Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Michael Finke. Michael Finke, PhD, CFP® is a professor of wealth management and Frank M. Engle Distinguished Chair in Economic Security at The American College of Financial Services. He received a doctorate in consumer economics from the Ohio State University in 1998 and in finance from the University of Missouri in 2011. He leads the O. Alfred Granum Center for Financial Security at the American College and is a research fellow at the Retirement Income Institute, and a member of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association Academic Advisory Council. He also serves on the board of the Puerto Rico Pension Reserve Trust. He is a nationally known researcher in the areas of retirement income planning, retirement spending, life satisfaction and cognitive aging. He is a frequent speaker at financial planning conferences and was named one of the 25 most influential people in the field of investment advising in 2020 and 2021 by Investment Advisor Magazine.

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Megan Gorman. Megan is the founding partner of Chequers Financial Management, a fee-only planning firm that specializes in high net worth and ultra-high net worth families in San Francisco, California. Chequers focuses on establishing long term relationships with families and helps them navigate through tax, estate, liquidity and investment planning. Megan heads the firm's family office services practice. Megan is a Senior Contributor for Forbes in personal finance and tax. She is also quoted regularly in the press as a tax and financial planning expert including such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and CNBC among others. She regularly blogs at www.thewealthintersection.com and has appeared on numerous podcasts and is a regular weekly commentator on The Money Tree Podcast.

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Emily Blue, co-founder of Hue Partners. Emily Blue attended William Jewell College, where she studied mathematics, economics and business. She started her career in the weeds of M&A integration for a large asset manager. She made the transition from asset management to wealth management by joining one of the largest aggregators in the country to lead their valuation efforts. In this role, it became clear to her why she loved numbers - it was the people behind those numbers that mattered most to her. Before starting Hue, she served as Head of Corporate Development at a national multi-family office. When Emily is not working with her clients, she is spending time with her family. Emily serves as the Board Chairwoman for the Girl Scouts of NE KS and NW MO. She also serves on the leadership team of the Community Impact Makers for Newhouse, the oldest domestic violence shelter in Kansas City. Lastly, she is a member of EmpowHER for Big Brothers Big Sisters, a women’s philanthropic group dedicated to mentorship.

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Clare Flynn Levy, CEO and Founder of Essentia Analytics. Prior to founding Essentia, Clare spent 10 years as a fund manager, both active equity (running over $1B of pension funds for Deutsche Asset Management) and hedge (as founder and CIO of Avocet Capital Management, a specialist tech fund manager). She ultimately “went native” into the software space as President of Beauchamp Financial Technology, a market-leading provider of portfolio management systems to hedge funds, which was acquired by Linedata Services S.A. Clare’s vision for Essentia is based on years of being the customer, followed by years of listening to the customer.

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Matt Ackermann, Chief Content Officer at Integrated Partners. Matt supports Integrated Partners’ growth by creating content that enlightens, informs and entertains. He loves shining a spotlight on the incredible advisors and leaders at Integrated. He really enjoys leveraging blogs, podcasts and multimedia to highlight the incredible talent at Integrated Partners. He has spent his career coloring inside — and at times outside - the lines with amazing content. Through incredible storytelling, Integrated shares the amazing work that their advisors are doing from coast to coast. He has spent the past 20 years working for various wealth management media outlets to create content that really stands apart. Before joining Integrated in 2020, he was director of multimedia at InvestmentNews, where he was honored with 15 ASPBE awards for digital content creation, including Practice Makeover, a reality series about helping financial advisors jumpstart their business, and a documentary on impact investing that debuted at the United Nations in 2019. Before working at InvestmentNews, Matt worked at Financial Planning, American Banker and the New Jersey Law Journal, where he was honored with the New Jersey Press Association’s “Rookie of the Year'' Award in 1997. Most people would be surprised to discover that Matt has coached semi-pro baseball for the past 25 years, accumulating over 600 wins, three New Jersey state titles, and the 2019 Metropolitan Baseball League Title. When he’s not coaching baseball, he is spending time with his wife Marisa, who is a counseling director at Verona High School, and their two sons, CJ and Ryan.

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Andy Baxley, Senior Financial Planner at The Planning Center. Andy works with clients from a variety of professional backgrounds, but he is uniquely positioned to serve those who work in higher education and other large non-profit institutions. Utilizing his background as a former educator and his experience as a Wealth Management Advisor at TIAA, Andy takes pride in approaching his work with the heart of a teacher and insights gained from years of relevant experience. Andy’s approach to financial planning goes beyond the numbers; it’s about helping the individuals and families I serve achieve clarity, confidence and a sense of purpose around their money. Ultimately, he doesn’t just want his clients to feel financially secure; he wants them to feel empowered to plan with a sense of optimism and possibility. As a Colorado native, he cherishes moments in nature with his wife, Yi, and their son, Bo. While a piece of his heart will always be in the Rocky Mountains, Andy has found much to love in Hyde Park, Chicago. On any given Saturday, you’re likely to find them riding their bikes along Chicago’s beautiful Lakefront Trail, spending lazy afternoons with friends at Promontory Point, or taking a stroll to get pastries and coffee at Plein Air, their favorite neighborhood cafe. Like the clients he serves, Andy takes pride in being a lifelong learner and can often be found working his way through new degrees, designations and courses. In 2021, he was proud to complete Kansas State University’s master’s in personal financial planning with an emphasis on advanced financial planning and financial therapy. Recently, his focus has turned to mentoring young planners and helping them build rewarding, purposeful careers.

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Shawn Sparks. Shawn Sparks has worked with hundreds of advisors throughout his career, showing them how to be better business owners and to achieve the growth in business and life that they deserve. His company, Triad Partners, coined the phrase “Do Business, Do Life” (#DBDL) as a testimony to the possibility of achieving balance as a high achieving advisor. Shawn’s mission is to show advisors strategies for scaling their business that truly supports the lifestyle they desire – while avoiding burnout and improving all aspects of their lives. Shawn puts what he teaches into practice. As the co-owner of one of the fastest growing FMOs of all time, husband and father of 4 kids, he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a business while raising a young family.

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Jason Pereira, Partner and Financial Planner at Woodgate Financial. Jason is first and foremost a financial planner who has lived and breathed topics related to financial planning for over 20 years. In that time he has become a recognized writer, commentator, speaker, podcaster, teacher and expert in the areas of financial planning, practice management and fintech. He has also obtained two degrees, nine professional designations, been nominated for or won over 30 industry awards, and produced over 100 articles, podcasts and interviews. JasonPereira.ca is his conduit for sharing his thoughts, views and learning that he has amassed over the years.