LIFTING THE NEXT GENERATION

Dr. Ramesh K.S. Rao

Email Ramesh

Eugene and Margaret McDermott Professor of Finance, Department of Finance
Director, McCombs Wealth Management Center, University of Texas at Austin

• DBA., Indiana University
• MBA, Indiana University
• B Tech, Metallurgical Engineering, Indian Institute of
              Technology in Madras, India

Ramesh K.S. Rao is the McDermott Centennial Professor of Banking and Finance at the McCombs School of Business. His research interests include asset pricing, informational asymmetry, and the interface between finance and both marketing and operations management.

Dr. Rao has published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Financial Economics, Management Science, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and the Journal of Marketing, among others. He is the author of Financial Management: Concepts and Applications, 3rd ed., Fundamentals of Financial Management, and A Theory of the Firm’s Cost of Capital (with E. Stevens). His book (with V. Agrawal) titled Corporate Financial Decisions Under Informational Asymmetry is forthcoming in 2015. He has received the Outstanding Professor Award, the Joe Beasley Award, the Jack G. Taylor Teaching Excellence Award, Outstanding Professor Award in the Executive MBA Program, the Excellence in Education Award and the Regents Award at The University of Texas. He also served as Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Director of the Texas MBA Program from 1997-1999. More recently, Dr. Rao was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

In addition to his academic background, Dr. Rao has had extensive consulting experience in the areas of bankruptcy, corporate restructuring, corporate valuation corporate litigation and executive education. He has testified as expert in, among others, American Express vs. Visa et al. , The State of Alaska v. Veco Corporation, and Boone v. CIGNA.  He was appointed the sole valuation expert in the bankruptcy restructuring of First City Corporation. His clients include the Federal Home Loan Banks, Intel Corporation, Burlington Northern, Deutsche Bank and Fidelity Investments. He has served on the Boards of Directors of companies and has testified as an expert witness in the Federal Bankruptcy Courts. In addition to conducting seminars for IBM, Arthur Young, Chase Banks, Texas Instruments, Motorola, Phillips Petroleum, and Halliburton, Dr. Rao has participated in several executive development programs in the U.S. and abroad.

Buddie Ballard
Founding Partner and Portfolio Manager 
Alpha Capital Management

Buddie Ballard co-founded Alpha Capital Management in 2002 to provide clients with a partner whose interests are aligned with their own. During his 28-year career, Buddie worked with major Wall Street firms in Senior Vice President and Managing Director capacities. With Alpha, he continues to oversee the firm’s research analysis and asset allocation policies while working with the firm’s clients on the implementation and administering of their particular investment policy statements.

Buddie earned a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Texas in 1997, a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Texas in 1986, and earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2002.

Buddie lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children where he volunteers in a number of community sports and board positions. He served as the Chairman of the Oversight Committee of The University of Texas Ex-Student Association Endowment Fund from 2010-2016 having served an oversight committee member since 2001. Mr. Ballard is currently an active member of the West Austin Youth Association (WAYA) Board of Directors and the Triple Crown Baseball Board of Directors. Formerly, Mr. Ballard coached West Austin Pop Warner (WAPW) football and a number of little league baseball teams. 

Scott Bishop 
MBA, CPA/PFS, CFP®
Partner, Managing Director, Presidio Wealth Partners

Scott co-founded Presidio Wealth Partners in 2023. He has worked in the financial services industry since 1995. Throughout his career, Scott has focused on customizing the financial planning process to identify specific estate, business succession, investment and retirement strategies for individual clients and their businesses. Presidio's team utilizes a very comprehensive and customized approach that helps to ensure that our clients' planning and investment opportunities are identified and correctly focused on now and into the future.

Scott graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and received his Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas. Currently, Scott is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner(CFP®) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Over the years, Scott has conducted Continuing Education courses for Certified Public Accountants. In addition, Scott has both authored and has been interviewed for numerous articles in financial related publications and websites such as the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, CNBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, USA Today, Money Magazine, Investopedia.com, Investment News, Kiplinger, WealthManagement.com, Financial Planning Magazine, The AICPA Tax Section, BankRate.com, the Houston Business Journal and the CPA Forum. For his writings and contributions, Scott was named in 2019 as a Top 100 Financial Advisor in America by Investopedia. Related to his retirement planning experience, Scott is also a member of Ed Slott’s Master Elite IRA Advisor Group SM.

Scott is also an Advisory Board Member and is a guest lecturer for the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Wealth Management Center. He has been active as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) where he holds the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) accreditation. Locally, Scott has been on the Board of Directors of the Houston CPA Society and has been Chairman of the Personal Financial Planning Committee. As a thought leader in Financial Planning, Scott chairs the national Tax and Estate Planning Knowledge Circle for the Financial Planning Association (an association of CFP® certificants).

Tom Bradley
Managing Director
Schwab Advisor Services

Tom Bradley is Managing Director for Schwab Advisor Services and oversees the division that provides custodial support services for independent Registered Investment Advisors with up to $300 million in assets under management. He is also a leader in driving the ongoing integration between Schwab Advisor Services and TD Ameritrade Institutional.

Prior to joining Schwab, Bradley spent three decades at TD Ameritrade, much of that time in the service of independent advisors. He served as president of TD Ameritrade’s Institutional business for 12 years prior to becoming president of the firm’s Retail Distribution unit, which is where he spent his last five years at the firm. He is a graduate of the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business.

