Patrice Bening joined Morton Wealth in January 2019, having over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. She started her career at Bank of America and throughout the years she held various roles, including small business banker, relationship client manager, and banking center manager in diverse markets. Patrice graduated with a B.S. in finance from California State University, Northridge. Additionally, she is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™️professional. Patrice is also part of Herself, an initiative at Morton Wealth that strives to build a community where women can connect, learn and explore various topics around financial planning and investing. A passionate hiker and runner, Patrice summited Mt. Whitney for a second time last year and completed her first 50K trail ultra-marathon in Yosemite. She and her husband have two boys and a mischievous border collie named Loki, and her favorite travel destination is going back to visit her home and family in Romania.

Priscilla Brehm is a Wealth Advisor at Morton Wealth. As a financial planner and wealth advisor for 45+ years, she brings to the table a wealth of life experiences, professional training, and common sense that help her clients get the most life out of their wealth. Her mantra is “make it better,” which is what drives her deep thinking and problem-solving interactions with her clients. As the second partner to join Morton Capital (as it was known) in its early days, she has also played many other roles throughout the growth of the company. Priscilla loves to spend time traveling, hiking, reading, knitting, playing keyboard and singing in the church choir, and continuing her practice of martial arts (she currently holds a third-degree black belt in MMA). She is a Charted Financial Consultant and Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor.

Sasan Faiz joined Morton Wealth in 2008 and works closely with the investment team to conduct due diligence on both new and existing investment strategies. For the five years before he joined Morton, he was the Chief Investment Officer at PAS LLC in Santa Barbara. From May 1989 to July 1997, he was in institutional sales with the Middle Markets Group at Merrill Lynch in Los Angeles. He identified opportunities in debt markets through asset swaps and floating-rate note structures and marketed and implemented credit derivative strategies for a customer base made up of European and Asian banks. Sasan received both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering with a specialization in thermal sciences from the University of Michigan.

Chris Galeski joined Morton Wealth in March 2018, and has over 14 years of experience in the financial services industry, specializing in financial planning and executive compensation with high-net-worth individuals. Prior to joining Morton, he worked at Fidelity Investments as Vice President, Executive Planning Consultant, with a focus on financial planning, benefits optimization and compensation for executives in the entertainment and aerospace industry. Prior to working in the financial services industry, Chris was a professional golfer on various mini-tours around the country from 2003-2009. Chris earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from San Diego State University, where he was also on the Division I men’s golf team.

As COO, CMO and Wealth Advisor at Morton Wealth, Stacey’s mission is to make sure her clients feel confident in their future, her team is fulfilled in their career, and everyone goes home to have positive dinner conversations with their families. Before joining Morton Wealth in 2014, she had worked various jobs: barista, fitness instructor, marketing associate, receptionist, food server, and wedding planner. These jobs shaped her values to be empowerment, empathy, and excellence, and gave her a diverse range of expertise in teamwork and business management to share with Morton Wealth. Stacey is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.

Meghan Pinchuk is the Chief Investment Officer at Morton Wealth. Her primary role is to lead the investment team in its goal of building resilient portfolios for our clients. This includes overseeing and executing on asset class evaluation, portfolio management, diligence on new and existing investments and sourcing new potential opportunities. The team’s mission is to find investments that meet our three core investment tenets of risk management, true diversification and cash flow. Meghan is also part of the firm’s executive leadership team and the board of managers. Meghan loves spending time with her husband and two young children, especially fencing, reading and swimming together. Meghan earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from UCLA. She is a CFA® charter holder and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.

Kevin has been a part of the Morton Wealth team since 2015. He is passionate about client relationships and empowering others through education and understanding about their financial picture. He is also actively involved in the growth of the firm by creating unique ways to meet clients’ ever-changing needs. Kevin invests in his community in many ways and serves on the board of directors for Interface Children & Family Services. He loves to spend time with his wife and three children, play basketball, and travel to new places. Kevin is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™️ professional.

Mike Rudow joined Morton Wealth as a wealth advisor in the spring of 2021, following a four-year tenure at JP Morgan Securities. Mike has extensive experience working with closely held business owners and their families, creating advanced planning strategies designed to support the needs and goals of both the family and the business. Along with investment consulting and financial planning, Mike also advises on corporate benefits, focusing on defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Mike received his B.A. from the University of Washington in Seattle and completed his MBA in financial planning at Cal Lutheran University in late 2021. He holds FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 licenses and has industry designations, including the AIF® (Accredited Investment Fiduciary), CFS® (Certified Fund Specialist), and CFP® (Certified Financial Planner). Outside of work, Mike loves spending time with his family and has two young children.

