Independent financial advisors working with young professionals in Fountain Valley, CA

Connie Phan is a financial advisor at Merrill with 11 years of industry experience. She holds the Series 66 and Series 63 designations and has been with Merrill and Bank of America since 2016. 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 model-based and discretionary investment strategies and supports a range of clients, including individuals, high-net-worth clients, and institutional entities.

Na Li is a financial advisor at Citigroup Global Markets with a Series 66 designation and three years of industry experience. She has been with Citigroup since 2019, initially at Citibank and then at Citigroup Global Markets starting in 2022. Citigroup Global Markets serves individual and institutional clients across various wealth segments, offering multi-asset, multi-manager investment strategies through discretionary and non-discretionary programs. The firm combines large institutional scale with unique market roles, including in-house research and functioning as a swap dealer and futures commission merchant.

Neil Higger is a financial advisor with Royal Fund Management, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 designations and 10 years of industry experience. He has worked at Royal Fund Management since 2015 and has been associated with Academic Financial Insurance Services since 2000. Outside of his advisory roles, he operates a separate LLC for 1099 income unrelated to investment activities. Royal Fund Management serves individuals, corporations, pension and profit-sharing plans, and charitable organizations by providing portfolio management, financial planning, pension consulting, and participant account management. The firm uses fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis to implement strategies tailored to client risk tolerances and offers access to select non-traded REITs and an options-writing overlay for enrolled clients.

Thane McCready is a CFP® with 29 years of industry experience, currently serving as a financial advisor at Perennial Financial Services since 2017. He has also been affiliated with LPL Financial since 2005. Outside of his advisory roles, he operates Perennial Legacy Insurance Solutions, focusing on non-variable insurance. Perennial Financial Services provides investment advisory and consulting services to individuals, trusts, retirement plans, and business entities. The firm offers discretionary asset management and financial planning, utilizing multiple platform relationships and third-party managers to tailor portfolios across various securities while combining ERISA retirement plan consulting with licensed insurance activities.

Quang Mike Tran is a financial advisor with Transamerica Financial Advisors holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and one year of industry experience. His prior work includes roles at Golden Choice Lending Corporation and 24/7 Mortgage Corporation. Tran has served in the Army National Guard for 20 years and maintains ownership of QTD International LLC since 2012. Transamerica Financial Advisors serves individual investors, pension plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and corporations, offering a combination of advisory and broker-dealer services. The firm uses a range of proprietary and third-party investment models with both discretionary and non-discretionary program options.

Donald Harris is a financial advisor at Beaird Harris with 29 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has been with Beaird Harris Wealth Management, Inc. since 1996, as well as Beaird Harris & Co P.C. since 1989. Outside of his advisory role, he serves as a managing officer and trustee for several trusts and management companies. Beaird Harris Wealth Management, LLC is a fee-only, SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals, high net worth clients, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, pension plans, and business entities. The firm employs Modern Portfolio Theory with diversified asset-class exposure primarily through low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, and it offers alternative investments and tax-managed strategies.

Katie Strother is a financial advisor with Curi Capital, LLC in Raleigh, NC, holding CFP® and Series 65 credentials and bringing 11 years of industry experience. Her prior experience includes roles at Park Ridge Asset Management and Curi RMB Capital LLC. Outside of her advisory work, she is involved in her community as a nursery room leader at Peace Church and serves as a varsity girls soccer coach at Wilson Christian Academy. Curi Capital is an SEC-registered investment adviser managing approximately $11.6 billion in assets and serving individuals, retirement plans, institutions, and family offices. The firm employs a long-term, fundamental investment approach using proprietary and third-party strategies across equity and fixed income, and offers a range of services including wealth management and specialized offerings for medical professionals.

Jill Raderstorf is a financial advisor at Aptus Financial, LLC with two years of industry experience. She holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Hamilton Capital, LLC and Fifth Third Bank. Outside of her advisory role, she serves as an unpaid advisor to Accelerating Angels, a venture investment firm focused on high-growth, women-owned businesses, where she assists with building due diligence processes. Aptus Financial provides flat-fee financial planning and advisory services to individuals, trusts, charitable organizations, and employer-sponsored defined-contribution plans. The firm emphasizes financial planning over discretionary portfolio management, supporting clients with passive, long-term indexing strategies, structured educational programs, and subscription-based ongoing support.