Keith Brown
University Distinguished Professor and Fayez Sarofim Fellow
McCombs School of Business

Keith Christopher Brown currently holds the positions of University Distinguished Teaching Professor and Fayez Sarofim Fellow in the Department of Finance at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Financial Economics from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University. Since leaving school in 1981, he has specialized in teaching Investment Management, Portfolio Management and Security Analysis, Capital Markets, and Derivatives courses at the BBA and MBA levels and has received eighteen awards for teaching innovation and excellence.

In 2006, he was elected to the University’s prestigious Academy of Distinguished Teachers and also serves as a Provost’s Teaching Fellow. Keith's publications have appeared in such journals as Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Review of Economics and Statistics, Financial Management, Journal of Financial Markets, Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management, Journal of Investment Management, Journal of Fixed Income, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Journal of Retirement, and Advances in Futures and Options Research. He received a Graham and Dodd Award from the Financial Analysts Federation as a co-author of one of the best articles published by Financial Analysts Journal in 1990, a Smith-Breeden Prize from Journal of Finance in 1996, and a Harry M. Markowitz Special Distinction Award from Journal of Investment Management in 2016. Keith is also a co-author of two textbooks, Interest Rate and Currency Swaps: A Tutorial (with Donald J. Smith) and Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, 11e (with Frank K. Reilly and Sanford J. Leeds).

Keith is the co-founder and Senior Partner of Fulcrum Financial Group, a portfolio management, business valuation, and investment advisory firm located in Austin, Texas. For more than fifteen years, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The MBA Investment Fund, LLC, a private capital appreciation fund managed by students at the University of Texas and also was the Director of the Department’s Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance. From May 1987 to August 1988 Keith was based in New York as a Senior Consultant to the Corporate Professional Development Department at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. He has also lectured extensively in the global Executive Development programs for companies such as Fidelity Investments, Commonfund Institute, FTSE, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Chase Securities, Union Bank of Switzerland, Chemical Bank, Chase Bank of Texas, USAA Investment Management, Security Commission of Malaysia, The Beacon Group, Motorola, Halliburton, Association for Investment Management and Research, and and served for eleven years on the Investment Committee of LBJ Family Wealth Advisors, a Texas-based private wealth management firm.

In August of 1988, Keith received his charter from the CFA Institute. He currently serves as Advisor to the Board of Trustees of Teacher Retirement System of Texas and the Board of Directors of University of Texas Investment Management Company and as Associate Editor for Journal of Investment Management and Journal of Behavioral Finance. For five years, he held the position of Research Director for the Research Foundation of the CFA Institute.

Dave Butler
Co-Chief Executive Officer and Dimensional Director
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dave Butler serves as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and is a Dimensional Director. He joined the firm in 1995 and was named Co-CEO in 2017. Along with Co-CEO Gerard O’Reilly, Dave guides Dimensional’s vision and strategy, inspiring innovation and growth. He is passionate about helping clients develop perspective on the markets so that they can have a better investment experience, and he frequently interacts with professional investors and industry leaders around the globe. Dave also serves on the Boards of Dimensional’s US mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.

Prior to becoming Co-CEO, Dave led the development of Dimensional’s financial advisor business, building a global team of Regional Directors and client services professionals. Throughout his career, Dave has been closely involved in the evolving field of investment advice and the strong community of professionals redefining wealth management and enhancing the investor experience. In the 25 years since he joined Dimensional, the firm has grown from roughly $10 billion in assets under management to more than $540 billion.

Dave attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a BS in marketing and finance in 1986 and an MBA in 1990. He received the CFA® designation in 1998. Dave played basketball while attending Cal and was later drafted by the Boston Celtics. In 2011, he was inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 2014, he was named to the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor. Dave was also a Rhodes Scholar candidate.

Peter Chilian
Managing Director, Market Manager
J.P. Morgan

Pete Chilian, Managing Director, is the Market Manager for J.P. Morgan’s Private Banking business in the Dallas Region. In this role, Pete manages a team of about 100 bankers, investment specialists, lending advisors, trust officers and client service specialists who provide broad-based wealth management services to private clients and foundations in the Dallas metropolitan area, East Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Prior to his current role, Pete managed the investments business for the Dallas Region of the Private Bank, overseeing a team of professionals specializing in providing tactical investment advice and managing multi-asset class portfolios. Pete joined the firm in New York as a Fixed Income Specialist, trading bonds and advising clients on the positioning of their portfolios for two years before moving back to Texas in 2004. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Pete worked for Guaranty Bank (now BBVA Compass) in Dallas in the Capital Markets Group, where he structured and managed the closing of large commercial real estate loan syndications.

Pete is a member of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, which runs the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament of the PGA Tour to raise funds for the benefit of the Momentous Institute. Pete also serves as a board member of Goodwill Industries of Dallas, Inc. and the United Way Foundation of Greater Dallas, where he chairs the Investment Committee. Within J.P. Morgan, Pete has twice served as Co-Chair of the Good Works Employee Giving Campaign for the Greater Dallas Market.

Pete holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin and a B.B.A. in General Business from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He resides in Dallas with his wife of 17 years, Brandi, and their two boys, Cook and Wyatt.

Robert Conklin
Advisory Board Chair
Managing General Partner, Conklin Real Estate Investments, Ltd.

Robert Conklin, a retired valuation professional, is an investor, wine maker, philanthropist, globe trotter, and Longhorn sports fan. During his professional career, Mr. Conklin served clients in dozens of industries, including oil and gas (up-stream, mid-stream and down-stream); banking and insurance; manufacturing; business services; trucking and logistics; distribution; healthcare; retail; and professional sports franchises. Mr. Conklin was an expert in ESOP and tax valuations; and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.  Mr. Conklin is a 4th generation graduate of the University of Texas, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Plan II, a Bachelor of Business Administration Marketing, and a Master of Business Administration in Finance. 

