Wealth Management LLC provides discretionary investment management and comprehensive financial planning to individual and high-net-worth clients, focusing on portfolios built with exchange-traded funds and low-cost mutual funds. The firm employs a fundamental analysis-based investment process with a long-term orientation, incorporates independent managers without receiving direct compensation, and offers retirement and other planning services.

Christopher Ward is the sole advisor at Ward Capital Management LLC in Escondido, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with 26 years of industry experience. He has led Ward Capital Management since 2014. Ward Capital Management provides discretionary and non-discretionary asset management and financial planning to individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, retirement plans, and institutional clients such as pension plans, charities, and small businesses. The firm employs a concentrated stock model combined with corporate and municipal bonds, and offers specialized retirement plan services including ERISA Section 3(21) fiduciary advice and benchmarking through third-party administrators.

Merrit Strunk is a financial advisor at Momentum Financial and Insurance Services LLC with seven years of industry experience. She holds a Series 65 designation and has worked at Momentum Financial and Insurance Services since 2017, including prior roles at Foundations Investment Advisors and Asset Marketing Systems. In addition to advisory services, she is active as an insurance agent, focusing on insurance sales and tax mitigation strategies. Momentum Financial and Insurance Services LLC provides discretionary asset management, financial planning, and consulting to individuals, high-net-worth clients, foundations, and business entities, and also offers insurance products. The firm uses an open-architecture platform with third-party model strategies and conducts seminars and webinars for client education.

Born and raised in Saigon, I moved to the U.S. alone at 16. Shortly after, my family’s business collapsed, and I became financially independent when I was still a teenager. That experience lit a fire in me—a desire to understand how money works, and how to use it to protect and empower the people we love. As I went deeper into the world of finance, spent over a decade working with leading private wealth management firms in California, I realized wealth isn't just about income or investments. It's about peace. It's about having choices. And it's about living a life that reflects who you are—not just what you’ve earned. Too often, we’re taught to chase someone else’s version of success. I’ve seen people climb hard, high, and fast—only to realize they were on the wrong mountain. That’s why I started Anora Wealth: to help people like you pause, get clear on your “why,” and build a financial life rooted in intention, not pressure. Today, I work with first-generation wealth builders, content creators, and women in transition to align their money with what matters most—so they can stop surviving, and start designing a life of clarity, calm, and confidence. Outside of work, I love learning new things, listening to podcasts, crafting, and spending time in nature. I stay active through boxing, cycling, hiking, tennis, and yoga. I’m fluent in Vietnamese, currently learning Mandarin, and know a bit of French.

Tommy Wadsworth is a Series 65-licensed financial advisor with three years of industry experience. He operates Safe Harbor Assets, an independent registered investment adviser based in Fallbrook, CA. Prior to founding Safe Harbor Assets, Wadsworth worked at Voice by the Sea Inc. for over a decade. Safe Harbor Assets serves individuals, high-net-worth clients, and business entities by offering discretionary and non-discretionary asset management along with financial planning and consulting. The firm tailors portfolios to client goals and risk tolerance using various analysis methods and investment strategies, and it does not impose a minimum account size.

Shane Kochon is a financial advisor at Harvestwise Wealth Planning with 17 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and previously worked at Ameriprise Financial Services from 2013 to 2024. Outside of advisory work, he serves as Treasurer on a nonprofit board and holds a real estate license. Harvestwise Wealth Planning provides investment advisory and financial planning services to individuals, trusts, charitable organizations, pension and profit-sharing plans, and business clients. The firm manages approximately $38.3 million in discretionary assets and employs a tailored investment approach using fundamental, technical, quantitative, and values-based analysis.

James Reyes is a financial advisor with Allen James Financial LLC in San Marcos, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and 17 years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at First Advisors National, LLC, JCG Investments, LLC, and Crossroads Capital Management, Inc. He also owns and operates Allen James Financial & Insurance Services, where he brokers fixed indexed insurance contracts. Allen James Financial LLC provides portfolio management and investment advisory services to individuals and high-net-worth clients, focusing on technical analysis and a long-term trading orientation. The firm generally recommends insurance products, ETFs, hedge funds, and private placements and operates on a non-discretionary basis using TD Ameritrade Institutional as custodian.

Christopher Lis is a Series 65-registered advisor with FOX Wealth Strategies in Claremont, California. He has no prior experience in the financial advisory industry but has worked in commercial real estate, recruiting, and currently at John Paul the Great Catholic University. FOX Wealth Strategies serves individuals and families in Southern California by providing fee-based financial planning and standalone investment advice. The firm emphasizes customized, non-discretionary recommendations using fundamental analysis and offers services on an hourly or flat-fee basis rather than a percentage of assets under management.

Michael Cortina is the sole advisor at Cortina Capital, LLC, where he holds Series 65 and 66 licenses and has 11 years of industry experience. He previously worked at UCSD from 2012 to 2016 before founding Cortina Capital in 2016. Located in Fallbrook, CA, he focuses on portfolio management and investment strategies. Cortina Capital, LLC provides discretionary portfolio management to individual and high-net-worth clients, creating written Investment Policy Statements that outline goals, time horizons, and risk tolerance. The firm employs an investment approach combining charting, fundamental, and technical analysis, with concentrated positions in mid- and large-cap technology stocks, using a range of long and short strategies as well as options trading tailored to account type and risk tolerance.

James Heczko is the principal advisor at Opus Investment Advisors, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials with 18 years of industry experience. He has worked at Opus since 2002. Outside of his advisory role, he owns and manages a small avocado farm and is involved in developing a consumer appliance startup. Opus serves institutional clients and family offices, focusing on pension trusts, corporations, and ultra-high-net-worth family offices. The firm provides consulting services including performance reviews, manager evaluations, and pension consulting, operating solely on a fee-for-service basis without managing client assets or exercising investment discretion.

Christopher Edwards is the principal of Pax Horizon Wealth Management, LLC, an independent firm based in Vista, CA. He holds a Series 65 designation and began his advisory career in 2025. Prior to founding Pax Horizon, Edwards has worked since 2016 at Viasat, Inc., where he manages people and operations within the Global Planning department of the satellite communications business. Pax Horizon Wealth Management is a fee-only advisory firm serving individual clients with investment management and financial planning services. The firm employs a Modern Portfolio Theory-based asset allocation approach with a preference for passive funds and manages portfolios on a discretionary basis with quarterly reviews.

Kevin Mc Atamney is the sole advisor and CEO of KRM Advisory Services, an independent registered investment adviser based in Vista, CA. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 11 years of industry experience, including prior roles at Stancorp Equities, GWFS Equities, and John Hancock. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as National Sales Director for The Standard Insurance Company, focusing on stable value insurance contracts for government entities, and maintains a referral-based real estate business. KRM Advisory Services serves individual clients by providing ongoing portfolio management and one-time financial planning. The firm combines charting, fundamental analysis, and modern portfolio theory in a long-term investment approach across multiple asset classes, manages client accounts primarily on a discretionary basis, and utilizes Charles Schwab as its custodian.

Burton Grantham is a financial advisor at Highpointe Wealth in Vista, CA, with 11 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and previously worked at Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. Grantham also operates an independent accounting services business and serves as a controller for an industrial contractor. Highpointe Wealth provides financial planning and discretionary portfolio management to individuals, small businesses, and employer retirement plans. The firm integrates accounting, tax, and outsourced controller services with its advisory practice and applies investment strategies based on Modern Portfolio Theory using ETFs, mutual funds, and equities within a long-term, buy-and-hold framework.