$4.00 / $65 year the leading information source …...sameer somal age: 30chief financial officer,...

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June 23-27, 2014

$4.00 / $65 Year The Leading Information Source for Financial Advisers

NEWSPAPER | VOL. 18, NO. 25 | COPYRIGHT CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

2 Editor’s Note3 On Retirement6 Editorials

24 Fiduciary Corner

25 Investment Strategies28 Classifieds30 Tech Connect

Seeing redLegacy Merrill brokers are upset over BofA’stweaks to their business cards, including ashrinking of the wirehouse’s iconic bull.

Grossed outSeven states and Puerto Rico levy under-the-radar taxes on carriers’ gross annuity premi-ums, rather than on net income.

Lighter loads?Registered reps who sell nontraded realestate investment trusts can expect to receivelower commissions.

Inside

Page 2 Page 2 Page 3

This young planner is on a mission to“democratize the family office” andhe’s figured out a whole new way ofcharging for it.

He is just one of the emergingsuperstars on our list.

Pages 10 to 22

NICHOLAS J. DELGADOChief wealth officer, Dignitas

MEET OUR CLASS OF

Follow our class on Twitter at #IN40

20140623-News--0001-NAT-CCI-AA_-- 6/20/2014 7:17 PM

IDEALISTS10 InvestmentNews | June 23, 2014 InvestmentNews.com

Matthew RamerAge: 38Principal and financial adviser, MOR Wealth Management

“You may hear some things on this phone call thatmay surprise you, that may be outside the realmof traditional Wall Street,” warned Matthew

Ramer, who left Morgan Stan-ley last November to

found his own firm,MOR Wealth Man-

agement. The first sur-

prise is that inaddition to help-ing safeguardhis clients’retirement, Mr.Ramer doublesas a private pilot

and is a nationalsearch-and-rescue

flight instructor forthe Air Force Auxiliary.

He also has flown for amedical airlift in Philadelphia.

Although his charitable flights have been tapered inlight of the time he has put into his recent transition, Mr.Ramer has been applying that same mentality to buildinghis business. He said his first priority is building the team,and looking after his staff.

Counter to the way large companies are run, Mr. Ramersaid, his philosophy is not about money or profit margins.

“There are some things that I will do that will cost memoney that I will never be able to quantify the return,” hesaid. “But when a staff member knows that their employercares deeply about them and will go out of their way forthem, the effort they put into their job or role is amplifieddramatically.”

— Mason Braswell

Luke DeanAge: 35Financial planning program director,William Paterson University

Luke Dean would love to become a planner and helpclients achieve their financial goals. But the way he sees it, he’s helping many more people as the

financial planning program director at William PatersonUniversity.

“I could go into the industry and help maybe 40clients,” Mr. Dean said. “But if I help get 40 students everysemester into the profession and they each help 40 clients,that’s a lot of impact.”

During his six years at the university in Wayne, N.J.,the program has become one of the most respected in thenation. Demand for his students, in terms of jobs andinternships, greatly outstrips supply. Last year, Mr. Dean

received 200 employment queries forhis 80 financial planning students.This year, the school will get about300 offers for its 115 students withthe major.

When he began at the school,he would cold-call advisory firmshunting for student work opportuni-ties.

In August, he will join Utah Valley University, in hishometown of Orem, Utah, as director of its financial plan-ning degree program.

Mr. Dean, who earned a doctorate in financial planningat Texas Tech University and degrees from BrighamYoung University, said he’ll miss William Paterson’s stu-dent diversity.

“I have loved helping the first-generation college stu-dents here at William Paterson succeed,” he said. “I get ahuge thrill out of it.”

— Liz Skinner

Lee Ann CoburnAge: 36Vice president, Merrill LynchWealth Management

In the teeming technology atmosphereof Northern California, there is a pre-mium on innovation and intellectual capital.Lee Ann Coburn, a vice president at Merrill

Lynch Wealth Management, also noticed that there werefew organizations in the region to help women shape theircareers.

She gave her Merrill Lynch female colleagues a plat-form for empowerment by establishing the Walnut CreekWomen’s Exchange. It grew to 50 members and has sincemerged with a similar Merrill group in Oakland to form the80-member San Francisco East Bay Women’s Exchange,one of about 50 such Merrill chapters nationwide.

The organization sponsors professionaldevelopment, networking and social activi-ties. It also has sponsored joint programswith some of the region’s most influentialcompanies, including Cisco, Facebook,Genentech, Google and Oracle.

“I never had an opportunity before to bein a room with 45 women who are passion-

ate and driven to make their companies betterwith a commitment to excellence,” Ms. Coburn

said. “It was invigorating.”As she began her career, she drew on her experience

as a member of the University of Pennsylvania lacrosseteam. During practice, she would set out to hit 100 ballsagainst a wall — but then blast a couple more. Going theextra step also helped in cold-calling.

“It was always that bonus 101st or 102nd call that ledto an exciting adventure or someone on the other endwho needed my help,” she said.

— Mark Schoeff Jr.

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Jennifer DeeKenningAge: 35Principal and director of wealthmanagement,Aspiriant

ome financial advisers travel farand wide to meet with clients.Jennifer Kenning’s work some-times takes her to East Africa.

In December, Ms. Kenning —accompanied by a 29-year-oldclient — went to Kenya andUganda to evaluate opportunitiesin impact investing and progresson philanthropic ventures.

The financial advice businesshas a lot of questions aboutimpact investing — the proac-tive backing of a project or firm

engaged in an effort important to the investor —including what returns are possible and whether theyshould be a priority. And how do advisers get paid forcultivating this expertise?

As a young wealth manager, Ms. Kenning is work-ing around the clock and the globe to answer thosequestions. In fact, she is the youngest board memberat Aspiriant, a registered investment adviser.

“Even though we don’t understand it as a business,we should educate ourselves on a topic that doesn’t fitin our traditional model,” she said. “I think we asadvisers need to be ready to serve that next genera-tion. Let’s pioneer it — let’s build the ecosystem.”