Over the years Mr. Conklin has endowed a course for Plan II, a partial scholarship in Athletics, and the Dean’s Excellence fund at the McCombs School of Business.  Mr. Conklin is a Member of the Littlefield Society, the President’s Associates, and a Parlin’s Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Conklin is also a Fellow of the Ashbel Smith Circle and a Fellow of the 1881 Society for the University of Texas System.  Mr. Conklin is a passionate wine maker and, since 2011, has made Conklin Cellars, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to be shared with family and friends.

Travis Danysh
Head of Mergers and Acquisition
Focus Financial

Travis is responsible for leading all M&A activity at Focus. He oversees Focus’ M&A strategy and capital deployment process. Travis also leads the team responsible for deal assessment and M&A execution. Travis has been with Focus for seven years in a variety of roles across the business, including Partner Firm value add, M&A and business development.

Prior to joining Focus, Travis was a Vice President in the Financial Sponsors Group of the Investment Bank at Credit Suisse. He worked with private equity firms and their portfolio companies on a variety of transactions including leveraged buyouts, M&A and equity offerings.

Travis previously worked in management consulting for Monitor Group, where he advised clients on issues related to growth strategy, operational efficiency and post-merger integration.

Travis holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a BA from Georgetown University. He lives in Austin, TX and enjoys travel, running, biking, cooking and cheering for his hometown San Antonio Spurs.

Michael Dellinger
Managing Director
UBS Financial Services

Michael began investing more than 17 years ago while earning both his Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) designation and his M.B.A. Today, as a member of one of the largest teams in Private Wealth Management at UBS, he is able to apply his passion for investing and his expertise in asset allocation and manager evaluation to his work on behalf of clients. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, he earned his B.A. in economics with a minor in business and his M.B.A with honors. Michael joined UBS in 2009, having gained a range of experience at Morgan Stanley dating back to 2002.  Michael was appointed to the influential UBS Financial Advisor Advisory Council (FAAC) in 2017. The FAAC, a select group of 14 Financial Advisors who represent all UBS Advisors, addresses the critical issues and concerns that ultimately help Advisors better serve their clients.

Michael is also a member of the UBS Pinnacle Council as well as the MBA Advisory Board at the McCombs School of Business, the Advisory Board for the Masters of Finance Program, and the Executive Committee for the Chancellor's Council at The University of Texas in Austin. His success has earned him a distinguished place on the On Wall Street’s Top 40 Advisors Under 40 list.

Karen Dixon
Regional Managing Director
Truist Bank

As a Truist Wealth Regional Director for Houston and Central Texas, Karen is committed to building a business that centers around a client’s financial well-being. We listen diligently to our clients and engage them through a collaborative, goals-based planning approach to determine strategies that align with their needs, wants and wishes.

Karen offers more than 30 years of experience working with successful individuals and families and is proud to be with a firm that holds financial confidence as one of its primary missions across all levels of wealth.

Karen is a native of Galveston, Texas and graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with degrees in Finance and Marketing. She serves as a member of the Investment Committee of the Greater Houston Community Foundation as well as a Foundation Trustee and Governing Board Liaison for Casa de Esperanza de los Ninos in Houston.

Registered Representative, Truist Investment Services, Inc., Investment Adviser Representative, Truist Advisory Services, Inc.

Education
BBA - Finance and Marketing
The University of Texas at Austin | 1982-1986

Personal interests
Karen is an active community volunteer serving several charities that focus on protecting and educating children and youth. She serves on the Casa de Esperanza Foundation and Governing Board which offers a safe place for children in crisis from birth to age 6. In addition, Karen is a member of the Junior Achievement Discovery Center Campaign Cabinet which will focus on raising the necessary funds to build a financial literacy venue for youth in Houston. She has been actively involved with JA Biztown for several years and has taught financial literacy classes for the Women’s Resource in Houston alongside the Truist Wealth team.

Karen is active at Chapelwood United Methodist Church and is a member of the Memorial High School Booster Club and the Spring Branch ISD PTA. She is also a Sustaining Member of the Junior League of Houston.

Gregg Fisher
Founder and Portfolio Manager
Quent Capital

Gregg Fisher is the founder of investment advisory firm Gerstein Fisher, and a financial services executive with over 30 years of expertise in investment research and portfolio management.

In 2016, with over $4 billion in assets under management and advisement, Gregg led the sale of Gerstein Fisher to People’s United Bank, expanding the bank into systematic investing. He then served as Head of Research and Portfolio Strategy for the bank until stepping down in November 2019.

A pioneer of factor investing, Gregg developed Gerstein Fisher’s proprietary Multi-Factor® investment strategies that he used to construct globally diversified portfolios. These included domestic and international funds that brought factor investing to the growth sector, as well as one of the world’s first quantitative Global REIT funds.

In 2009, Gregg founded the Gerstein Fisher Research Center to bridge theoretical research concepts with real-world challenges facing individual investors. Partnering with leading academics in the areas of finance, risk management, and economics, he spearheaded numerous research projects in areas such as momentum, valuation and analyst growth models, and global investing.

Gregg has served as a guest lecturer for the State University of New York at Buffalo, New York University, Columbia, McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, Cornell Business School, and Harvard University. In 2018, he was named to The University of Buffalo’s Board of Trustees and the chair of the investment committee if the university’s endowment & foundation. The following year Gregg established the Fisher Research Collaborative within the university’s School of Management to support data-driven interdisciplinary research.

