Institutions and foundations

Professional consulting to help optimize your plan

As Institutional Consultants, we take the time to fully understand your organization, leadership, employees and culture. With our comprehensive platform of industry-leading corporate services and solutions, we provide a proven process that can help deliver a customized benefits plan. Talk to us about how our experience, resources and industry longevity can contribute to your company’s success today and in the future.

Building cranes

Experience Makes All the Difference

High Desert Institutional Consulting is dedicated to institutional consulting and includes a team of advisors with over 50 years of experience in financial services, banking and investment consulting. We focus on providing investment strategies customized to best meet each client's particular situation and needs-regardless of complexity. Our team has built a successful practice by focusing on delivering strategies to corporate defined benefit and defined contribution plans, Taft Hartley plans, endowments and foundations, tribal groups, as well as high net worth individuals.

  • Michael DiGrazia

    Michael DiGrazia, CFP®, CIMA®

    Senior Vice President–Wealth Management

    Financial Advisor

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    • AK
    • AZ
    • CA
    • CO
    • CT
    • FL
    • GA
    • HI
    • IA
    • KS
    • LA
    • MA
    • MI
    • MN
    • MS
    • NC
    • NJ
    • NM
    • NV
    • NY
    • OK
    • PA
    • SC
    • TX
    • UT
    • VA
    • WA
    • WI

    Senior Institutional Consultant

    I provide institutional consulting advisory services to qualified retirement plans, pension plans, defined benefit plans, non-qualified plans and non-profit organizations. Educating directors, trustees and employees is a significant part of our consultative role. I advise on investment policy statements, asset allocation models, investment manager searches and reviews, recordkeeper search and selection, benchmarking, and performance monitoring. My consulting experience includes hospitals and healthcare systems, colleges and universities, faith-based organizations, Native American tribes, foundations and endowments and Taft-Hartley plans.

    I am a Certified Financial Planner™ certificant and hold the Certified Investment Management Analyst™ designation. I graduated from Bentley University in Waltham, MA and I am a member of the Financial Planning Association and The Investments & Wealth Institute. 

    Away from the office, I am a member of Neighbors Helping Neighbors in Scottsdale, AZ and a past Scottsdale Miss Softball coach and SMS board member. I coached ice hockey for the Coyotes Amateur Hockey Association for the Coyotes Development Program and also mentor for American Corporate Partners (ACP), which assists veterans in their career transition from the armed forces to the civilian workforce. I am past president of the Exchange Club of Norwalk, CT, past Chairman of the American Diabetes Association – Fairfield County Advisory Council and past board member of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA). I enjoy spending time with my family and can usually be found being a roadie for my family musicians or at the hockey rink.

    • Barron's Top 100 Institutional Consultants, 2021The Barron's rating is awarded annually in April and is based on information from the prior year Q4. 
    • Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors, 2023The Forbes rating is compiled by Shook Research and awarded annually in April based on information from a 12 month period ending June of the prior year.
    • PLANADVISER Top Retirement Plan Advisers, 2022, 2023The PLANADVISOR rating is awarded in Q1 based on information from Q1 of the award year.

      • CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™
      • Certified Investment Management Analyst®
      • Certified 401(k) Professional
      • Senior Institutional Consultant, UBS Institutional Consulting Program
      • Endowment & Foundation Consultant
      Institutional consulting
      Retirement Plan consulting
      401(k) plan services
      2575 East Camelback Road
      Suite 900
      Phoenix, AZ 85016
    • David Bruner

      David Bruner, CFP®, CIMA®

      Senior Vice President–Wealth Management

      Financial Advisor

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      • AZ
      • CA
      • CO
      • FL
      • HI
      • IA
      • ID
      • IL
      • IN
      • KS
      • MA
      • MD
      • MI
      • MN
      • MO
      • NC
      • NE
      • NJ
      • NM
      • NV
      • NY
      • OH
      • OK
      • OR
      • SD
      • TN
      • TX
      • UT
      • VA
      • WA
      • WI
      • WV
      • WY

      Institutional Consultant 

      The High Desert Institutional Consulting group brings over 100 years of experience in financial services, banking, and investment consulting. We focus on providing investment strategies customized to best meet an Institution’s situation and needs, regardless of complexity. Our team has built a successful practice by focusing on delivering strategies to corporate defined benefit and defined contribution plans, Taft Hartley plans, endowments, foundations, and Tribal groups.

      UBS has selected a limited number of Financial Advisors to serve as specialized Institutional Consultants. Criteria requires an advanced financial certification such as holding a Certified Investment Management Analyst, (CIMA®) designation and extensive experience working with teams on accounts with than $20 million in assets.


      I became a Financial Advisor in 1995 with Dean Witter and joined UBS in 2009 as a Senior Vice President-Wealth Management. I earned the UBS designation Wealth Advisor, and I am a Portfolio Manager in the Portfolio Management Program- providing
      fiduciary and discretionary investment management and obtained industry respected designations of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER TM certificant, and CIMA®.


