Top financial advisors working with clients approaching retirement in Santa Ana, CA

Sandeep Madhavan is a CFP® with 22 years of industry experience, currently serving as a financial advisor at Ameriprise since 2020. He previously worked at Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. from 2003 to 2020. Madhavan serves on the Board of Directors for the Santiago Canyon College Foundation and is the Sponsorship Chair for the Tustin Western Little League. Ameriprise provides a retirement-income planning service aimed at individuals approaching or in retirement with significant investable assets, combining research-driven modeling and tax-efficient strategies. As a large institutional firm, it offers a broad range of advisory, brokerage, and insurance solutions through affiliated entities.

Scott Wetzel is the principal of Greenworth Investment Advisors, LLC, an independent firm based in Santa Ana, CA. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 13 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to founding Greenworth Investment Advisors in 2011, he was president and partner at Ticon General Contractors, a commercial construction company, where he worked from 1998 to 2021. Greenworth Investment Advisors serves individual clients through fee-based portfolio management and hourly consultations. The firm employs a long-term, rules-based investment approach focusing on value investing and passive strategies, managing client accounts directly without outsourcing.

Michael Morera is a financial advisor at Virtue Capital Management, LLC with 18 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has been with Virtue Capital Management since 2015. Outside of his advisory role, Morera is the owner of Beach Cities Tax Service and teaches financial literacy at Financial Education Jr Business School. Virtue Capital Management, LLC is an SEC-registered enterprise investment adviser managing approximately $1.2 billion in discretionary assets for over 4,000 clients through about 90 advisers. The firm offers discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and ERISA consulting, employing strategic and model-driven investment approaches primarily using mutual funds and ETFs.

Taylor Bell is a financial advisor with Aequitas Financial, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and five years of industry experience. He previously worked at firms including Blue Barn Wealth and Fidelity Brokerage Services and is also the owner of Aequitas Bookkeeping, a business providing bookkeeping and accounting services to small business owners. Additionally, Bell is employed as a Direct Solutions Consultant at Addepar, a performance reporting software company. Aequitas Financial is a single-advisor independent firm serving individual and high-net-worth clients with fee-only financial planning and discretionary investment management. The firm combines passive and active investments with socially responsible options and offers educational seminars alongside ongoing client engagements.

Sandip Sehmi is a financial advisor with LPL Financial, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and over 27 years of industry experience. He has been with LPL Financial since 2009. Sehmi is also involved as a sole proprietor in OC Wealth Advisors and serves as a successor trustee on his family trust. LPL Financial is an SEC-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer serving individuals, retirement plans, institutions, and charitable organizations. The firm offers a range of financial planning and advisory programs, including discretionary and non-discretionary management, utilizing model portfolios, third-party subadvisors, and advanced technologies.

Willie Myles is a financial advisor with Equitable Advisors in Cary, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 16 years of industry experience. He has worked at Equitable Advisors since 2016 and previously at AXA Advisors, LLC. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as co-chairman of a fundraising campaign for the nonprofit Alpha Light Fund Inc., focused on renovating the House of Alpha. Equitable Advisors serves a diverse client base including individual, high-net-worth, retirement plan, corporate, charitable, and institutional clients, offering financial planning, broker-dealer services, insurance distribution, and access to third-party asset management programs. The firm operates as both an SEC-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer, leveraging LPL-sponsored programs and endorsed TAMPs to deliver advisory and brokerage solutions.

Stavroula Koutsfetsoulis is a financial advisor at Ameriprise with 25 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with Ameriprise and its affiliated entities since 2011. In addition to her advisory role, she is involved in fiduciary activities as an attorney-in-fact (power of attorney). Ameriprise is a large institutional firm that provides retirement-income planning services primarily to individuals with substantial investable assets. The firm combines research, modeling, and tax-efficiency analysis to deliver written recommendation reports through a centralized consulting team, focusing on tailored retirement income strategies.

Barbara Brewer is a financial advisor at RBC Capital Markets with 20 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 66 designation and has been with RBC Capital Markets Corporation since 2008. RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, serves individual investors, institutional clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, corporations, and charitable organizations. The firm offers various advisory programs with discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, custody, and brokerage services, tailoring strategies to clients’ Advisory Risk Profiles through a mix of in-house and third-party providers.

Richard Martin is a financial advisor at Cetera with 29 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 63 designation and has a background that includes nearly three decades at Avantax Advisory Services and eight years at Avantax Insurance Agency. Outside of his advisory work, he is the owner and sole proprietor of Martin & Pellegrin, CPAs, a tax preparation and accounting firm. Cetera Investment Advisers LLC is an SEC-registered firm that serves a broad client base including individuals, retirement plans, corporate and charitable clients, and institutional accounts. The firm provides a multi-manager platform offering discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and access to various program structures and third-party money managers.

Lee Chen is a financial advisor with UBS Financial Services in Pasadena, California, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 28 years of industry experience. He has been with UBS since 2009. Outside of his advisory role, Chen serves on the board of directors for the San Gabriel Country Club. UBS Financial Services serves individual, corporate, and institutional clients through brokerage and investment advisory offerings, combining proprietary capital market research with a broad range of financial planning and portfolio management solutions.