He remains a sought-after financial expert and thought leader, appearing in The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Fortune, Business Week, The New York Times, CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC. As creator and host of the podcast The Q Factor with Gregg Fisher, he leads probing conversations with leading quantitative thinkers on how the modern world is being driven, optimized, and impacted by data.

In January 2020, Gregg launched a global small company long short equity fund under his new investment business Quent Capital, LLC.

Loreen Gilbert
Founder and CEO
WealthWise Financial Services

Loreen Gilbert is an experienced wealth manager who has spent more than three decades creating comprehensive wealth strategies for her clients. Upon graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Business Administration, she launched her career at Fidelity Investments where she assisted clients with investment management services. Gilbert then worked for a private company selling retirement plans to municipalities and their employees. She has been in private practice as a wealth manager since 1997, and is the founder and CEO of WealthWise Financial Services, which offers securities and investment advisory services to individuals, business owners and corporations through her affiliation as a registered principal with LPL Financial.

In 2021, she made the Forbes Top 1000 Female Advisor list and the Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors. She also made the ThinkAdvisor Luminaries Class of 2021 in the Thought Leadership category. For ten years including 2021, Loreen received the Five Star Wealth Manager Award as published in Orange Coast Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Loreen was also named winner of the 2020 Silver Stevie Award in the Female Entrepreneur of the Year category for Women in Business. Gilbert is the past Chair of the NAWBO Institute (National Association of Women Business Owners Institute), which provides resources and tools to women business owners around the globe. She spent four years on the NAWBO National Board, representing more than 11 million women business owners in the US.

Gilbert has been covered by CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox, TD Ameritrade, Cheddar, US News & World Report, USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily, Yahoo! Finance, Money Magazine, Reuters, Financial Advisor Magazine, Plan Sponsor Magazine and WealthManagement.com. She also hosts on-air segments for KX FM in Laguna Beach, California, to educate listeners on financial matters. Her iTunes podcast is called WealthWise Moment.

Loreen is committed to giving back through many charitable organizations. She sits on the Tocqueville Society Cabinet for Orange County United Way as well as is involved in Women’s Philanthropy Fund. She sits on the Business Leadership Committee for Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Gilbert is a member of the National Board of Governors for Opportunity International and on the advisory board for Hope International, both micro-lending organizations helping families in developing countries to start/expand a business.

Gilbert’s business licenses and credentials include registration as an Investment Advisor Representative with LPL Financial; FINRA Series 7, 63, 24, and 65, registrations held through LPL Financial; Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation; Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation; insurance licensed in Life, Disability, Variable Life, and Long Term Care; and Bachelor of Business Administration.

Loreen Gilbert is a registered representative with and securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.

*The Luminaries Program shines a spotlight on how industry participants are producing results in thought leadership & education. They were selected by a diverse panel of judges from across the industry and the editorial team at ThinkAdvisor** The Forbes ranking of America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative data, rating thousands of wealth advisors with a minimum of seven years of experience and weighing factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and best practices learned through telephone and in-person interviews. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK receives a fee in exchange for rankings.***Five Star Award is based on 10 objective criteria associated with providing quality services to clients such as credentials, experience, and assets under management among other factors. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of 2012- 2019 Five Star Wealth Managers.

Craig Greenway
Managing Director
SFMG Wealth Advisors

Craig Greenway's objectives are defined by how his clients define success. Craig's move from the "predominantly reactive world of public accounting" to financial planning. was driven by his desire to serve people in a proactive environment. He gains true satisfaction from watching others grow, especially witnessing the younger generation of firm leaders evolve.

Craig identifies perspective as something for which he is extremely grateful; he believes that without perspective you cannot understand or care about others in the world. What sets Craig apart is his commitment to listening to his clients. Keeping the lines of communication open can help him better guide families to reach their financial goals. Over 35 plus years of experience have helped him cultivate a vast array of professionals to call on, from estate planning to insurance agents, so that he can ensure his clients have access to all the resources they need to lead financially successful lives.

Giving back to his community is important to Craig. He has served on numerous civic, charitable, and religious boards and councils. However, Craig has worked hard to get to this stage of life and also appreciates getting away. He often escapes to his second home in the Texas Hill Country with his wife Pam and, when their schedule allows, their grown children Drew and Megan. The Hill Country is slow-paced, and Craig finds the country chores to be therapeutic. 

Chris Halaska
Chief Investment Officer
Avalon Advisors

Chris Halaska joined Avalon in 2020 as Chief Investment Officer. Prior to Avalon, Chris served as the first Chief Investment Officer of Memorial Hermann Health System and was an Investment Banker with J.P. Morgan. Chris currently serves on the Investment Committee for the Ex-Student's Association for the Univesity of Texas and is on the Advisory Board of the McCombs School of Business.  While at Memorial Hermann, Chris was named "40 under 40" by aiCIO and selected as a top CIO by Institutional Investor and Trusted Insight.  Chris holds a BBA in Finance and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Terri Holbrook
Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department
McCombs School of Business

Ms. Holbrook has been on the Accounting faculty at UT since 2011, teaching Taxation and Wealth Management courses in the graduate and undergraduate programs.  In addition to teaching, she provides expert witness and consulting services in Taxation.  Ms. Holbrook started her career in public accounting where she practiced for 16 years and was a tax partner with BDO.  She retired from BDO to become a  director for Stifel (previously Thomas Weisel Partners) Investment Bank, serving public and private clients for 10 years.  She is a CPA with a Masters of Science in Taxation and BBA Accounting. 