Jeff Sarti serves as Morton Wealth’s Chief Executive Officer. His role is to lead the company’s mission of empowering better investors. This mission focuses on helping Morton’s clients achieve their financial goals and get the most life out of their wealth but also on Morton’s employees to help them achieve their personal goals and get the most life out of their career. In his role as CEO, Jeff leads the strategic initiatives of the organization which includes an emphasis on the company culture, corporate finance planning, human capital projects, thought leadership and building resilient investment portfolios for the clients that Morton serves. Jeff loves spending time with his wife Sara and three young kids, either playing tennis, hiking the local trails or making a mess with them in the kitchen. Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Stanford University and his MBA in finance from the Anderson School of Business at the University of California, Los Angeles. Jeff is a CFA® charter holder.

For over 23 years, Joe has acted as a trusted advisor to business owners and high-net-worth families, providing financial planning and wealth management services. Joe is passionate about equipping business owners with the knowledge and resources they need to sell their business successfully. Over the past three years, Joe has been instrumental in developing a unique offering for Morton Wealth that helps business owners make smart decisions as they build wealth and financially prepares those who are looking to transition or sell their business in the coming years. Joe has been recognized as an influential leader in the local business community for the past several years. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts. Additionally, he is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor and a member of ProVisors. He currently serves as Founder and President of the Conejo Valley chapter of the Exit Planning Institute, which serves to create a forum where advisors can collaborate to address the needs of the local community, develop educational programs for business owners, and better prepare owners for the successful exit of their business.

Eric Selter is our Senior Partner and just celebrated his 25th year at Morton Wealth. He is a lawyer by background, and in his previous career ran one of the premier employee leasing firms in the country. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Loyola Law School. During his 25 years at Morton Wealth, he has learned that wealth means different things to different people. He has experienced all types of market environments, which allows him to apply his experience to each client’s unique goals, fears, and desires to help them make informed decisions on all aspects of their financial life. Eric is a private pilot who likens being in the air to Morton Wealth’s investment philosophy of using alternative investments. It’s a whole different perspective from up there!

Brian serves as a Wealth Planner at Morton Wealth, where he consults with clients in all areas of legacy planning, including generational wealth transfer, charitable planning, gift and estate tax planning, and business planning. In addition to his role at Morton, Brian founded an estate planning law firm in which he is a partner and continues to serve clients as trust and estate counsel. Brian is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, as well as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. When not working, Brian spends time with his family, plays hockey and tennis, coaches soccer, reads books, and thinks about Bitcoin.

Bruce’s career as an investment advisor stretches all the way back to the early Reagan administration – as have his ongoing child-rearing responsibilities. He has navigated the market cycles of Black Monday, the ‘90s internet boom and bust, and the Great Financial Crisis, as well as multiple rounds of middle school, college, and boarding school applications. He brings this long-term perspective to his work, helping clients invest for the future while being attentive to risk. Bruce earned his B.A. in literature and art from Wesleyan University, and enjoys spending time with his two daughters, traveling, attending concerts, and reading financial publications, which he recycles as kindling when firing up his built-in pizza oven.

Jon Wingent joined Morton Wealth as a wealth advisor in the spring of 2022, having relocated from the U.K. Jon came to the U.S. with extensive experience in the industry, having worked with affluent and high-net-worth families and their advisors over many years. In his most recent role prior to joining Morton Wealth, Jon was Head of Investment Specialists at Schroders Personal Wealth. Jon received his bachelor’s degree from the Manchester Metropolitan University and his master’s in information systems from The University of Sheffield. He holds several industry designations from both the U.K. and the U.S., including the CWM® (Chartered Wealth Manager), ChFM® (Chartered Financial Manager), and FCSI® (Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment). Outside of work, Jon loves spending time with his family and has two young children. He is a keen traveler and writer, having recently completed a novel.

Jennifer's journey reflects both her professional dedication and personal passions. Born and raised in Southern California, she ventured to Atlanta, GA in the mid-90’s and later settled in Richmond, VA. There, she balanced a focus on higher education, family life, and career development. Although she embraced her life in each city, her heart remained in California, prompting her return in 2009. Jennifer has built her 20-year career in wealth management beginning at Genworth Financial, where she specialized in annuities. Over the years, she has held various managerial positions at independent wealth management firms before transitioning into an advisory role. Her pursuit of lifelong learning led her to earn a master’s degree from California Lutheran University and obtaining her CDFA® certification. Outside of her professional life, Jennifer most enjoys traveling and spending time with her family. Additionally, she is a devoted long-distance runner. She combines these passions with a bold goal: to complete a marathon on every continent and a half marathon in all 50 states.