— Trevor Hunnicutt

S20140623-News--0010,0011-NAT-CCI-AA_-- 6/19/2014 6:19 PM Page 1

Sameer SomalAge: 30Chief financial officer, Blue OceanGlobal Wealth

Sameer Somal is pas-sionate about helpingfinancial advisers finish

their working lives withouthaving to die with their bootson.

As chief financial officer ofBlue Ocean Global Wealth, Mr.Somal spends about two weeks amonth on the road, meeting withadvisers to discuss and develop exit strate-gies aimed at maximizing value for their heirs andestablishing a legacy.

Industrywide, more than half of advisers don’t have asuccession plan, and most don’t even know the value oftheir business, according to Mr. Somal.

“Advisers create valuable plans for their clients’ retire-ment but don’t plan for their own,” he said.

The CFO makes the case for succession planning inadviser presentations around the country, a plea BlueOcean outlined in a white paper last year. Some adviserssay his talk has spurred them to action — no easy feat,given the depths of the industry’s paralysis.

Blue Ocean, a registered investment adviser Mr. Somalco-founded with former Ameriprise Financial adviser Mar-guerita Cheng in November, has the atypical mission of

helping other financial advisers. In the spirit of“Blue Ocean Strategy” (Harvard Business

Review Press, 2005), which encouragesentrepreneurs to target novel business

models, the firm provides innovativesolutions to help families, corpora-tions, institutions and financial advis-ers with financial guidance andinvestment strategies.

Mr. Somal, who built two busi-nesses while earning his bachelor’sdegree in finance and accountingfrom Georgetown University, was an

adviser for Morgan Stanley and Mer-rill Lynch, as well as an investment

analyst for the Bank of Nova Scotia. He also has attained both the char-

tered financial analyst and certified financialplanner designations.

— Liz Skinner

IDEALISTSInvestmentNews.com June 23, 2014 | InvestmentNews 11

Erik MilamAge: 34Financial planner, TrustCore Financial

When Erik Milam first learned as a young child thathe had cerebral palsy, doctors told him he wouldnever be able to climb stairs without clinging to

the railing. But that didn’t stop him from playing on a champi-

onship high school football team, and it didn’t stop him afew weeks ago from running in a 5K road race.

Mr. Milam, a financial planner at TrustCore FinancialInc., also had such a severe stutter as a child that he could-

n’t even answer the phone. These days, as board presidentof the Middle Tennessee chapter

of United Cerebral Palsy, heregularly gives speechesabout conquering difficultcircumstances.

“I’ve done some thingsin my life that people toldme I’d never be able todo, but growing up and

having some obstacles toovercome has made me a

stronger person,” he said.“That’s why I love what I do,

because I view doing financial plan-ning as a way to help people overcome

their obstacles and get to their goals.”Mr. Milam’s first taste of the financial services industry

came during a summer internship at an insurance com-pany while he was still in college.

“The internship helped me realize I didn’t want to be ina job that was based on a product; I wanted to be focusedon the client,” he said. “When I started taking some of theprerequisite financial planning classes, I realized I didn’tknow enough to be doing what I was doing during thatsummer internship. It really rocked my world.”

Mr. Milam has used that experience, as well as othersin his personal life, to build a book of business based onholistic financial planning. A certified financial planner andregistered life planner, his words to clients and prospectson his company’s website proclaim: “My clients under-stand that I provide them with more than just financialguidance, but aim to help them establish a life of greaterpersonal satisfaction and well-being.”

— Jeff Benjamin

Robert L. ScheinAge: 38Managing director and partner, HighTower

Robert Schein was born to be a financial adviser. Theson of Croatian immigrants, he was dealing baseballcards at 12. He started in the financial industry a few

years later by cold-calling leads for his brother, a broker intraining at Merrill Lynch.

“My brother had an internshipat Merrill in the ’90s, and I pig-gybacked from there,” Mr.Schein said.

In 2011 he joined High-Tower Advisors and High-Tower Securities, wherehe is a partner and man-aging director. His teammanages $550 million.

When his father diedfrom cancer four years ago,Mr. Schein realized he couldmake an impact helping femaleclients like his mother.

“Mom never controlled the finances,” he said. His brain-child was a leadership and community forum called theSociety of Financially Empowered Women, where womencan gain the confidence to control their money.“Nine out of10 women are solely responsible for their finances at theend of their lives,” Mr. Schein said. “Everyone knows this,but no one is catering to this demographic.”

— Bruce Kelly

Ryan DiachokAge: 35President, Geneos Wealth Management

The third-generation scion of one of theleading families of the independent-broker-dealer industry, Ryan Dia-

chok knows what it’s like to start at thebottom rung of the family business.

Promoted this year to president ofGeneos Wealth Management Inc., Mr.Diachok in 1999 started in the mailroomof the family’s previous broker-dealer,Multi-Financial Securities Corp., whichwas sold to ING in the 1990s and is now partof Cetera Financial Group.

“As cliché as that sounds, that’s what I did. And then Iworked eventually in every department: operations, trad-ing, compliance, marketing,” he said. “I really enjoyed thebusiness right from the beginning.”

His grandfather, George, a longtime favorite amongold-timers at industry meetings, started Multi-Financial in

the 1980s, and his uncle, Russ, eventually took over thatfirm. The family and a core of loyal employees left in 2002to begin Geneos, which has seen solid growth during adecade of market turmoil. Dozens of Geneos’ IBD competi-tors have been wiped out due to bad investments andpoor due diligence.

Geneos currently has 260 affiliated registered repsand posted $104.6 million in total revenue last year.

Reps and employees also own shares of the com-pany, with George Diachok, now 88, and RussDiachok controlling the largest amount.

Ryan Diachok is proud of his family’s legacy ofbeing leaders in the independent-broker-dealerbusiness. He combines the old school, hands-on

approach when listening to advisers and potentialrecruits, but the Diachok family is not shy about

innovation. The family also operates a software com-pany and leases its product to other broker-dealers.

The IBD industry “is in my blood, and we have put our-selves in a good niche focusing on higher-producing,quality advisers,” he said. “It’s a tight-margin business,but if you have the right people, technology andprocesses, you can run this business profitably.”