Rajini Kodialam
Founder & Co-CEO
E-3 Tech

Rajini is the Founder & Co-CEO of E-3 Tech , a diversified consortium of industry verticals with a unique offering for successful SMBs. E-3 Tech offers Entrepreneurial DNA, Empowered by best-in-class technology within talented Ecosystems

Rajini is Co-Founder Emeritus of Focus Financial Partners, ( Nasdaq: FOCS) a leading international partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms. Prior to founding Focus, Rajini worked at American Express and McKinsey & Company in New York.

Rajini currently serves on the board of TIFIN AG. She previously served on the board of Focus as well as Smart Asset, and Avendus Wealth. Rajini is a frequent speaker at industry events and was recognized by Crains in their notable list of women in financial services.

Rajini is an alumna of Columbia Business School NYC, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and Delhi University, India.

Dan Kraus
Co-Managing Partner
Austin Private Wealth

Dan has more than twenty-seven years of financial services experience. Prior to his current role, Dan held numerous positions in both trading and marketing at Fidelity Investments and American Express. Wanting to leave corporate America and pursue an entrepreneurial path, Dan and his wife Rochelle moved from New York City to Austin in 2004. It was there that he met Raoul Celerier. Together, they founded Austin Private Wealth.

Dan holds a BA in economics from Binghamton University and an MBA (magna cum laude) from the Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. He is the recipient of numerous awards during his career.

Dan is a past-chair and longtime board member of Shalom Austin, the umbrella organization for the Jewish community of Austin and Central Texas. Dan was a founding member of the Shalom Austin Jewish Foundation. In addition, Dan served on the loan committee of BiG AUSTIN, a small business and workforce development non-profit.

Bryan Kucholtz
Executive Vice President, Head of Private Wealth
Texas Capital Bank

Bryan Kucholtz serves as Executive Vice President and Head of Private Wealth for Texas Capital Bank’s Private Wealth Advisors line of business. His responsibilities include leadership of all aspects of Texas Capital Bank’s Private Wealth and Banking services.

Kucholtz joined Texas Capital Bank in June 2022, bringing to his role more than 30 years of banking and finance experience, specifically in leading and growing all aspects of retail/institutional banking and wealth management across several states. Previously, he served as EVP, Regional Sales Manager - North Texas for PNC Investment Co., where he was responsible for supervision of PNC’s Brokerage and Wealth divisions in the North Texas region. Prior to that, he held successive wealth management positions at BBVA, Comerica, and JP Morgan Chase. While at BBVA Investment Services, he led 265 advisors and bankers across seven states and was responsible for over $25 billion in client assets.

Kucholtz earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Dallas, and his MBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Dallas. He is a Certified Wealth Strategist and Accredited Investment Fiduciary.

John Langston
Founder and Managing Partner of Republic Capital Group

John Langston, CM&AA, CAIA is the Founder and Managing Partner of Republic Capital Group. Mr. Langston has over 18 years of experience in the financial services sector and is a leading investment banker to the wealth management industry. He founded Republic in 2015 with a focus on larger RIA’s of generally $2 billion in AUM and up.

Experience

Over his career Mr. Langston has utilized his experience and training as a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) to advise the nation’s leading RIA's, asset managers, senior wirehouse executives and financial advisors, large broker dealers and family offices.

Mr. Langston previously served as Managing Director of Partner Solutions at Avalon Advisors, an RIA then overseeing approximately $6 billion dollars in assets and a portfolio company of global private equity firm The Carlyle Group. Mr. Langston previously served as a Director for Salient Partners, an RIA then overseeing approximately $16 billion dollars in assets and a portfolio company of global private equity firm Summit Partners at that time. Mr. Langston was also a Director of Global Platform Distribution for SkyBridge Capital.

Recognition

Wealthmanagement.com’s “Ten to Watch in 2020” list as an innovator and influencer set to change the industry in 2020.

“John Langston, whose 17-year career in finance has seen him run the gamut from traditional RIAs to non-profits to now investment banking, founded Republic Capital Group in 2015...with a focus on large RIAs (generally $2 billion and up) and a willingness to embrace approaches considered unconventional in the industry—consider the recent LourdMurray deal, where Langston helped facilitate the acquisition of Delphi Private Advisors, to create a nearly $5 billion AUM firm, while at the same time bringing HighTower Advisors in as an investor. That deal was recognized by M&A Advisor, a network of industry agnostic financial professionals involved in M&A, as a “Deal of the Year.”

Kevin Margolis
CEO and Managing Director
SFMG Wealth Advisors

Kevin has over 25 years of experience in financial, tax and business consulting. He joined SFMG in 2002 and rejoined in 2004 after serving as a client service director at Tolleson Wealth Management. He began his career in financial planning, estate planning, investment management, risk management, and tax planning at KPMG Peat Marwick as a tax manager. He then worked for Medaphis Physician Services and Orthalliance, two publicly traded physician practice management companies, overseeing both the financial and operational aspects of physician practices. He also served as chief financial officer for a value-added reseller of dental products. He is a member of the AICPA, Dallas Estate Planning Council, and the Financial Planning Association (FPA). His community service currently includes serving on the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation’s Professional Advisory Committee and Board of Trustees, University of Texas Wealth Management Advisory Board,  and Greene Family Camp Committee.  In the past he has been on numerous charitable and religious boards and committees.