Beau Wirick was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in business administration and enjoyed a 20-year film and television career. While vowing to never date another actor, Beau met his wife, Daniela, while playing her love interest on ABC’s The Middle. Always having a mind for finance, Beau moonlit as a financial coach and in 2020, was recruited to be a financial advisor for a registered investment advisory firm in Franklin, TN. He joined Morton Wealth in January 2023. You will find him playing volleyball in the Palisades every Sunday morning and stopping by the Westlake Farmers Market on his way home. He and his wife facilitate workshops for the Gottman Institute’s Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Beau loves to laugh, and he always hopes that whoever he is spending time with feels cared for and comfortable.

Brittany Yudkowsky joined Morton Wealth in September 2010. While originally born on the East Coast, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.A. in English. Before joining Morton, she worked in book publishing in Southern California and New York. During her time at Morton, Brittany has held various positions from alternative investments administration to client service to financial planning advisor. As the first team member dedicated to financial planning, she helped build out the financial planning team, offering, and internal training program. In addition to financial planning, she now focuses on building out the education program at Morton as part of our gold standard of advice initiative. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, Brittany is passionate about financial planning and financial education and literacy.Financial knowledge is essential to leading a more fulfilling life, and her focus—as well as Morton’s—is to empower others through education. She is a member of Morton’s Charitable Committee, focusing on pro-bono planning and financial literacy for nonprofit organizations. In her free time, she enjoys dancing salsa and bachata with her dance community and spending time with her dog walking along the beach where they live on the Westside.

Grant Williams is the author and publisher of Things That Make You Go Hmmm… and host of The Grant Williams Podcast. He is also one of the co-founders of Real Vision Group. Grant spent over 35 years in finance in a variety of global financial centers, building the kind of network that many others can only dream about. Currently, he is a senior advisor to Matterhorn Asset Management AG in Switzerland, and a portfolio and strategy advisor to Vulpes Investment Management in Singapore. Grant’s twin Real Vision interview series, In Conversation With… and On The Road, raised the bar for financial content – engaging and educating viewers in equal measure and helping them learn the secrets behind a group of extraordinary investors’ success. His new series of video conversations, About Time, continues that legacy.

Apollo Lupescu is a vice president at Dimensional Fund Advisors, where he started in 2004 after finishing his Ph.D. in economics and finance at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During his tenure at the firm, Apollo has gained experience in a wide variety of practical subject matters. He was part of the Dimensional Investment Strategies group, worked directly with financial advisors in the Northeast area assisting in the development of their business, managed the internal Client Services team that provides broad analytical support, and then oversaw the firm’s national advisor retirement business. He is currently Dimensional’s “secretary of explaining stuff.” In this role, he frequently presents around the country and the world at financial advisor professional conferences and individual investor events.

Brian Farwell is a branch manager and mortgage advisor with CrossCountry Mortgage. He has been in mortgage lending since 2015, having helped over 700 families navigate both the purchase and refinance side of residential lending. Brian and his team focus on delivering a VIP experience, making sure every client they serve not only gets a loan but receives a personalized experience setting up a road map for managing and building their wealth through real estate. He has helped buyers of all backgrounds, from veterans to first-time homebuyers to self-employed borrowers who need an out-of-the-box loan solution.

Carmine Cicalese is a partner and senior advisor at Digital Privacy and Protection, where he provides cybersecurity subject matter expertise to DPP's solution and business enterprise. He is also the founder and president of CYBER CIC, a cybersecurity consulting firm that assists small and medium-sized businesses with fractional chief information security officers and cyber risk assessments. Carmine helped create and build our nation’s cyberwarfare capabilities during a distinguished career in the United States Army that spanned nearly three decades. His assignments included overseeing the formulation of the Army’s cyberwarfare strategy, conducting cyberwarfare operations in Iraq and serving as an Army representative at the National Security Agency. He also developed cyberwarfare courses for and taught at the National Defense University.

Agustin "Gus" Araya is a co-founder and co-managing partner of Cordillera Investment Partners. He is responsible for directing Cordillera’s overarching investment strategy alongside his co-founders. He also serves as a director of Cordillera portfolio companies. Gus holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from UCLA and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Gus is a CFA® charter holder.