We’re built for families! We focus on bridging generations to connect families and their finances. As Baby Boomers, you created more wealth than any generation before you. Now in your retirement years, the economic expansion that aided your careers doesn’t feel as robust. You worry about your savings lasting a lengthy life expectancy. You also worry that your children and grandchildren will be the first generation to not have it better than the generation before them. Our goal is to solve both problems. Our structure allows us to provide the same great advice whether you have a lifetime of savings or you are just starting out. That means we can work with multiple generations, and where appropriate, find opportunities to coordinate across generations while maintaining privacy and independence. I am a millennial myself with over a decade of experience helping retirees with personal finances. That combination of youth and experience gives me an advantage over many of the advisors out there. My youth, to retirees, means I am likely to be around for the entirety of your retirement. All those plans you made with your advisor, will be executed by the advisor that helped you plan them. If that includes an inheritance, good news because I want to work with your heirs too! To a younger generation, you get an advisor you can relate to who doesn’t treat your problems as less significant because you don’t have the same level of assets. Just because I’m young, doesn’t mean I’m green! I was previously the Practicing Partner of a wealth management firm focused solely on retirees. As the lead portfolio manager, I oversaw almost $500 million in client portfolios. That experience means I’ve guided and advised clients through every stage of a successful retirement. It also means I know what a successful retirement looks like. As I’ve always said, best laid plans begin with the end in mind, so my experience serves just as well early in your journey to financial independence. I started my own firm because I saw an increasing need to reconnect families and their finances. Grandparents are providing child care, children are providing elderly care, and everyone is chipping in to pay for education. As much as ever families need each other, and our program is specifically designed to be prepared when they do.

Michael Grinnell is a Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. Since joining the firm in 2015, he has brought a problem-solving approach influenced by his background in Mechanical Engineering, earned from Santa Clara University. Michael concentrates on business development, marketing, and engaging with the next generation of clients. His areas of expertise include education planning, family wealth management strategies, legacy planning, liquidity management, personal retirement planning, portfolio management services, and small business strategies. He holds several professional designations, including Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA), and Personal Investment Advisor (PIA). Outside of work, Michael enjoys a range of outdoor activities such as fishing, golfing, hiking, hunting, music, rock climbing, running, skiing, surfing, and tennis. He is actively involved in the community through organizations like St. Anthony Organization and The Covenant House California.

Jared Fruth is a financial advisor at Northwest Asset Management with four years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Securities America, Inc., KMS Financial Services, Inc., Oppenheimer Funds, and John Paul Mitchell Systems. Northwest Asset Management is a registered investment adviser managing approximately $3.6 billion for nearly 3,000 clients, including individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charities, and corporations. The firm employs a customized, fiduciary approach using Modern Portfolio Theory and strategic asset allocation, combining fundamental and technical analysis to build diversified portfolios with periodic rebalancing.

Edwina Martin is a Series 65 licensed financial advisor with two years of industry experience, currently with Waverly Advisors, LLC. She previously worked at 9258 Wealth Management for five years and was employed at Teradata Corp for eleven years. Martin also serves as assistant director of tax planning at 9258 Tax and Planning, a non-investment related business. Waverly Advisors is a multi-team registered investment adviser managing portfolios for individuals, retirement plans, and pooled investment vehicles. The firm combines traditional equity and fixed-income strategies with alternative and private-market allocations, offering a range of investment management and financial planning services.

Craig Mcdaniel Jr. is a financial advisor with Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC in Columbia, SC. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 13 years of industry experience. He has been with Capital Investment Group, Inc. and The McDaniel Corporation since 2012. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved in life insurance sales and serves as an independent agent for annuities and related products. Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC provides investment advisory and supervisory services to individuals, retirement plans, corporations, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm offers customized investment management through discretionary mandates, third-party managers, and private-label model portfolios, using a blend of analytical methods with ongoing portfolio monitoring.

David Hart is a financial advisor with Martin Wealth Management, LLC in Irvine, CA. He holds a Series 65 credential and has 15 years of industry experience. Hart previously worked with Safeguard Investment Advisory Group and LifePro Asset Management. He is also a Certified Financial Fiduciary and volunteers as an instructor with the Foundation for Fiduciary Education, providing unbiased fiduciary financial education to the public. Martin Wealth Management offers investment advisory services primarily to individuals and high-net-worth clients by co-advising and directing accounts to a third-party money manager, Matson Money. The firm focuses on client onboarding, documentation, and ongoing review of third-party manager accounts rather than direct asset management.

Sarah Currier Barrella is a CFP® professional with 26 years of experience in financial advisory services. She currently works at Santander Securities LLC and Santander Bank, NA, having previously held positions at TD Bank and Citizens Securities, Inc. Barrella is based in Boston, MA. Santander Securities LLC serves a broad retail client base with approximately $3.14 billion in regulatory assets under management across 10,800 client relationships. The firm offers investment advisory services, portfolio management through wrap-fee programs, and financial planning, operating both as a registered investment adviser and a FINRA-registered broker-dealer.