Art Markman
Marketing Professor, McCombs School of Business
Executive Director, IC2 Institute

Art Markman, PhD is the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology, HDO, and Marketing at the University of Texas at Austin and Executive Director of the IC2 Institute. He has written over 150 scholarly papers on topics including reasoning, decision making, and motivation. Art brings insights from cognitive science to a broader audience through his blogs at Psychology Today and Fast Company as well as his radio show/podcast Two Guys on Your Head. He has written several books including Smart Thinking, Smart Change, Brain Briefs, and Bring Your Brain to Work.

Mark McAdams
Founder and Managing Partner
Icon Wealth Partners

Mark is a Founding Partner of Icon Wealth Partners and is the head of the firm’s Investment Committee. Mark has more than 24 years of experience in the private wealth management business, beginning with the founding of the McAdams Group at Smith Barney in 1993. Just prior to founding Icon Wealth Partners, Mark served high-net-worth clients as a Senior Vice President in Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management unit with his business partner, Steve Schwarzbach.

Mark earned his Bachelor’s degree in Finance at the University of Texas in 1989 and his MBA from the University of Texas in 1993.

Mark is a native Houstonian and is a Board member of SpringSpirit Baseball, a local non-profit that provides life opportunities to underserved youth in the Houston area.

Jennie Menzie
CEO & President
Cumberland Trust

Jennie Menzie serves as CEO and President of Cumberland Trust, steering the company’s vision with an unwavering commitment to delivering personalized, high-touch trust and estate administration services. Her strategic initiatives not only drive substantial market growth but also solidify the company’s reputation for unparalleled dedication to client service.

Since joining Cumberland Trust in 2012, Jennie has been instrumental in propelling the company beyond $8 billion in assets under administration. Her role involves not only overseeing long-term planning goals but also collaborating with financial advisors, estate planning attorneys, and other advisors to optimize outcomes for mutual clients. Cumberland Trust's directed trust, administration-only platform stands out as a unique solution for families seeking the expertise of a corporate trustee while retaining the flexibility to work with their chosen group of advisors. This innovative approach distinguishes Cumberland Trust in the competitive landscape.

Jennie’s professional journey includes pivotal roles such as Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Counsel, Chief Strategy Officer and Assistant General Counsel at Cumberland Trust. Before joining Cumberland Trust, she held positions including that of Vice President at Thompson & Associates, Assistant General Counsel of WebMD Envoy, Senior Tax Consultant at Arthur Andersen, and practicing attorney at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis.

Her educational background comprises a B.S. in Business Administration from Auburn University, a J.D. from Vanderbilt School of Law, and a Masters in Taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Florida School of Law. Notably, she is a Fellow in Charitable Estate Planning from the Institute of Charitable Estate Planning, showcasing her expertise in the field of philanthropy. Jennie also contributes to the industry by serving on the Board of Directors of The Association of Trust Organizations.

John Nersesian
Head of Advisor Education
PIMCO

Mr. Nersesian is head of advisor education at PIMCO, providing advanced wealth management and investment consulting education to financial professionals. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2019, he was senior managing director of wealth management services for Nuveen Investments. Previously, he was a first vice president at Merrill Lynch Private Client Group, where he also led advanced training for financial consultants. He served as a board member of the Investments and Wealth Institute (IWI, formerly IMCA) from 2006–2017 and as chairman for the 2014–2015 term, and he is a faculty member for the IWI Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) and Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) education programs held at Yale University and The University of Chicago. He has 36 years of investment and financial services experience and holds an undergraduate degree in business and economics from Lehigh University.

Russ Norwood
CEO & Founder
Venturi Wealth Management

Russ Norwood has worked for over 30 years in the financial services industry since graduating from the University of Texas in 1986 with a degree in Business Economics. He spent 24 years at Merrill Lynch and was a Managing Director in the Private Banking and Investment Group, an ultra-high net worth advisory organization.

James Poer
Chief Executive Officer
Kestra Holdings

James Poer’s visionary leadership has resulted in the establishment of a premier destination for independent financial professionals. He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Kestra Holdings, an ecosystem of five financial firms united in their commitment to deliver a full end-to-end suite of wealth management solutions for financial professionals, including investment platforms, technology services, succession and monetization, trust services, and back-office support.

As CEO, James has been focused on purpose-driven growth. With a unique ability to anticipate the needs of advisors, he strategically orchestrated the acquisition of new business lines to empower advisor success. Since 1997, the Kestra Holdings ecosystem has evolved to include Kestra Private Wealth Services, Arden Trust, Grove Point Financial, and Bluespring Wealth Partners, which oversees the operations of sophisticated investment adviser and wealth management subsidiaries in every region of the country. His most recent strategic initiative involves an investment management and research company slated to launch in mid-2021.

James has been instrumental in creating each of the five entities comprising Kestra Holdings, which all address unique segments of the financial services marketplace. The ecosystem is designed to provide leverage and scale to a broad range of financial professionals and centers around the advisor and client experience. The companies of Kestra Holdings collectively oversee hundreds of billions in assets and serve thousands of financial professionals.

James received his Bachelor of Science from Texas Christian University, completed the Securities Industry Institute program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, and obtained CIMC/CIMA designations. A highly respected veteran of the financial services industry with more than 25 years of experience, James currently chairs the Financial Services Institute (FSI) Board of Directors.