      I graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1988 and was a Blackhawk Helicopter pilot, a Company Commander and served in the first Gulf War. I was also stationed in West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. I was previously on the board of St Martin's Hospitality Center, NM's largest provider of HOPE and services to the homeless and near homeless. I recently sat on the Advisory Board to the Alzheimer's Association of New Mexico, providing assistance to the Caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s. I currently sit on the investment committee of the New Mexico Foundation.

          • CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™
          • Certified Investment Management Analyst®
          • Institutional Consultant, UBS Institutional Consulting Program
          • Portfolio Manager
          Institutional consulting
          Retirement Plan consulting
          401(k) plan services
          2155 Louisiana Blvd NE
          Suite 10000
          Albuquerque, NM 87110
        • Aaron Rottenstein

          Aaron Rottenstein, CFP®, CIMA®

          Senior Vice President–Wealth Management

          Financial Advisor

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          • AZ
          • CA
          • CO
          • CT
          • DE
          • FL
          • IL
          • IN
          • KS
          • MA
          • MD
          • MO
          • NJ
          • NM
          • NV
          • NY
          • OR
          • TN
          • TX
          • UT
          • WA

          Institutional Consultant

          Aaron is a Senior Vice President at UBS Financial Services, Inc. He serves a diverse clientele of successful business owners, professionals, high net worth families, and institutions in the endowment/foundation, nonprofit, Taft-Hartley, and retirement plan space. Of the 6,500 UBS advisors in the United States, Aaron is one of approximately 120 who have been admitted into the UBS Institutional Consulting Group, empowering Aaron to work with some of UBS' most sophisticated, largest, and complex clients as a fiduciary. Deepening his commitment to institutions, Aaron has also been named an Endowment and Foundation Consultant by UBS.

          Prior to returning to Tucson and joining UBS, Aaron served as a senior aide on Capitol Hill for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, and as a high-level advisor to key members of the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee Including current Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney. At the age of 24, and during the heart of the global financial crisis, Aaron was named as the Press Secretary for the JEC, making him one of the youngest ever to serve in such a high-profile role on Capitol Hill.

          Deeply passionate about community, Aaron serves as the Board Chair of Social Venture Partners Tucson, as the Vice Chair of Jewish Philanthropies for Southern Arizona, and as a supporter and investment consultant for numerous other non-profits. He's been named Young Jewish Man of the Year, as one of Southern Arizona's 40 under 40, and is also a Flynn Brown Fellow. He is married to Stephanie Bowers, a pediatric physical therapist, and together they have two children Ezra (7) and Alice (5).

          • Forbes America’s Top Next-Gen (Generation) Wealth Advisors, 2021The Forbes rating is compiled by Shook Research and awarded annually between June and September based on information from a 12 month period ending in March of the award year.
          • Forbes America’s Top Next-Gen (Generation) Wealth Advisors Best-in-State, 2022, 2023The Forbes rating is compiled by Shook Research and awarded annually between June and September based on information from a 12 month period ending in March of the award year.
          • Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors, 2022, 2023The Forbes rating is compiled by Shook Research and awarded annually in April based on information from a 12 month period ending June of the prior year.
          • Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams, 2023The Forbes rating is compiled by Shook Research and awarded annually in January, based on information from a 12 month period ending March of the prior year.

              2840 E. Skyline Drive
              Tucson
              Tucson, AZ 85718
            • Myron Rottenstein

              Myron Rottenstein, CFP®, CIMA®

              Senior Vice President–Wealth Management

              Financial Advisor

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              • AZ
              • CA
              • CO
              • DE
              • FL
              • IL
              • IN
              • KS
              • MA
              • MD
              • MO
              • NJ
              • NM
              • NV
              • NY
              • OH
              • TN
              • TX
              • UT
              • VA
              • WA

              Institutional Consultant 

              Of the approximately 6,500 financial advisors at UBS, Myron is one of approximately 120 who are Institutional Consultants representing the UBS Institutional Consulting Group.  He began his professional career as a graduate level Social Worker as an administrator for not for profit organizations. Through this diverse professional background, Myron has extensive experience working with committees and boards which has enabled him to add value and perspective in his work as an Institutional Consultant. Myron transitioned into financial services 37 years ago and has been with UBS and PaineWebber, which was acquired by UBS in 2000, for the past 27 years.

              In Myron's 37 years of financial services industry experience, he has worked with clients and their families to address their holistic investment and financial needs utilizing his skills as a Certified Financial Planner.  A Graduate of the State University of New York at New Paltz, Myron earned his Certified Investment Management Analyst Certification (CIMA) from the Wharton School of Business.  

