Team Category: Strategic Advisors

Leong Connors brings complementary strengths, having advised ultra-high-net-worth families, business leaders and wealth creators over a career spanning J.P. Morgan and EPIQ Capital Group and now Verita Strategic Wealth Partners. At J.P. Morgan, she served as managing director and head of the private bank in Northern California, where she oversaw more than $74 billion in client assets, before becoming president and partner at EPIQ, which culminated in a sale to IEQ.

Ristau Shackleton, with more than 20 years in wealth and investment management, has held senior roles at LPL Financial, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley. She has built deep expertise in corporate strategy, trust and insurance, and multi-generational wealth planning, with a particular focus on policy, risk management and advisor support.

Grist is a veteran of the financial advisor industry, with executive experience at Charles Schwab and Cetera Financial Group. He has served on the boards of Sageview Advisory Group and several fintech firms, including Pontera, where he is currently a board advisor, and RIA in a Box, where he served as executive chairman. His career has centered on strategy, leadership and sales, with a strong focus on technology, platforms and investment products for financial advisors.

Vaccaro brings three decades of leadership across MassMutual, The Hartford, Prudential and WS Griffith, where he established a proven track record in distribution, marketing and advisor enablement. He continues to play an influential role in the industry as chairman emeritus of MML Investors Services and as a governor of FINRA, offering strategic perspective on finance, operations and regulatory oversight.

Susan Sobbott is a senior advisor and consultant serving a variety of Fintech and Financial Services firms. She is also a board member of both public and private companies.

Susan held various senior executive positions at American Express over a 28 year career, including President, Global Commercial Services, responsible for 40% of global revenues of the company. She is a B2B expert, strategist, marketer and operator and founding creator of Small Business Saturday.

Tyrone Ross is currently serving as chief executive officer and co-founder of Turnqey Labs, Inc. and president and founder of 401 Financial. Tyrone’s reputation as an expert financial advisor, blockchain and cryptocurrency specialist, and staunch advocate for financial inclusion has earned him widespread recognition within the industry. His efforts to bridge the gap between traditional finance and emerging technologies have further solidified his status as an influential figure in the financial industry. Notably, he has been featured on esteemed lists such as InvestmentNews’ 40 Under 40, Financial Planning’s “20 people who will change the wealth management industry,” and most recently, Investopedia’s Top 100 Financial Advisors.

Tyrone will be charged with informing wealth.com’s product roadmap to ensure it delivers maximum value for financial advisors and end clients alike.

Jamie Hopkins Esq., LLM, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, RICP® is currently serving as Senior Vice President of Private Wealth Management at Bryn Mawr Trust and CEO of Bryn Mawr Capital Management. His dual expertise as a trust and estate attorney and as a financial advisor is invaluable in his work with wealth.com, as part of which he will collaborate closely with the company’s legal and product development teams to drive further innovation.

Hopkins’ recognition as one of Investopedia’s Top 40 Financial Services Professionals Under 40 and the American Bar Association’s Top 40 Young Attorneys underscores his deep expertise and commitment to delivering outstanding service at the intersection of finance and law.

Brian Hamburger, JD, CRCP, is the founder, president and chief executive officer of MarketCounsel, the leading business and regulatory compliance consulting firm to the country’s preeminent entrepreneurial independent investment advisers. With an unmatched expertise in the compliance and regulatory space, Hamburger’s insightful perspective on advisors’ needs plays an active role in advancing the wealth.com vision to equip advisors to better serve their clients with best-in-class technology and human expertise.

In 2020, Investment Advisor Magazine honored Hamburger with a spot on The IA25, its annual list of the industry’s most influential figures. He was also named to the InvestmentNews’ class of Icons & Innovators in 2020, which recognizes visionaries who have shaped and transformed the financial advice profession. Now, as a leading consultant and advocate for independent advisors, Hamburger will focus on narrowing the knowledge gap between advisors and clients when it comes to estate planning.

With a diverse background that encompasses leadership roles in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, Joanne Bradford has spent 25 years driving growth in the financial services and technology arenas. Her expertise in elevating market presence and spearheading strategic initiatives is set to be a major asset to wealth.com as the company refines its go-to-market strategy and embarks on its next phase of expansion and industry innovation.

Previously named as one of Forbes’ Top CMOs and among Ad Age’s 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising, Bradford has left a lasting mark on every company she has touched. Now, drawing from her experience as head of global partnerships at Pinterest, chief operating officer and chief marketing officer at SoFi and president of Honey, Bradford will help the wealth.com team devise creative solutions to continue empowering advisors with best-in-class technology.