Jeffrey Roach
Vice President, Chief Economist
Investor & Investment Solutions
LPL Financial

Dr. Jeffrey Roach is the Chief Economist with the Investor & Investment Solutions group at LPL Financial. Jeff also serves as a voting member of LPL Research’s Strategic and Tactical Asset Allocation Committee where his ability to relate economic conditions with financial market outcomes is highly-valued. Jeff’s broad experiences on an institutional trading floor and in portfolio management, make him an engaging speaker for any audience. Prior to his current role at LPL Financial, Jeff was a Senior Economist with Visa where he focused on macroeconomic forecasting for both internal stakeholders and external clients who were in a diverse set of industries. He started his career as a Senior Economist on Bank of America’s corporate trading floor. While on Bank of America’s corporate trading desk, his group was responsible for internal economic research that was closely guarded and periodically sent to FOMC officials.

In order to facilitate cutting edge research, Jeff maintains frequent contact with Federal Reserve economists, Wall Street analysts and other leading economists from around the world. Jeff is a contributor to the financial press, as well as a sought-after speaker, and has presented economic research as far away as Italy’s Ministry of Finance in Rome and Office of National Statistics in the UK.

Jeff earned both a PhD and a MA in Economics from Clemson University and a BS in Mathematics from Bob Jones University. He also received a visiting research appointment at Harvard University.

Adam Rosenthal
Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager
UBS Private Wealth Management

Clients take pride in Adam’s unique ability to find the right opportunity at the right time. He is relentless when it comes to scrutinizing details and monitoring client portfolios, and is equally disciplined and rigorous about providing a thorough analysis of managers, performance and clients' balance sheet structure.

After receiving a B.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990, Adam joined Kidder Peabody & Co. as a financial analyst in corporate finance. Adam was involved in several debt, equity and M&A transactions in the energy industry. From 1992 to 1994, he was a vice president with a regional securities firm, where he focused on institutional fixed income sales.

 Adam joined Lehman Brothers in 1996 after completing his M.B.A. at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.  He immediately entered the Private Investment Management department, and in 2000, was asked to become a partner in The Witover Wealth Management Group.  Adam, along with The Witover Wealth Management Group, joined UBS in 2008 as a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager within Private Wealth Management. More recently, Adam was named a Family Office Consultant as part of the Family Office Solutions Group within Private Wealth Management. In 2019, The Witover Wealth Management Group was named a "Top 50 Private Wealth Advisory Team" in Barron's.

Adam is a board member of Hands on Tzedakah (HOT), a small public charity whose mission is to reach out to those in need by supporting programs that fall below the radar screen of traditional funding.  He is also on the Board of Trustees of the Rodeph Sholom School (K-8) and currently chairs the Investment Committee.  Adam is a board member of The New York Renaissance, a non-profit sports based youth development organization.  Adam lives in Manhattan with his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Russell and Rebecca.

Barrett Rouse
Founder
Pin Oak Investment Advisors

Prior to founding Pin Oak Investment Advisors in 1989, Mr. Rouse began his career as a management consultant with a large accounting firm and later worked as a financial advisor with a local investment advisor. He is a Certified Financial Planner and Registered Investment Advisor with over 30 years of experience. Mr. Rouse has been named by Texas Monthly as a Five Star Wealth Manager and is a Qualified Kingdom Advisor. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in business administration and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Rouse is also the founder and President of Stoney Creek Foundation (Stoney Creek Ranch), a camp designed to enrich Houston’s inner-city youth.

Hy Saporta
President & Chief Operating Officer
Steward Partners Global Advisory

Hy Saporta serves as President and Chief Operating Officer, is a Co-Founder and a member of the executive leadership team at Steward Partners Global Advisory. He has worked in the Financial Services industry for over 25 years. Hy is responsible for Operations, Technology, Risk & Compliance, Legal and the Finance Functions of the Organization.

Prior to founding Steward Partners, Hy held Senior Management roles at Citi, Morgan Stanley and its predecessor firm Smith Barney. While at Morgan Stanley, he was a Managing Director and a member of the Wealth Management firm‘s Management Committee. He was responsible for building out the Client and Field Experience Group, focused on internet strategy and user engagement, the new account opening experience, performance reporting, client communications and client service metrics. His Advisor-facing responsibilities included the build and running of the Field Services Group, a service and support area dedicated to guiding Financial Advisors through the vast array of products, services and technology available at the firm.

Hy is on the National Council of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Hy is a graduate of Lehigh University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. He lives in Westport, CT with his wife Marissa and their two children.

Randy Swan
Founder, President and Lead Portfolio Manager
Swan Global Investments

Randy Swan is the founder, CEO and Lead Portfolio Manager of Swan Global Investments and the creator of the proprietary Defined Risk Strategy (DRS).

In 1997, recognizing the limitations of Modern Portfolio Theory and the difficulty of market timing and picking stocks, Randy developed the Swan Defined Risk Strategy to help investors redefine the risk/return dynamic of long-term investing, seeking to achieve capital appreciation while seeking protection from large losses.

As Lead Portfolio Manager of Swan and the DRS, Randy oversees and manages the strategy across numerous product portfolios and asset classes such as large cap stocks, emerging market stocks, foreign developed stocks, small cap stocks, long-term bonds, gold, and more. Across each product/portfolio, the DRS strategy seeks to define the risk, reduce volatility, limit large losses, and match or exceed the long-term performance of the stock market over an entire investment cycle (peak to trough).  This is all from the perspective of helping investors to achieve a more consistent and smoother longer-term investment experience.

Before founding Swan, Randy was a senior manager for KPMG’s Financial Services Group, primarily working with risk management and insurance providers as a tax consultant. His experience at KPMG helped him in designing the Defined Risk Strategy, as he was able to see firsthand how insurance and risk managers diminished risk.