Himani Bhalla, co-founder, Senior Managing Director, and Chief Investment Officer at Symbiotic Capital, leads the underwriting, portfolio management and credit risk functions for the business. Himani was previously managing director at Hercules Capital, which focused on credit investments across growth-stage life science companies. Himani holds a B.S. in electronics engineering and an M.B.A in finance, and is also a CFA® charter holder.

John Ahn is Portfolio Manager, Chief Executive Officer, and co-founder of WhiteHawk Capital Partners, a middle-market direct lending fund and SEC registered investment advisor that focuses on asset-based loans. He previously served in the same role at Great American Capital Partners, a wholly owned subsidiary of B. Riley Financial. Prior to joining B. Riley, John held numerous leadership positions in the investment banking and sales and trading sectors. He has over 35 years of experience in lending and capital markets, including high-yield loans, distressed debt, and working with middle-market companies. John also is Chairman of the Board of Hanmi Bank and Hanmi Financial Corporation, the first Korean-American Bank in the U.S. Mr. Ahn earned his B.A. degree in economics from Williams College.

Rich Gammill is the managing partner of Proterra Investment Partners, an alternative investment manager focused on private equity and private credit investments across the food value chain with $3.5 billion in assets under management. Prior to Proterra, Rich worked for Black River Asset Management, a division of Cargill, where he served as a senior managing director for its food sector-focused private equity funds. Prior to joining Black River, Rich was a principal and partner with DynaFund Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Los Angeles. Rich holds an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Harvey Mudd College.

Scott Gilmore has 20 years of taxation experience. He provides tax advice to his clients with a focus on tax impact, planning and minimization. Scott has extensive tax experience in the entire real estate investment cycle but also has clients in the manufacturing, private equity, professional services, and family office industries with whom he enjoys working. He stays up to date on current law changes and opportunities in an ever-changing tax climate in an effort to provide exceptional services to his clients so they can focus on what they do best, while he takes care of the rest. Scott is a state-licensed CPA, member of AICPA and California Society of CPAs, and has a master’s degree in taxation from the inaugural class at California State University, Northridge.

Shawn Clark serves as Chief Executive Officer at CRG, bringing over 16 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Shawn’s key responsibilities include developing strategic plans and ensuring their successful implementation, overseeing investment management activities and fostering a culture of collaboration and teamwork. His expertise also extends to overseeing deal structuring, project-level financing, development management and asset management. Shawn holds a master’s degree in real estate finance from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree in construction science and management from Clemson University.

Mikey Taylor is a Southern California native, professional skateboarder turned serial entrepreneur and city council member of his hometown. Mikey is a retired professional skateboarder who left an indelible mark on the skateboarding world, participating in elite action sports events as X Games. Transitioning to entrepreneurship, Mikey recognized the potential in the emerging craft beer industry and leveraged his skateboarding-inspired marketing expertise to co-found Saint Archer Brewery. The venture swiftly became one of the fastest-growing breweries in California, subsequently being acquired by Molson/Coors. Following this triumph, Mikey set his sights on the commercial real estate market, leading him to establish Commune Capital, a private equity firm. The firm holds a central principle of positively influencing the cities where they construct or enhance infrastructure. As president and managing principal, Mikey continues to drive Commune Capital's growth and impact. Balancing his professional endeavors, Mikey cherishes his role as a devoted family man. He and his wife, Jen, are proud parents to four beautiful children: Scarlett, 11; Amelia, 9; Elliot, 3; and their newest addition, Vivian, 1. They reside in Thousand Oaks, continuing to contribute to the community that Mikey has always called home. He continues to shape his community, not only through his professional accomplishments but also through his dedication to giving back and making a positive impact. His story serves as an inspiring example of how one individual's passion, talent, and commitment can transcend boundaries, leaving a lasting legacy that extends far beyond the skateboard.

Bio to come

Megan Pautler-Gutnikov co-leads KCB’s real estate platform. She is responsible for executing the partnership’s investment strategy, including the deployment of capital and management of the real estate portfolio, which comprises $1.5 billion of real estate assets. During her tenure at KCB, Megan has closed over 35 deals with an asset value of over $800 million. Megan also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of several companies, including Spiral Binding (the largest independent business-to-business supplier of document finishing and binding supplies and equipment in the U.S.), ThriftBooks (the largest e-retailer of used books), and Intellectual Holdings (a managed service organization for 10 men’s concierge healthcare centers branded as Revibe Men’s Health). Megan earned a B.S. in finance from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and holds a certificate in international business.