Last month VettaFi announced the Exchange Advisor Council, a group of seven financial advisors who would be helping make Exchange 2024 the most important financial advisor event of the year.
The Exchange Advisor Council
Today, we’re getting to know more about the members of this council. In the coming weeks, each member will be have the chance to share the story of their journey as financial advisors, what they envision for Exchange, and more.
Anna N’Jie-Konte, MBA, CFP® is the President and Director of Financial Planning for GRID 202 Partners
Anna N’Jie-Konte, MBA, CFP® is the President and Director of Financial Planning for GRID 202 Partners, one of the few black-owned advisory firms in the country. She currently serves as a financial advisor and investment consultant to individuals and institutions who wish to build wealth in an intentional and values-aligned fashion.
Anna is a proud first-generation American with roots in Puerto Rico and the Gambia. She is committed to the economic liberation of Black and brown communities.
Anna spent nearly a decade advising ultra-high net worth families ($5 million+ USD net worth) to grow and secure their wealth for generations to come. She left corporate in the hopes of giving women like her — black women, Latinas, daughters of immigrants — the blueprint for leveraging their incomes to build & protect family-changing wealth.
Anna is among a small but elite group of BIPOC CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certificants trained to give comprehensive, holistic financial advice. She is a 3x winner of Investment News’ “Top 100 Influential Financial Advisors” and has been featured in well-known publications such as CNBC, Telemundo, Bloomberg, CNBC, VICE News, The New York Times, Financial Planning, RIA Intel, Think Advisor, and Next Advisor.
Anna also sits on the board of the Finserv Foundation, an organization that aims to diversify the next generation of financial planners.
Autumn C. Soltysiak, CFP®, Partner, Wealth Management Advisor at Hemming & Wealth Management
Autumn has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and investment advisor for nearly 20 years. Her passion is coaching clients to make smart money decisions based on their priorities and considers this her calling. “The most rewarding piece of my job is to take complex issues and find a simple and smart strategy to achieve client’s goals and track the progress, ultimately helping clients focus on what’s really important.”
Autumn studied portfolio management, earning a degree in Economics at Michigan Technological University and the Applied Portfolio Management Program. In 2015, Autumn merged her advisory business with hemming& Wealth Management.
Bill Roach, President of GLOBALT
Mr. Roach joined GLOBALT in 1991 and serves as the adviser’s President. He has over 30+ years of investment experience. His responsibilities include the day-to-day operation of the adviser as well as client service and is a member of the Investment Policy Committee.
Prior to joining GLOBALT, Mr. Roach was a Vice President of Marketing and Client Services for Western Asset Management and prior to that was a Vice President of Institutional Fixed Income Services for Security Pacific Merchant Bank. Prior to that, he completed Goldman Sachs’ extensive training program and provided financial advice on a broad range of fixed income securities to public funds, insurance companies, and investment managers.
Mr. Roach received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University where he earned academic excellence awards from Inland Steel, Dow Chemical and Procter and Gamble. He received his MBA in Finance & Marketing from Columbia University Graduate Business School where he was awarded the Johnson & Johnson Leadership Fellowship.
Mr. Roach spent 10 years on the Advisory Board of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and was involved with Girls’ Inc. of Greater Atlanta for over 10 years. He is a member of the 1998 class of Leadership Atlanta. Mr. Roach is also a member of the Grady Hospital Ambassador program and on the board of the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
David Garff, President and Chief Investment Officer of Accuvest Global Advisors
David serves as the President of Accuvest Global Advisors. He heads the Investment Committee and Research teams. David’s responsibilities include oversight of the firm’s asset allocation process, CST investment strategy, country selection model and liquid alternatives portfolios. He began his investment career in 1992 with Merrill Lynch, and then spent 10 years as a consultant with Smith Barney, serving the needs of affluent families, Foundations and Endowments. David graduated with a B.A. in Economics and Spanish Translation from Brigham Young University, and a Masters Degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance, from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
David is a frequent conference speaker on the subjects of global investing, ETFs and country selection. He has been featured on TV, radio and in print media with Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox Business, Wall Street Journal, Morningstar, and Barron’s. In 2015, David was recognized by IMCA with the 2015 Edward D. Baker III Journal Research Award for his whitepaper entitled Multi-style Global Equity Investing: A Statistical Study on Combining Fundamentals, Momentum, Risk, and Valuation for Improved Performance.
Marguerita (Rita) Cheng, CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth
Marguerita (Rita) Cheng helps educate the public, policy makers, and media about the benefits of competent, ethical financial planning. As a Certified Financial Planner® professional and chief executive officer of financial advisory firm, Blue Ocean Global Wealth, Rita helps people meet their life goals through the proper management of financial resources. She is passionate about helping them navigate some of life’s most difficult issues —divorce, death, career changes, caring for aging relatives — so they can feel confident and in control of their finances. Rita is a regular columnist for Kiplinger and MarketWatch, and a past spokesperson for the AARP Financial Freedom Campaign. Rita volunteers her time as a SoleMate, or charity runner for Girls on the Run, raising money for scholarships for girls.
Michael Durso, Co-founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of ShoreHaven Wealth Partners
Michael is a co-founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of ShoreHaven Wealth Partners. Michael has worked with clientele from pensions, foundations, endowments, home offices, and financial advisors to successful professionals and families throughout his career. He began his career at AllianceBernstein in 2006, working as a Senior Regional Consultant with financial advisors. In 2009, he joined BlackRock within the iShares ETF business. In 2016, Michael left the asset management business to join the Durso Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley. Michael sought to bring his diverse background in asset management to the family business and leverage his institutional experience within wealth management. He earned his BBA in Finance with a minor in Marketing from James Madison University. While at JMU, he was a varsity member of the Track and Cross-Country program and the 2003 IC4A Men’s Cross Country Championship team. Michael is a CFA® Charter Holder and frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Financial Advisor IQ, and Yahoo Finance TV.
Phil Huber, Chief Investment Officer for Savant Wealth Management
Phil Huber is the Chief Investment Officer for Savant Wealth Management. Phil has been involved in the financial services industry since 2007. He worked for Huber Financial Advisors from 2008 until it joined with Savant in 2020. Prior to joining Huber, he was employed at a global asset management company where he worked closely with financial advisors to develop investment strategies for their clients.
Phil earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, has attained his Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation, and is a member of the CFA Society of Chicago.
Phil has been featured in a number of notable media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, InvestmentNews, CityWire RIA Magazine, and Bloomberg TV. He produces his own investing blog, bps and pieces, and recently authored his first book, The Allocator’s Edge: A Modern Guide to Alternative Investments and the Future of Diversification.
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