What followed was his discovery and pursuit of effectively using options strategies with buy-and-hold positions in an equity index ETF to define, or limit, large losses in economic downturns.  Randy’s main goal was to help investors redefine the risk/return dynamic of long-term equity investing in a tax-friendly investing approach. the DRS has proved successful in doing just that since 1997.

Randy has been featured in publications by Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Morningstar, Investors Business Daily, and more.  He has also been a frequent speaker at industry conferences including the Options Industry Council’s Wealth Summit and the Alternative Investment Summit.  Additionally, he serves on the Advisory Leadership Council of the Options Industry Council (OIC), an initiative designed to support education within the financial advisor channel, specifically focused on advancing the awareness and use of options in building a superior portfolio.

Randy is a 1990 graduate of the University of Texas with a master’s degree in professional accounting.

J. Carter Tolleson
President & CEO
Tolleson Wealth Management

J. Carter Tolleson is President and CEO of Tolleson Wealth Management, the parent company for Tolleson Private Wealth Management and Tolleson Private Bank, Member FDIC. In his role, he oversees key strategic, marketing, and policy determinations for the company and manages operations for all its lines of business. He also serves as Chairman of the CEO Committee and sits on the firm’s Investment Committee. He has been a member of Tolleson Wealth Management’s Board of Directors since the company’s inception.

Carter is also President and CEO of Tolleson Private Bank. In this role, he is responsible for all functions of the bank including Tolleson Private Trust, the firm’s Trust company, and all credit decisions. He chairs the bank’s Trust Committee, Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO), and Credit Committee.

Carter earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Arkansas and currently serves on the Deans Advisory Board of the Walton College of Business at the University. He is a graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking (SWGSB) at SMU and holds a certificate in financial planning from SMU.

Carter actively supports numerous Dallas arts and cultural organizations. He has been an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) since 2008. He currently serves as Chair of the Tate Board of Directors of the SMU Tate Lecture Series. He is a member of the Executive Committee at Highland Park United Methodist Church, and serves on the board of The Senior Source, The Tower Center for Public Policy and International Affairs, and St. Philips School and Community Center. He is also a member of the finance committee at the Dallas Museum of Art. Past board service includes Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity, The 21^st Century Council at SMU, and The Texas Bankers Association (TBA).

In 2012, Carter was named as a member of the “40 Under Forty” by the Dallas Business Journal, an honor given to top executives under 40 years old. He was named “Most Admired CEO” by the Dallas Business Journal in 2022 and is listed annually as a D CEO “top 500 most influential business leader.”

Carter is married with four children. He is a longtime Dallasite and Park Cities resident. Outside of work and spending time with his family, he is involved with numerous charitable organizations, enjoys traveling, and collecting art.

Trudy Turner
Senior Wealth Manager
United Capital

Trudy R. Turner, CPA/PFS, CFP®, CPWA® is a wealth management professional with more than 25 years of financial services experience. She has served her profession in local and national leadership positions for the Financial Planning Association (FPA), including Chair of the DFW Chapter of the FPA, Chair of the Chapter Leaders Conference, co-founder of the FPA Diversity Task Force and Inaugural Chair of the FPA Diversity Scholarship Committee that created the Diversity Scholarship awards. Turner has served as a member of the American Institute of CPAs PFS Credentialing Committee, CFP® Board WIN Advocate and Association of African American Financial Advisors Board Director. However, her most impactful role includes being mentor and ally to numerous aspiring financial planners, including high school students in the Texas Tech University Financial Planning Academy.

Greg Van Wyk
Executive Vice President, Principal
Austin Asset

Greg Van Wyk, CFP® serves as Executive Vice President/ Principal at Austin Asset where he has helped in building a tremendous team of CFP® Professionals over the last 20 plus years. He has a deep history with the fee-only wealth management industry including serving with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) in many regional and national capacities over the years. He served as an Adjunct Instructor for the University of Texas at Austin’s Financial Planning Certificate Program from 2004-2015 and has been a volunteer, supporter, and Board Member to Any Baby Can over the last decade. Greg and the entire team at Austin Asset are excited to collaborate with Texas McCombs’ Wealth Management Network (MWMN) to create unity around academia and industry and build the next generation of wealth management leaders.

Kenny Wilson
Executive Vice President, Chief Wealth Officer
Frost Bank

Kenny Wilson is Frost Bank’s group executive vice president and chief wealth officer. In that position, he oversees the bank’s trust, investment, and brokerage businesses. Prior to joining Frost in August 2023, he was chief executive officer of Haven for Hope in San Antonio, with the responsibility of leading the organization’s workforce, managing 185 nonprofit organizational partnerships, and administering a $21 million annual budget. Prior to Haven for Hope, Wilson served as market president for Bank of America in San Antonio and Austin. He also served U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, as managing director and market executive, overseeing the investment management, credit, trust, and banking services for wealthy individuals and families in San Antonio, Austin, and Midland. He was responsible for the administration of charitable foundations including the establishment and administration of the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation.

Kenny has served as chairman of the board of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Executive Committee of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, and chairman of the University of Texas at San Antonio Development Board. He has served as chairman of the board of the San Antonio Symphony, the Free Trade Alliance and the Masters Leadership Program. Kenny has served on the boards of the San Antonio Museum of Art, the P16+ Education Council, and the Executive Committee of The United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. He has been awarded a lifetime membership to the board at Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree from Abilene Christian University and completed post-graduate work in finance and accounting. He and his wife, Sharon, have three daughters and seven grandchildren.