— Bruce Kelly

This print issue is only half the story. Watch video of these young professionalssharing their experiences in their own words, read extended profiles and learninteresting fast facts about the group at InvestmentNews.com/40. And join theconversation on Twitter, posting your thoughts about the project with #IN40.

MORE ONLINE

FACTS OF THE 40

>1/2Have

graduatedegrees

20140623-News--0010,0011-NAT-CCI-AA_-- 6/19/2014 6:20 PM Page 2

Jason Van DuynAge: 36President and founder,AQuest Wealth Strategies

L ike many high school students, JasonVan Duyn was nofan of algebra.

But one day, asubstituteteacher cap-tured hisimaginationby showinghim a cost-of-waiting calcu-lation. Thepremise was sim-ple: save now, bewealthy later. That realization launched

Mr. Van Duyn’s career. “People try to make it confusing, but

it’s a few very simple things,” he said.“If they just follow these rules thatanyone can follow, their lives will bedramatically better because they’llhave a lot more money.”

Mr. Van Duyn started AQuestWealth Strategies, an LPL Financial-

affiliated firm, in Sterling Heights, Mich.,in 2009 as the financial crisis hit. He con-

siders the timing propitious. After all,monkeys throwing darts at stock tablescan pick winners in an up market, but peo-ple really needed help during that once-in-a-lifetime market rout.

And the former math skeptic is now acandidate for a doctorate in businessadministration.


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ENTREPRENEURS12 InvestmentNews | June 23, 2014 InvestmentNews.com

ill Winterberg founded FPPad in2008 with the objective of beinga leading source of news,insight and thought leadershipon financial planning technol-ogy. Six years later, he has suc-ceeded in turning what startedout as a financial planning bloginto a consulting and mediaresource for advisers — includ-ing a popular YouTube channel,

an iTunes podcast and keynote speaking engagements.“I think I’m the only one with a unique video channel for

advisers because I want to empower the industry to makepositive changes with technology,” he said.

A certified financial planner, Mr. Winterberg has a goal ofhelping advisers move intothe future by creating a scala-ble, efficient business model.He does this either by directlyconsulting with advisoryfirms or by getting his mes-sage out via traditional andsocial media.

“It’s about creating a com-munity to inform advisers andgenerate a dialogue,” he said.

— Joyce Hanson

Peter PrinciAge: 38Managing director, The PrinciGroup at Morgan Stanley

Managing close to $3 billion in assetsdoesn’t happen without hearing afew “no’s,” but that did not

deter Peter Princi. Having been a pitcher for a minor

league affiliate of the New York Metsout of college, he knew how to per-form under pressure with thousandsof fans breathing down his neck.

“To be able to block that all out andexecute at the highest level of the game, Ihad to have a thick skin,” he said.

He brought the hard work and team-building ethos he learned in the sport tofinance — along with afew Major LeagueBaseball executiveclients.

“The transi-tion was rela-tively smoothwhen I decidedto hang up mycleats,” Mr.Princi said.

As lead strate-gist for The PrinciGroup, Mr. Princi over-sees a team of nine: threeanalysts, four consultants and two clientassistants.

— Mason Braswell

Bill WinterbergAge: 36President and founder, FPPad

Kristen LukeAge: 35President, Wealth Management Marketing Inc.

Kristen Luke clearly is in the driver’sseat at her firm, Wealth ManagementMarketing Inc.

And when she isn’t there, she’s in thepilot’s seat. Ms. Luke has her private-pilot’slicense and is working to obtain a com-mercial-pilot’s license.

Day to day, though, Ms. Luke and herteam of nine employees guide advisersthrough the chal-lenges of

marketing their businesses. And this sum-mer, her firm is merging with Angie HerbersInc., a consultancy specializing in humanresources and other operational matters.

Ms. Luke’s insights, provided via herblog and industry publications, are espe-cially useful now as RIA firms navigatesocial-media-based marketing.

— Darla Mercado BRyan O. SmithAge: 36President and chief compliance officer, DiversifyInc. and DFPG Investments

When Ryan Smith’s broker-dealerclosed in 2011, he and his twopartners, who already ran their

own registered investmentadviser, decided to do

something audacious.They launched abroker-dealer, DFPGInvestments Inc.

Mr. Smith’s mis-sion was to create

first-class due dili-gence for the

plethora of nontradedreal estate investment

trusts and real estate private place-ments beginning to swamp the broker-dealer landscape.

DFPG opened as a record number ofsmall and midsize broker-dealers

were closing. Thin margins, exacer-bated by record-low interest rates,had erased once-rich spreads onmargin accounts and moneymarket funds.

A significant part of buildingDFPG Investments, along with

Diversify Wealth Management, hisRIA, has been expanding its inter-

nal due-diligence team. “We are very selective with the

sponsors we work with, and we’re knownfor this,” he said. “Due diligence is a mustfor us.”

— Bruce Kelly

FACTS OF THE 40

8Number whose

guilty pleasure isice cream

20140623-News--0012,0013-NAT-CCI-IN_-- 6/19/2014 6:38 PM Page 1

Alan MooreAge: 27Founder, Serenity Financial Consulting;Co-founder, XY PlanningNetwork

A lan Moore doesn’t care if hehas the largest financial plan-ning practice or if he ever

becomes a millionaire, because hehas a good senseof what heneeds. “Westart busi-nesses tosupportthelifestyle wewant to liveand not theother wayaround,” saidMr. Moore, founderof Serenity Financial Consulting andco-founder of XY Planning Network.

Mr. Moore uprooted his 3.5-year-old Milwaukee practice to live andwork in Bozeman, Mont., where hecan “ski on Wednesdays.”

He charges a monthly retainerthat starts at $100 and says hegrosses about $100,000 a year,which is fine with him.

“Asset-based pricing won’t workfor Gen X clients, because theydon’t have any money yet,” he said.

— Jeff Benjamin

ENTREPRENEURSInvestmentNews.com June 23, 2014 | InvestmentNews 13

Clara ShihAge: 32Founder and CEO,Hearsay Social

C lara Shih is onthe leading edgeof compliant

social media market-ing for broker-dealers.Her company, HearsaySocial Inc., has been aroundonly since 2009, but thus far it’smanaged to pick up a couple ofprominent clients, including Ray-

mond James Financial Inc. and RBCWealth Management. To extend its

reach, Hearsay has alsoteamed up with LinkedIn

Corp. to make socialmedia managementeasier for firms eagerto comply with regu-lations.