              Outside of Myron's financial experience, he has a Masters degree in Social Work. In his private life, Myron has served on the investment committee for the University of Arizona, on the State of Arizona Cultural Data Project Task Force through the PEW Charitable Trusts, on the Finance Committee of the Tucson Jewish Community Center, as an Executive Committee member for the Southern Arizona Jewish Community Foundation, a member of the investment committee for the University of Arizona Foundation, and served on the planning committee for the 2011 International Jewish Funder's Network. Myron, along with his wife, Anna are the parents of two with three charming grandchildren.

              • Barron's Top 1,000 Financial Advisors, 2011The Barron's rating is awarded annually in March and is based on information from the prior year Q3. 
              • Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams, 2023The Forbes rating is compiled by Shook Research and awarded annually in January, based on information from a 12 month period ending March of the prior year.

                  2840 E. Skyline Drive
                  Tucson
                  Tucson, AZ 85718
                • Thomas Tenney

                  Thomas Tenney, CFA, CFP®

                  Vice President–Wealth Management

                  Financial Advisor

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                  • AK
                  • AZ
                  • CA
                  • CO
                  • CT
                  • FL
                  • HI
                  • LA
                  • MI
                  • NC
                  • NJ
                  • NM
                  • NV
                  • NY
                  • PA
                  • SC
                  • TX
                  • UT
                  • VA
                  • WA

                  I am one of a small number of UBS Financial Advisors who have earned the designation of Wealth Advisor. As a Wealth Advisor, I am eminently qualified to provide highly personalized wealth management services to my clients. I understand that wealth management is more than just the wide range of financial services and solutions you can access at UBS. It is how those services are developed and delivered to help you pursue your goals. That's why I offer a customized approach to wealth management, built on personal relationships and shaped by an understanding of your needs and aspirations. To help manage your wealth, I call upon the advisory and investment brokerage capabilities of UBS—one of the world's largest wealth management firms.


                  I have over twenty years of financial services experience. Prior to joining UBS in 2007, I held portfolio manager and advisory roles at Mellon Private Asset Management and East Pacific Investment Company, Inc. I also traded options on the trading floors of the
                  Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade from 1998 through 2006.

                  My focus is helping corporations and business owners create retirement and profit sharing plans for the benefit of their employees. I work closely with senior management and investment committees to select and monitor the investments offered in those plans. As one of UBS's Retirement Plan Consultants, I am able to assist with Investment Policy Statements. I earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1998, and in 2010 attained the CFP® designation of Certified Financial Planner™. In 1995, I was awarded an MBA in Finance from Hawaii Pacific University. I am past president of the Phoenix CFA Society. I live in Scottsdale, AZ with my wife and our four children.

                        2575 East Camelback Road
                        Suite 900
                        Phoenix, AZ 85016
                      • Kristen Freeman

                        Kristen Freeman

                        Client Associate Senior

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                        • AZ
                        • NM
                        • TX

                              2155 Louisiana Blvd NE
                              Suite 10000
                              Albuquerque, NM 87110
                            • Anne Shivers

                              Anne Shivers

                              Senior Wealth Strategy Associate

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                              • AZ
                              • CA
                              • CO
                              • FL
                              • NY
                              • OH

                              Over the past 30 years, the market has seen both strong growth and times of volatility.  Anne Shivers has been at her clients' side through all of it. As a Registered Client Service Associate, she is fully licensed to transact business and administers all operations of the team with world class service skills. 

                              Anne is proud to be a native Tucsonan, attended Pima Community College and received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Washington, cum laude. She enjoys being involved in the community, most recently with Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports and The Haven. Other community involvement has been with 91.3FM KXCI Community Radio as a volunteer DJ, and Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. Anne is an avid runner and hiker and is ready so see more of the world with her husband Sam and their two college-age children Grace and Samuel.

                                    2840 E. Skyline Drive
                                    Suite 200
                                    Tucson, AZ 85718
                                  • Jason Penn

                                    Jason Penn

                                    Client Associate

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                                    • NM
                                    • TX

                                    Many different careers have brought me to the financial industry, where I've found a home helping our clients focus on their goals and what matters to them. 

                                    My most recent prior experience was in the Insurance industry. Before that I owned and operated a retail Toy store in Albuquerque NM. I was a professional Lapidary in the jewelry industry. My creative work in the jewelry industry was showcased in multiple national magazines and books 

                                     

                                        • Business Development Specialist
                                        2155 Louisiana Blvd NE
                                        Suite 10000
                                        Albuquerque, NM 87110
                                      • Nico Drog

                                        Nicolas Drogaris

                                        Client Associate

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                                        • AZ
                                        • CA

                                              2575 East Camelback Road
                                              Suite 900
                                              Phoenix, AZ 85016
                                            Institutional consulting

                                            Institutional consulting

                                            Foundations and endowments

                                            Foundations and endowments

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