Blaine Aikin, AIFA®, CFA, CFP® is President and CEO of fi360, whose mission is to provide training, tools, and resources to support and promote a culture of fiduciary responsibility. He is the author of the monthly “Fiduciary Corner” column in InvestmentNews magazine. Aiken has held leadership positions in public and private sector financial management, including as Budget Officer for Prince William County, VA, Chief Investment Officer of Allegiance Financial Advisors, and Senior Vice President and Director of Product Development and Management for PNC Advisors. He holds the AIFA, CFA, and CFP® professional designations and a Masters of Public Policy and Management from Carnegie-Mellon University.
Clark M. Blackman II is founder, president and CEO of Alpha Wealth Strategies, LLC, a fee-only wealth management RIA firm. He is Chairman of the Executive Committee of the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Division and leader of the AICPA PFP Fiduciary and Competency Task Force, responsible for editing the Prudent Practices for Investment Fiduciaries series, among others. Blackman serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Accountancy and speaks and writes on fiduciary and PFP topics. Blackman holds a BBA and MA from the University of Iowa and is a CPA/PFS, CFA, CFP®, AAMS, CIMA® and AIF®.
Gene Diederich, CPA®, CFP® is the CEO of Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. After a brief career in public accounting, Gene joined A.G. Edwards, serving as a Financial Consultant and Producing Branch Manager in Overland Park, KS. His career progressed to Regional Officer, and then to Director, Branch Division. In 2007 Diederich was named Director, Eastern Division, Private Client Group. From 2005 to 2007 he served on the A. G. Edwards Executive Committee. Diederich joined Moneta Group in 2009. In its “2009 Independent RIA Ranking,” Financial Advisor identified Moneta Group as No. 2 in the nation as ranked by total AUM.
Harold Evensky, CFP® is President of Evensky & Katz, a fee-only investment advisory firm. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from Cornell University. Evensky served on the national IAFP Board, as Chair of the TIAA-CREF Institute Advisor Advisory Board, Chair of the CFP Board, Board of Examiners, and the International CFP Council. He is an adjunct graduate professor of financial planning at Texas Tech, a contributing writer for Financial Advisor and Asia Financial Planning Journal and Research Columnist for Journal of Financial Planning. Evensky is author of Wealth Management (McGraw-Hill) and co-editor of The Investment Think Tank and Retirement Income Redesigned (Bloomberg).
Kristina Fausti Broumand, JD, AIF® is General Counsel at fi360. Her primary role is to research, write, speak and otherwise represent fi360 on legislative and regulatory developments impacting investment fiduciaries. Fausti also provides subject matter expertise to the fiduciary professional designation courses and software tools developed by fi360, acts as legal liaison to outside counsel and serves in a compliance role in the organization. Prior to joining fi360, Fausti served for over four years as a Special Counsel in the Office of Chief Counsel of the Division of Trading and Markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and specialized in broker-dealer regulation.
Sheryl Garrett, CFP® is founder of the Garrett Planning Network, an international organization of hourly based, fee-only financial advisors. Their mission it is to help make competent, objective financial advice accessible to all people. Due to her work Garrett was recognized by Investment Advisor magazine as “One of the Top 25 Most Influential People in Financial Planning” for four consecutive years and received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA).
Roger C. Gibson, CFA, CFP® is best known as the author of the investment classic, Asset Allocation: Balancing Financial Risk (McGraw-Hill). First published in 1989, it was released in its fourth edition in 2008 and remains a best-selling book on asset allocation. Gibson is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Gibson Capital, LLC located in Wexford, Pennsylvania. The firm is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor providing fee-only, open architecture investment advisory services for high net worth individuals and institutional clients nationwide. Gibson is also the co-founder and former co-director of the Center for Fiduciary Studies.
Deena Katz, CFP® is an Associate Professor in the Personal Financial Planning Division at Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas. She is also a founding partner of Evensky & Katz, a wealth management firm located in Coral Gables, Florida. She is an internationally recognized financial advisor and practice management expert and the author of seven books on financial planning and practice management topics. Katz is an immediate past member of the Board of Trustees for the Foundation for Financial Planning, and for the past two years, served as an advisor to the Comptroller of the State of Texas on their college funding plans. In 2009, Katz testified before the Senate Committee on Aging regarding Boomer Bust: Securing Retirement in a Volatile Economy.
Matthew E. Lynch is President and CEO of Capital Analysts Incorporated. Before joining Capital Analysts, Lynch was director of the business consulting group with Moss Adams, and has held senior posts with Lincoln Financial Advisors and New York Life. Lynch as served as a chapter board member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA); past chapter president of the Society of Financial Services Professionals (SFSP); and a member of Financial Management Research Committee for LIMRA International. Lynch holds an executive MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati. He has earned the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designations from The American College.
Ron A. Rhoades, JD, CFP® serves as Program Chair for the Alfred State College Financial Planning Program, Alfred, New York, where he teaches financial planning and investment courses as well as business law. He is also the President of ScholarFi, Inc., an investment advisory firm, and President of Ron A. Rhoades, P.A., a law firm, each serving select clients. He served as Reporter for the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA’s) Fiduciary Task Force and its Standards of Conduct Task Force, and on FPA’s Government Relations Committee. Rhoades is on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), where he serves on its Ethics and Public Policy Committees. Frequently quoted in the national media, Rhoades is the author of several books and many articles on investment theory, portfolio construction, tax and estate planning, and fiduciary law.
Ronald W. Roge, MS, CFP® is a nationally recognized fee-only wealth manager. He is founder, Chairman, and CEO of R. W. Roge & Company, Inc., an SEC registered investment advisory firm organized in 1986. He is a member of NAPFA, the national organization of fee-only planners and served on NAPFA’s Board from 1993-1996. Roge is frequently quoted by the media, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Week, Newsday, Money, Fortune, and Smart Money. He has published articles in professional journals and magazines. Roge earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Long Island University and an MBA from Polytechnic University.