At 18, Ms. Shihwanted to be a soft-

ware engineer. Sheearned her bachelor’s and

master’s degrees in com-puter science at Stanford Univer-sity, as well as a bachelor’s ineconomics. She also earned her

master’s in Internet studies at theUniversity of Oxford.

Whether it’s helming a startup orfighting her way to the top atschool, Ms. Shih attributes her suc-cess to pure and simple grit.

“I can’t tell you how many 2 or 3a.m. late nights I pulled when I wasworking at Google and Salesforce— the process of working on some-thing until it’s perfect,” she said.

In those moments, having theright kind of boss also helped. “Thetoughest bosses I ever had — thoseare the ones in retrospect I view asbeing the most influential,” she said.

— Darla Mercado

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Michael DubisAge: 37President, Michael A.Dubis Financial Planning

Twelve years ago, MichaelDubis was one of the first tobring a fee-only practice to

Madison, Wis., and now he consid-ers it his mandate to redefine thepractice of wealth management.

“I think wealth management ishijacked,” he said. “We practicewealth management, but I don’twant to be tied to how people haveabused the term.”

Mr. Dubis based his business ona quote he read early in his careerfrom Harold Evensky, author andco-founder of Evensky & KatzWealth Management. The quote,hanging framed in Mr. Dubis’ office,reads, “It’s not just your financeswe’re planning, it’s the quality ofthe rest of your life.”

But Mr. Dubis doesn’t think

everyone else has to do things hisway. He has been outspoken

about the fiduciary standardand other issues in nationalpublications and as a leaderof the Wisconsin FinancialPlanning Association.

“From my perspective,disclosure in a pragmatic for-mat would be something

more important than mandat-ing that brokers have to be fidu-

ciaries,” he said. “Then there’s noconfusion — rather than spendingtime regulating people for some-thing they’re not.”

— Mason Braswell


TRAILBLAZERS14 InvestmentNews | June 23, 2014 InvestmentNews.com

ong before Jon Stein’sdays as chief executiveof Betterment, a NewYork-based onlineadviser with about $550million in assets undermanagement, he hadmajor aspirations.Growing up, he wantedto one day be president,a journalist, a doctor, anart dealer and a rockstar. Mr. Stein eventuallyreceived a bachelor’s in

economics from Harvard University andan MBA from Columbia University.

The risks and rewards of entrepreneur-ship were calling him.

Enter Betterment — a shining exampleof disruption in the financial advisoryspace. Rather than meeting with a humanadviser in person, clients invest on theweb. Online platforms use technology tocraft customized portfolios and chargeclients a fraction of traditional advisoryfees — from 0.15% to 0.35% at Better-ment, depending on the account balance.

— Darla Mercado

Rachele BouchandAge: 39Director of financial planning,Clark Nuber

Rachele Bouchand is a financial inter-ventionist. A certified financial plan-ner, she often works with clients on

the verge of making disastrous decisionswith their savings. “The clients don’t know.Their advisers will tell them that this type ofinvestment is very conservative, and that’sthe kiss of death,” she said.

Ms. Bouchand was Schwab’s top plan-ner in 2002 and 2003 for its 14 regions,leading the nation in the number of finan-cial plans completed and revenue gener-ated from those plans.

She’s now director of financial planningat Clark Nuber, a regional CPA and consult-ing firm, where her focus is a client’s “com-plex financial plan, their entire financial life.”

Ms. Bouchand knows that not everyperson who needs financial advice canafford it, and contributes pro-bono plansfor the Financial Planning Association.

— Bruce Kelly

Dave GrantAge: 31President,Finance for Teachers

In the seven years that Dave Grant hasbeen working as a financial adviser, hehas developed a unique niche by focus-

ing on an area he believes is underservedby the financial advice industry.

The name of his business says it all:Finance for Teachers.

“My wife’s a teacher, and there are a lotof teachers in my family,” he said. “About85% of my clients are teachers.”

Mr. Grant, who holds a bachelor’sdegree in psychology, works primarilywith clients in his home state of Illinois, buthis aspirations are to “franchise” his com-pany in other states.

“Teachers are definitely not a readilytapped market for advisers,” he said. “Fora lot of teachers, the only thing they knowabout investing is whatever they’ve beentold by a 403(b) plan salesman, and as I letthem know about different options, theyare hearing some of these things for thefirst time.”

Mr. Grant recognizessome of the challengesthe financial adviceindustry faces —including a sometimesnegative image — butsees a bright future.

“I’d like one of mybiggest contributions tothe financial adviceindustry to be my work-ing with younger plan-ners,” he said.

— Jeff Benjamin

Francesca E. FedericoAge: 25Financial adviser, Twelve

Points Wealth Management

A t 21, Francesca Federico was by farthe youngest person in her financialadviser training class at Morgan

Stanley. But she found her way. Inspired by her

own family background, immigrant small-business owners are a key constituency forMs. Federico, now afinancial adviser atTwelve PointsWealth Manage-ment.

“You have alot of hands inthe pot” in afamily business,she said. “At somepoint, someone hasto be the decisionmaker.”

Ms. Federico takes her enthusiasm tohelp into the broader community. She is a

co-founder of the USA500 club, a network ofhigh-ranking profes-sionals, and assistsyoung women lookingto start businesses byhelping them withpaperwork. She alsoencourages others tolearn about the advicefield by having womenfrom her alma mater,Fairfield University,shadow her.


Julia M. CarlsonAge: 37CEO and founder, FinancialFreedom Wealth ManagementGroup

Balancingthedemands

of building afinancial advi-sory practice,educating thepublic and develop-ing a personal brandare no easy feat. But nei-ther is the exacting diet and exerciseregime demanded of competitive body-builders. Still Julia Carlson has managedto do all of these — and more — thanks

to a good measure of discipline. “I’m a huge goal-setter,” she said.The Newport, Ore., broker and adviser

has done that in spades. She started hercareer in financial advice young, at age 19,with no CFP certification, no bachelor’sdegree and professional experience thatconsisted of flipping burgers at McDon-ald’s. Now people flock to her seminarsand turn to her local column for financialadvice — and she’s been endorsed by thepopular financial author and personalityDave Ramsey.

