Every year, we celebrate what we’ve accomplished over the past 12 months so we can see the results of our hard work and create excitement for the year ahead. The momentum we’ve been building over this entire year has extra meaning because we are also celebrating 40 years of serving our clients and our community. In 1983, our founder, Lon Morton, saw a need in the financial industry and started a company that he felt truly acted in the best interest of clients. Since then, we’ve kept that spirit of innovation at the forefront of everything we do, continually evolving in service of helping our clients get the most life out of their wealth. As always, we are excited to share with you what we’ve been working on over the past year and how we have impacted each other, our clients, the industry, and our community.
Morton Team
Our 2nd annual Investor Symposium in October was the largest event in our firm’s history. Over 300 attendees came to see 18 sessions on two education stages, one dedicated to investments and one to planning. Click the thumbnail below to watch welcoming remarks from our leaders Jeff Sarti, Meghan Pinchuk, and Stacey McKinnon where they acknowledge our firm’s evolution, what has been top of mind for investors this year, and the exciting service offering enhancements we’ve been working on.
We introduced Modearn, a new service offering for Gen Xers and Millennials that aims to partner with the next generation of wealth creators to provide personalized advice that empowers them to enjoy today while building for the future. To learn more about Modearn, click here.
We held a team sporting event at the Sports Academy! We competed against each other in dodgeball, kickball, and pickleball.
We welcomed five new babies to the Morton family this year: Thea (Nadya), Scottie (Nick), and Aden (Chris), as well as grandbabies Caspian (Bruce) and Lina (Arlene).
Team members furthered their education with new designations: Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP®): Austin Overholt (Financial Planner); SERIES 65: Liam O’Hara (Client Operations Specialist)
Over 100 career path meetings occurred across the firm. Congratulations to our team members who advanced along their career paths this year! Alexandria West, Client Operations Administration; Amber McBride, Financial Planner; Austin Overholt, Financial Planner; Clarisse Sullivan, Director of Marketing; Dan Charoenrath, Director of Human Capital; Dylan Druian, Administrative Assistant; Ian Rennick, Client Coordinator; Ivy Dyson, Content Marketing Specialist; Judy Lee, Data & Reporting Analyst; Kaizer Gillispie, Private Investments Operations Manager; Kevin Klein, Client Operations Administrator; Michelle Loakes, Client Services Manager; Nick Valaika, Client Coordinator.
Our leaders put on multiple team retreats to enhance communication and growth on individual teams.
We added 8 new team members: ADVISORY: Beau Wirick (Wealth Advisor), Jennifer Caruso (Wealth Advisor), Nicolas Castano (Financial Planner); CLIENT OPERATIONS: Brandon Snow (Client Operations Administrator), Leslie Owsley (Client Operations Administrator); INVESTMENT OPERATIONS & RESEARCH: Elias Vera (Portfolio Management Analyst), Jennifer Abrams (Private Investments Operations Administrator); BUSINESS STRATEGY: Dylan Druian (Administrative Assistant), Dalia Dardoon (Compliance Associate)
We added 71 new client households to the Morton community (which translates to 275 new account applications processed by our client operations team!). We now manage over 1,147 client households and $2.53B in assets under management (AUM).
Investment Research, Financial Planning, and Wealth & Legacy Planning
Our investment research team screened over 256 new investment opportunities.
Out of those opportunities, we introduced 4 new strategies: KCB Real Estate Fund VIII, Proterra Credit Fund II, WisdomTree Floating Rate Treasury Fund (USFR), and Pender Real Estate Credit (PNDIX)
Our investment operations team processed over 600 subscription documents to get our clients invested in all of our strategies.
Planners reviewed and completed over 100 financial plans and estate deliverables.
Wealth Planner Brian Standing completed approximately 104 wealth and legacy planning meetings with clients, oftentimes meeting with them more than once to ensure their legacy plans truly met their wishes.
We held 39 education sessions for our team members around retirement and estate planning, insurance, investment education, tax planning and communication training.
Morton in the Industry
Morton was named one of the top 200 RIAs in Financial Advisor magazine’s 2023 Annual RIA Ranking, which includes a total of 521 firms that are ranked based on their year-end AUM. Our advisors continued to be recognized for the incredible work that they do. Below are some of the highlights.
Joe Seetoo won Member of the Year by the Exit Planning Institute. The Excellence in Exit Planning Member of the Year Award is given to a CEPA who has done meaningful work in their local EPI community and the exit planning space as a whole and who has been a leader and expert within the industry. Joe was also named as one of the 200 most influential leaders in the Greater Conejo Valley by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal for the fourth consecutive year.
