Experience

Life was simple growing up in small town northern Michigan.  My father, a science teacher, turned administrator taught me to hunt, fish, play sports and work on cars.  My mother, the English teacher, read me Emerson and Frost while encouraging empathy and compassion.  Imagine their surprise when I won a stock picking contest in junior high, became fascinated with the capital markets and told them I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.  After 30 years on wall street, I'm still fascinated, still learning and tremendously grateful for the relationships in my life.  Clients have become friends, friends have become clients, current and former colleagues have become clients and now I’m advising the third generation for some of our families.  

Early on I figured out to help people I needed to get to know and understand them.  What a gift this has been. I’ve had the privilege of listening to successful people share their motivations, fears, aspirations and passions. I’ve witnessed what works, what doesn't work and where I can make a difference.  I’ve noticed intelligence and experience are mostly overrated while patience, temperament and humility are significantly underrated.  I’ve learned human emotions are predictable and coaching the right behaviors at the right time has more to do with financial success than any charts, graphs, ratios or algorithms.

Several years ago, I returned to school for some executive education training at The Wharton School. It focused on due diligence, portfolio construction, risk analysis and complex performance measurement.  Then they mixed in some psychology and philosophy.  It was then I realized my mom and dad should not have been that surprised by my career choice.  Wealth management is an art and a science and the best way to help people is by keeping it as simple as possible.

For more than thirty-five years I have navigated through some of the most challenging markets in history: A market crash, a flash crash, two wars, four recessions, Presidential impeachments, two bubbles, a Global Pandemic, and a horrific terrorist attack. During most that time, my clients were professional institutional investors. In 2009, I retired from Merrill Lynch and after a brief period of relaxation and travel I joined UBS to work with individual investors.

My personal circumstances are similar to those of many clients. My children are grown and have children of their own.  As retirement grows near,  preservation of capital and post retirement income are very important. I invest my own funds the same way that I invest for clients. 

I do my own securities research and primarily use individual stocks and bonds for client portfolios. I make only very limited use of packaged financial products like mutual funds, limited partnerships, and structured products.

I earned the designation Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) in 1991. In addition, I have an MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business, a Master's from Fairfield University, and a Bachelor's from De Paul University.

My interest in investing stems from my dad who was also a portfolio manager. Early on, he had me invest in an IRA account. I was so pleased to see my money grow, I decided that I wanted to learn more about investing.

Investing is humbling, challenging, and rewarding. Most of my 25-year career has been in equity research. I have endured the Tech Bubble, Global Financial Crisis and the Pandemic which taught me patience and perseverance despite uncertainty.

During the pandemic, I soul-searched about my life and career. I decided to make a change where I could invest but have more meaning in my daily life. Through my network, I found the Brown Lisy team and I am excited to be a part of it.

Earning the CFA designation was an important milestone. A key component of the exam and being a CFA charterholder is the focus on Ethics. Trust is crucial. I felt so strongly about helping improve the industry, I got involved in CFA Society Chicago as a member of the Board and Executive Committee, including a year as Chairman.

Julie began her career in financial services in July of 1987.  She has both retail and institutional experience and has worked in the areas of municipal bonds, futures, options, commodities and other derivatives.  Julie is in charge of the team operations and administration. 

She is a graduate of Mother McAuley High School and received her BS from Elmhurst College.  She was born and raised on the South side of Chicago and a proud lifelong resident of the Beverly neighborhood.  Her hobbies include physical fitness, running, pilates. She fancies herself as a decent cook and better than average baker.  She loves spending time with her husband and entertaining family and friends.

Joseph is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Joseph's financial career began with a 1,400-mile drive to Dallas, Texas where he served as a senior retail trader, an institutional trader, and a new accounts and onboarding specialist.  Over the following 5 years, he developed a passion for the markets, trading, investing, and service, becoming a subject matter expert on option derivatives and technical analysis. Joseph has received his series 7, series 66, series 63, series 3 (commodity futures), and series 57 licenses.

Joseph's role is to support Julie with team operations and administration.  His personal philosophy is to focus on the things that make everything else easier, so we all have more time for what is important, family.

In his free time, he enjoys visiting national parks and has a goal to see as many as possible. He also loves to cook, snowboard, hike, rock climb, and live music. Joseph is accompanied by his fiancé who works at Chicago steakhouse Maple & Ash and is a sommelier of wine.”