Ms. Carlson is the chief executive andfounder of Financial Freedom Wealth Man-agement Group, an LPL Financial-affiliatedfirm. And while Ms. Carlson’s public profilehas brought her wealthy clients, it’s moreoften brought people whose finances arenot in great shape. She still helps many ofthose people get on track — gratis.


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L Jon SteinAge: 34Chief executive,Betterment

FACTS OF THE 40

62.5%Have a Twitter

account


TRAILBLAZERS

Kyle RyanAge: 36Executive VP, Personal Capital

Kyle Ryan wishes the industrywould stop referring to Per-sonal Capital as a robo-adviser.

“It bothers me because we’renot,” said Mr. Ryan, executive vicepresident of the San Francisco-based firm that offers an onlineinvestment advisory platform.“From the beginning we’ve alsoembraced the traditional adviserrelationship because we think peo-ple want and need advisers.”

In fact, Mr. Ryan is crafting anentirely new client experience at hisfirm, and is an industry leader intrying to figure out the best way oftransitioning from solely physicaldistribution of investment servicesto virtual delivery.

As director of adviser services,he built out a process that blendsan adviser’s personal touch withhigh-tech investment and analysistools. He’s hired, trained and men-tored the firm’s 40 advisers, each ofwhom works with clients that haveinvestible assets of at least

$100,000. Mr. Ryan met Per-

sonal Capital chiefexecutive William Har-

ris Jr. in 2009 when thefirm “was just an idea,” he

said. “We talked about transforming

the wealth management businessby leveraging technology,” he said.

Mr. Ryan joined Personal Capi-tal in 2010, the year before thefirm launched its online tools andservices.

“Technology enhances what anadviser can do for a client,” he said.

— Liz Skinner

InvestmentNews.com June 23, 2014 | InvestmentNews 15

RebekahKohmescherAge: 37Managing director anddirector of investmentoperations, Altair Advisers

Rebekah Kohmescher has herhands full. As managing direc-tor and director of investment

operations for Altair Advisers, shehas been busy building the firm,which has $3.8 billion in assetsunder management.

One task on Ms. Kohmescher’splate has been to evaluate Altair’sbusiness relationship with its custo-dian and whether the firm shouldmake a change. Another has beenfiguring out how Altair can becomea subadviser to a ’40 Act mutualfund for its clients.

Despite her responsibilities, Ms.Kohmescher has not lost focus onone goal: figuringout how to bringmore womeninto the finan-cial adviceindustry.

“It’s verystrange tohave been theoldest womanat my firm since Iwas 26,” she said. “I’ve had to lookelsewhere for mentors.”

To fight that reality, Ms.Kohmescher and Altair six years agostarted a networking event inChicago for female financial advisers,and to help younger women. She co-founded the Women’s Wealth Net-work, and “at the last event we hadaround 200 people; when we startedwe had 25,” she said.

— Bruce Kelly

Wes MossAge: 38Chief investmentstrategist, Capital Investment Advisors

Wes Moss is a chief invest-ment strategist with a largepublic following in Atlanta,

thanks to his hosting duties on“Money Matters,” a long-runningcall-in investment and personalfinance radio show on 95.5FM andAM 750 News Talk WSB.

Mr. Moss’ media reach extendsto writing a blog for AJC.com, thewebsite of The Atlanta Journal-Con-stitution. And his book “You CanRetire Sooner Than You Think,” justpublished June 1, is basedon his research into themoney secrets of thehappiest retirees.

Mr. Moss’ firm,Capital InvestmentAdvisors, provideshim with a sub-stantial platformfrom which tobuild a personalbrand. CIA has

approximately $1.3 billion in assetsunder management, with nine full-time advisers and about 1,500 clients.

“Multimedia is a messaging toolfor the career that I truly love,” he

said. “Helping families getto their goals … is a big

deal for me.”Looking to the

future, Mr. Mossaims to help moreinvestors withCIA’s Wela Strate-gies unit, whichoffers a dozen all-

ETF portfolios.— Joyce Hanson

G L O B A L F I X E D I N C O M E | H E D G E S T R AT E G I E S | G E A R E D | I N F L AT I O N A N D V O L AT I L I T Y

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16 InvestmentNews | June 23, 2014 InvestmentNews.com

INTRODUCING — The New Nationwide Living Benefi t Suite of Riders

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underlying fund prospectuses contain this and other important information. Read the prospectuses carefully before investing.

Variable annuities are long-term, tax-deferred investments designed for retirement that will fl uctuate in value. It allows you to create a fi xed or variable stream of income through a process called

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59 1/2, a 10% early withdrawal federal tax penalty, in addition to ordinary income taxes, may apply.

Pet owners

Gender distribution

Whom they would invite to a dinner party

FACTS OF THE 40Number whose first job was as a babysitter

6

Dog 19

Cat 4

Fish 2Hedgehog 1


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ANNUITIES

San Francisco (3)

Los Angeles

San Diego Scottsdale, Ariz.

McLean, Va.Bethesda, Md.

Columbia, Md.Centennial, Colo.

Wayne, N.J.New York (3)

St. LouisWalnut Creek, Calif.

Chicago (3)

Cary, Ill.Itasca, Ill.

Madison, Wis.Sterling Heights, Mich.

Bellevue, Wash.

Newport, Ore.Bozeman, Mont.

Salt Lake City

Palm Desert, Calif.

Waltham, Mass.Boston

Quincy, Mass.

Fort Wayne, Ind.

Brentwood, Tenn.

Atlanta (2)

Lubbock, Texas

Midland, Texas

Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Wyomissing, Pa.Philadelphia


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LEADERS

Jason R. MillerAge: 33Director of financial planning,western U.S.,BMO Private Bank

Jason Miller learned about the impor-tance of money the old-fashioned way:He watched a working single mother.