Continued his involvement with Forbes Financial Council, a community of respected leaders who are selected based on their thought leadership and depth and diversity of experience in the financial services industry.
Morton Wealth and Jeff were featured in “The Give/Get Pact,” a Schwab white paper on attracting and retaining talent with a compelling employee value proposition
Featured in a session at Schwab’s annual Impact conference on best practices in our industry.
Speaking opportunities:
Presentation to UCLA Bruins professional group on 7/14 on the political landscape and economic environment
Presentation (hosted by law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp) on 8/1 to COOs and managing partners of Southern CA law firms, “Political Division and the Economy”
Stacey and Jeff hosted an event on 10/9 presenting best practices and trends in wealth management to a dozen wealth management firms visiting from NZ and Australia. This was organized by Consilium and DFA.
Stacey McKinnon, COO & CMO
Conferences and speaking engagements:
Bob Veres’ Insider’s Forum, “Succession Stories: Internal, Outside Sales & a Merger of Equals” panel (stories of leadership and succession planning)
San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s Women’s Leadership Symposium & Awards, “My Non-Traditional Path to the C-Suite”
FA Magazine’s Invest in Women Conference, “Understanding and Working with NextGen Clients”
Bob Veres’ Insider’s Forum presentation, “How to Elevate the Client Experience”
Meghan Pinchuk, CIO
Financial Advisor magazine, Inside Alternatives & Asset Allocation virtual conference, speaker on the “Top RIAs on Opportunities in Alternatives and Protecting Clients” panel
We launched a variety of new podcasts, YouTube videos and articles to further our mission of empowering better investors.
Introduced a brand-new video series as part of our Modearn offering called Couchside Conversations
Released over 50 episodes for The Financial Commute podcast, hosted by Wealth Advisor and partner Chris Galeski
Released the third season of The Ripcord Moment podcast with Senior VP and partner Joe Seetoo, highlighting 10 business owners
Introduced a new newsletter by Herself called Her Money Matters. We started this quarterly newsletter to make financial education easy to digest. We hope it empowers women with the knowledge to make better decisions for themselves and their families.
Released three Better Investor market update videos with CIO Meghan Pinchuk and CEO Jeff Sarti
We continued to expand the content we provide on our own website and social media channels (YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram), sharing over 385 posts over the course of the year and adding 780 followers to our LinkedIn channel.
Morton in the Community
In 2023, we chose two charitable partners to focus on: James Storehouse and Interface Children & Family Services.
James Storehouse is a community-based nonprofit located in Newbury Park, CA. It has been a pillar in the valley community for many years helping kids in the foster care system, the fostering families, as well as at-risk families.
Various Morton team members volunteered once a month, helping organize the donations at the nonprofit center in Newbury Park, which is set up like a store so that donees can feel like they’re shopping rather than receiving donations.
We were also able to feature them at an Investor Symposium session in October on the impact of charitable giving.
In December, our team members donated toys, sports equipment, and personal care items for small children through teenagers for James Storehouse’s annual toy drive. Several team members also volunteered to sort the donations and help set up the holiday shop.
Interface Children & Family Services is a nonprofit organization that has served those affected by domestic violence, child abuse, human trafficking, and other related issues in California since 1973 and has been named the most comprehensive nonprofit provider of social services in Ventura County.
Morton sponsored the 10th annual Interface Hope & Light gala in September, which raised over $660,000 for Interface's current programs dedicated to supporting children and families, while also paving the way for new solutions that will further the impact on the future of this community. Many of our team members also attended this gala to further show our support.
In October, Interface was also featured in the Investor Symposium session on the impact of charitable giving.
We also sponsored events for Interface throughout the year, including their 50th anniversary community event as well as a backyard build for a home for those who’ve experienced domestic violence and/or human trafficking.
We donated toys to the Malibu Lost Hills Sheriff’s station for their annual community “Breakfast with Santa” event in December.
We participated for the second year in Malibu Search & Rescue’s Trail Race in October to raise funds for the all-volunteer search and rescue team and support its life-saving missions.
As 2023 comes to a close, we at Morton Wealth are proud to continue the legacy that Lon started four decades ago, evolving with the needs of our clients while also staying true to our founding vision. Your continued trust in us to guide you through the ups and downs of your life—both financial and otherwise—has allowed us to celebrate this milestone in our company history. And we are dedicated to ensuring we are here to support you as well as future generations for decades to come.
Have a happy and healthy new year.
Your Morton Team
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies. We use cookies to provide you with a great experience and to help our website run effectively.