When Mr. Miller was a child, his motherwent to school during

the day and waitedrestaurant tables

at night. “I was pas-

sionate aboutnot just invest-ing but howsomebody’s

overall financialsituation impacts

what they should bedoing from an invest-

ment perspective,” he said. Mr. Miller is president of the Financial

Planning Association of Greater Phoenixand an advocate for a planning-first finan-cial advice business.

“The future of the profession is advice-based, not product-based,” he said.

He’s also a champion of public service,including pro-bono work with underservedpopulations and education outreach tochildren.

“I don’t want to see anybody else haveto endure the same hardships that I felt Ihad to at certain parts of my life,” Mr.Miller said.



Adam BirenbaumAge: 36CEO, Buckingham Asset Management and BAM Advisor Services

“Iknow it’s rare, butI can truly say I’mworking at the

last place I’ll ever work,”said Adam Birenbaum,chief executive of Bucking-ham Asset Management andBAM Advisor Services.

Promoted to the top spot four yearsago, Mr. Birenbaum got his first taste of thefirm via an internship when he was a stu-dent at St. Louis University School of Law.

“I thought law would be a fabulousbackground degree, because it gives you adifferent way of looking at risk,” he said.

While the boss doesn’t expect all ofBuckingham’s 178 employees to maintainhis pace of 80-hour workweeks, Mr. Biren-baum does expect a “hard 40.”

“There are lots of lifestyle firms outthere, but this is not one of them,” he said.“We’re really trying to grow a business.”

Buckingham’s succession strategy,which he helped design, has brought on 14advisory firms over the past three and a halfyears, pushing total assets under advise-ment and management to $24 billion.

“From my vantage point, there’s aworld to change out there,” Mr. Biren-baum said. “We believe some firms willemerge to compete with the wirehouses;why not us?”

— Jeff Benjamin

Sabrina LowellAge: 34Adviser and chief operatingofficer, Mosaic Financial Partners

Sabrina Lowell has built a reputationfor “leading by doing” in her 12 yearswith Mosaic Financial Partners, where

she recently was named a shareholder andchief operating officer.

Her leadership skillsalso extend to herexceptionally activeinvolvement inindustry organiza-tions. Ms. Lowell is afounding memberand past president ofNexGen, the FinancialPlanning Association’snational group of advisers age 36 andyounger. She also chaired the FPA Experi-ence conference in 2013, and served fortwo years as chairwoman of the annual

Northern California FPAconference.

One direction thathas consistently cap-tured Ms. Lowell’sinterest is the men-torship of youngwomen as they enterthe career world.

“Sometimes it justtakes that one person say-ing, ‘I think you’d be reallygreat at chairing this com-mittee,’ to enable you totake the next step in yourcareer.”

— Joyce Hanson

John Ryan SalterAge: 38Wealth manager and partner,Evensky & Katz Wealth Man-agement; associate professorof personal financial planning,Texas Tech University

John Salter is bringing the classroominto the client meeting room, andvice versa. He not only sees what’s

going on in the trenches with clients,he also teaches in Texas Tech Univer-sity’s personal financial planningdepartment.

His research is currently focused onthe use of reverse mortgages in retire-

ment distribution management. He pub-lished a notable academic piece, “StandbyReverse Mortgages: A Risk ManagementTool for Retirement Distributions,” in the

Journal of FinancialPlanning in 2012.

Unlike manyacademicsthough, Mr.Salter’s find-ings can beput to workin real-life sit-uations.

“That’s thefun part of

thinking aboutproblems at the

firm — taking them toschool and finding the solution,” he said.“I try to keep the research fairly practical,hopefully for everyone and not just forus.”

— Darla Mercado

ulia Ortenzio saw a need forfemale financial advisers in theBoston area to come together tohelp advance each other’scareers, and began to assemblethe group the same way manyfinancial advisers get their firstclients. “I cold called them rightout of the blue,” Ms. Ortenziosaid. The Women’s Advisor Net-work of Greater

Boston met for the first time in March 2013,with 17 in attendance. Now the organizationincludes about 100 advisers.

“It has exploded,” she said. “It’s grownthrough word of mouth and is still growing.”

And Ms. Ortenzio delivers value toAmeriprise Financial as a branch manager.In her first year in the position, 2013, sheranked fourth out of 120 branch managers,hitting 127% of the site’s revenue goal.


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Julia OrtenzioAge: 33Branch manager,Ameriprise Financial

J

FACTS OF THE 40

1.5Average cups

of coffee per day


LEADERS

Laurie BelewAge: 34Senior financial adviserFJY Financial

Laurie Belew is making animpact on the investmentadvice business at an early age

by developing the next generationof advisers.

Ms. Belew, a senior financialadviser at FJY Financial in Midland,Texas, is part of its two-memberrecruiting team targeting leadingfinancial planning programs, includ-

ing those at Texas Techand Virginia Tech.

New talent at thesmall firm, whichwill grow to 11employees thisyear, can work withclients soon afterthey’re hired.

“We have a definedcareer path that is attrac-tive to a lot of people,” Ms. Belewsaid. “It’s a matter of finding a wayto contribute and add value early. Ifyou give them that opportunity,we’ve seen them succeed.”

She’s executing the same game

plan in cultivating futuregraduates through an

internship program shehelped create.

“By the end of thesummer, they’re doingthe work of an associate

planner,” Ms. Belew said.She also tries to

develop her peers. The 2014president-elect of the Financial

Planning Association’s NexGencommunity, Ms. Belew helpedestablish a NexGen chapter in thenational capital area that has grownto 40 members, from six .


Nicholas J. DelgadoAge: 36Chief wealth officer, Dignitas

After eight years with wire-houses, Nicholas Delgadowanted to build a different

type of financial planning firm. Hefounded Dignitas in 2009 with thegoal of creating a holistic planningpractice with concierge services forwhat he calls “high-trajectory”clients — those who have substan-tial wealth but may not qualify forthe ultrawealthy-oriented familyoffice practices.

Based on client insights, he setout “to democratize the familyoffice,” he said.

To that end, Mr. Delgado devisedan innovative compensation plan. Hecharges according to a fee-basedrelationship that focuses on the fam-ily’s net worth rather than assetsunder management. Clients pay 1%of their adjusted gross income and50 basis points of their net worthminus real estate or company assets.

In return, the team of two advis-ers and three associates goes bey-ond the balance sheet, such as find-ing investors for a family business.

— Mason Braswell

Chiara Sockel RenningerAge: 38Wealth strategistand partner,Herbein WealthManagement

Chiara Sockel Renningerbelieves that the experienceof starting her career at an

independent broker-dealer con-firms she is now exactly whereshe belongs.

After two years, “I realized that Iwanted to do something that wasmore planning-oriented, rather thanjust make the sale,” she said.

Ms. Renninger “loves the invest-ment philosophy we have at Her-bein that involves putting clientsfirst. That makes me a lifer here.”

Ms. Renninger, a star basketballplayer at Bucknell University, seemsto bring a team approach to every-thing she does.

At Herbein — where she started

as an associate in 2003 andbecame a partner in 2012 — shehas assumed responsibility for

marketing and businessdevelopment.

Her leadership tenden-cies also are illustrated inthe women’s giving cir-cle she organized, “ThePower of the Purse.”

“Our mission is togive back to women and

children in Berks County [Pa.],and to remove barriers that are pre-venting women from participatingin the workforce.”

— Jeff Benjamin


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VISIONARIES20 InvestmentNews | June 23, 2014 InvestmentNews.com

David M. BlanchettAge: 32Head of retirement research,Morningstar

If you were to ask a kid what he wants tobe when he grows up, “financial plan-ner” may not be the first thing that

comes to mind.But for David M. Blanchett, head of

retirement research atMorningstar Invest-

ment Manage-ment, that wasexactly what hewanted to be.

Indeed, theLexington, Ky.,native’s drive to

help savers andinvestors reach

their goals imbueshis research at Morn-

ingstar. For instance, he measured thevalue of intelligent financial planning deci-sions during retirement — or gamma — inhis 2013 paper “Alpha, Beta and Now …Gamma.”

This paper and many others don’t justdrive conversations among financial plan-ners and academics, they also lead to realresults for investors. Mr. Blanchett’s find-ings are incorporated into Morningstar’scustom target-date models and participantservices for 401(k) plans.

“It was never my dream that if I learnmore I can make more,” he said. “I wantedto truly help people accomplish their goals.”

— Darla Mercado

Michael LierschAge: 37Head of behavioral finance,Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Michael Liersch is leading the chargeto translate behavioral financeresearch into tools that help

investors make better money decisions.As head of behavioral finance for

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, he’sdeveloped a 27-question personalityassessment for clients to help advisersstart new conversations based onclients’ deep-seated concerns aboutmoney.

“I work withadvisers everyday, if not everyhour,” said Mr.Liersch, whoworks about 60hours a week. “Iwant to helpthem make invest-ing personallymeaningful for clients.”

Mr. Liersch, formerly with BarclaysWealth, joined Merrill Lynch in 2011. Hehas a doctorate in cognitive psychologyfrom the University of California, SanDiego, and once considered a life in aca-demia. But he believed behavioral financeresearch had gotten to a point where itwas time to make it work to improveactual financial decision making.

“There’s nothing more powerful thanasking the right questions, collecting thedata and helping humans get to a betterplace,” he said.

— Liz Skinner

Thomas MartinAge: 33Partner, Larson Financial

Thomas Martin has dedicated hiscareer to making doctors’ financiallives easier so they can

focus on patient care. Larson Financial

has become one ofthe largest medicaland dental finan-cial services firmsin the country.Now the thirdpartner in thefirm, Mr. Martinserved a key role inLarson Financial’sgrowth and is responsi-ble for managing the firm’s300 employees and advisers nationwidefrom his home base of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Mr. Martin is a co-author of “Doctor’sEyes Only”(Brockport & Schoolcraft,2012), a 240-page guide on financial top-ics, and was instrumental in creating theLarson Financial Foundation, whichdonates food and clothing to the pooraround the globe.

— Joyce Hanson

Alexavon TobelAge: 30Founder and CEOLearnVest Inc.

A lexa von Tobel took a leave ofabsence from Harvard BusinessSchool just as the financial crisis hit

in the fall of 2008, and founded the onlinefinancial planning platform LearnVest Inc.— a plan of action that might sound like adisastrous mistake to some.

But Ms. von Tobel was clearly on tosomething.

As chief executive of LearnVest, she hascreated a web-based business that pairs

users with CFPs who helpwalk them through a dash-board providing advice onhow to make a budget,determine net worth, linkaccounts, set up goals andsave for retirement.

True to her goal of reach-ing millions of Americans,Ms. von Tobel published thebook “Financially Fearless:The LearnVest Program forTaking Control of YourMoney” (Crown Business,2013), which quickly becamea New York Times bestseller.

— Joyce Hanson

ver since Wade Pfau pokedholes in the 4%-withdrawalrule, financial advisers havepaid attention when this aca-demic talks about retirementincome.

Mr. Pfau, now a professorat The American College,

startled the industry in 2011 when he wrote that peopleshouldn’t be focused on how much they can safelywithdraw during retirement but instead on how muchincome they need to save while working.

“The research showed that eventhough the 4% rule had worked histori-cally in the U.S., it was not as safe as wethought because it depended on a certainsequence of returns,” Mr. Pfau said.

With that landmark paper, published inthe Journal of Financial Planning, andmany more that challenge conventionalthought, it seems Mr. Pfau is just startinghis quest to help people retire securely.

— Liz Skinner

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EWade PfauAge: 37Professor of retirementincome, TheAmerican College

FACTS OF THE 40

6Wanted to be a pro athletegrowing up


VISIONARIES

Michael KitcesAge: 36Partner and director ofresearch, Pinnacle Advisory Group

Michael Kitces has a degree inpsychology, is open abouthis obsession with the video

game “World of Warcraft” and vol-unteers as treasurer for the board ofdirectors at the Washington ImprovTheater. But he’s probably betterknown to colleagues in the industryfor his accomplishments as an out-spoken financial adviser, entrepre-neur and blogger.

Mr. Kitces joined Pinnacle Advi-sory Group in 2002 with the goal ofpushing the firm and the industry todo more financial planning.

Two years later he founded Nex-Gen, now a Financial PlanningAssociation community of supportand coaching for young advisers.

His career evolved again in 2006when he started the blog Nerd’s EyeView to opine on industry trendsand major organizations. The bloghas grown to around 50,000 uniqueviews a month, he said. It’s earnedhim speaking engagements andother work con-sulting withfirms suchas onlineadviceplat-formBetter-ment.

ThisApril, hemade anothersplash, launchingXY Planning Network with another40 Under 40 honoree, Alan Moore.The group, with 20 founding mem-bers, is a network of fee-only advis-ers who work with younger clients.

— Mason Braswell


Matt MikulaAge: 39Principal, Balasa Dinverno Foltz

Matt Mikula is a happily mar-ried man who has becomea divorce guru.

About eight years ago, Mr.Mikula was helping a client whowas struggling through a break upwith her husband. He realized thatno one was telling her that shewouldn’t be able to maintain thesame lifestyle when single.

That loss of perspective is typi-cal during the whirlwind of adivorce, according to Mr. Mikula. Hesaw it as an opening to provide avaluable service to clients.

“People get caught up in thosesmaller battles, and they forget tostep back and really take a look atthe bigger picture,” said Mr. Mikula,a principal at Balasa Dinverno Foltz.“What a great way to help at a verychallenging time in their lives.”

Mr. Mikula earned a certifieddivorce financial analyst designa-tion and established a divorce niche

at his firm. He’s become an expertin the field and teaches continuingeducation classes for the AmericanBar Association and theMediation Council.

“People aremaking someof the biggestfinancial deci-sions of theirlives during adivorce,” hesaid. “Not hav-ing a financialadviser really opensthemselves up to a lot of risk.”


Katherine LiolaAge: 35President, Concentric Private Wealth

The name Katherine Liolachose for her investmentadvisory firm captured her

desire to determine what makesclients tick.

Founded in October 2012,McLean, Va.-based Concentric Pri-vate Wealth focuses on comprehen-sive financial planning andbehavioral advice.

“That is what finan-cial planning is allabout — under-standing the layersof the client,” Ms.Liola said. “At thecenter of that con-centric circle is theclient. It always comesback to the client.”

She was amazed at thenumber of times clients had trou-ble answering the question “Why?”when talking about issues such asretirement age. Instead, they fol-lowed a cookie-cutter approach tofinancial goals.

The lack of deep reflec-tion on internal motiva-tion catalyzed herinterest in the behav-ioral approach tomoney management.“We need to get people

to think more personallyabout what’s important to

them,” she said.She promotes holistic

advice among her peers throughMastermind Study Group, a gather-ing of five advisers from broker-dealers who share best practicesand client experiences.


Achievement leads to confi dence.

The PL Income Fund is in the Intermediate-Term Bond category, which consisted of 935 funds as of 5/31/2014. An investment’s overall Morningstar Rating, based on its risk-adjusted return, is a weighted average of its applicable 3-, 5-, and 10-year ratings. Fund inception date is 12/31/2010. The Advisor Share Class inception date is 6/29/2012. Performance used to calculate the Morningstar Rating prior to that date is hypothetical and is that of Class A Shares (12/31/2010 inception date), restated to refl ect applicable service and/or 12b-1 fees.

PL INCOME FUND

PLIAXClass A – Load Waived

PLIAXClass A – Load

PLIDXAdvisor Share

Overall Morningstar Ratings™ as of 5/31/2014

Overall Morningstar Rating Morningstar rates investments from one to five stars based on how well they’ve performed (after adjusting for risk and accounting for applicable sales charges) in comparison to similar investments. Within each Morningstar Category, the top 10% of investments receive five stars, the next 22.5% four stars, the middle 35% three stars, the next 22.5% two stars, and the bottom 10% receive one star. Investments are rated for up to three time periods (three, five, and 10 years), and these ratings are combined to produce the overall rating. The star ratings are recalculated monthly. Investments with less than three years of history are not rated. Ratings are objective, based entirely on a mathematical evaluation of past performance. They’re a useful tool for identifying investments worthy of further research, but shouldn’t be considered buy or sell recommendations.Overall Morningstar Rating is for the three-year period ending 5/31/2014. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Morningstar Ratings for Class A and Advisor Shares; other share classes may have different performance characteristics. For the most recent calendar quarter performance, please call (800) 722-2333 (select option 2), or visit www.PLFunds.com.Class A shares have a maximum 4.25% sales charge. The load-waived rating should only be considered by investors who are not subject to a sales load. Advisor Class shares are sold at NAV without an initial sales charge and do not include a CDSC. Please check with your broker/dealer regarding share class availability.The PL Income Fund is subject to credit, floating rate loan, debt securities, high yield and interest rate risks, among other risks. Please see the prospectus for a detailed description of these risks. You should carefully consider an investment’s goals, risks, charges, strategies, and expenses. This and other information about Pacific Life Funds are in the prospectus and is available from your financial advisor or by calling (800) 722-2333, Option 2. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. The PL Income Fund is offered by Pacific Life Funds. Pacific Life Funds are distributed by Pacific Select Distributors, Inc. (member FINRA & SIPC), a subsidiary of Pacific Life Insurance Company (Newport Beach, CA), and are available through licensed third-party broker/dealers.

WWW.PLFUNDS.COM



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Bachelor of Scienceor Bachelor of

Business Administration

19

Master of Scienceor Master of

Business Administration

17

Doctor ofPhilosophy

5

Juris Doctor1

Program forLeadership

Development1

FACTS OF THE 40

Sometimes you have to“throw financialplanning rules of thumbout the window.”Rachele BouchandDirector of financial planningClark Nuber

“Focus on being a lifelonglearner; focus on multi-disciplinary education.”Sameer S. SomalChief financial officerBlue Ocean Global Wealth

Workweeks

Age distribution Degrees earned

“When I approach anissue, I challenge everysingle aspect of it.”Jason Van DuynPresident and founderAQuest Wealth Strategies

MORE ONLINEAdditional stats on our40 young innovators andvideo featuring theirwords of wisdom are atInvestmentNews.com/40.

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$4.00 / $65 year the leading information source …...sameer somal age: 30chief financial officer,...

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