Experience

Chris is a Wealth Planning Strategist in our Mid Atlantic markets. In this capacity, Chris is responsible for providing Financial Advisors and their high net worth clients with unbiased, product neutral, advanced planning strategies, design and implementation. As an advanced financial planner, he provides expertise in the following areas:

- Estate and multi-generational planning
- Retirement income and cash flow analysis
- Business continuity and succession planning
- Retirement plans and employee benefits
- Risk and liability management planning
- Charitable giving strategies
- Executive compensation and benefit strategies
- Special Needs & Disability Planning

Utilizing the wealth planning framework, Chris aims to deliver the full breadth of UBS services to aid clients in achieving their wealth planning goals.

Past experience
Prior to joining UBS in 2022, Chris served as a Senior Trust Officer with the Goldman Sachs Trust Companies. In this capacity, Chris worked closely with high net worth families to plan and implement generational wealth transfer strategies.

Education and credentials
Chris holds a B.A in History from Gettysburg College and a J.D. and LL.M., Taxation, from Villanova University School of Law.

Life
Chris is an active member of the Philadelphia Estate Planning Counsel. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and son.

James is the Head of both the Business Owners and Multigenerational Wealth Client Segments within the Strategic Client Segments team.

James took on the Business Owners Client Segment upon its creation in 2018 to build an organization that supports business owners and the Financial Advisors that advise them. He has worked with clients on pre-business sale exit planning, such as succession planning, M&A transaction planning, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), and the emotional and self-identity ramifications of exiting a business. During the COVID-19 pandemic, James and his team supported business owners in navigating pandemic programs like the Paycheck Protection Program. In 2023, James’s remit expanded to include the Multigenerational Wealth Client Segment, which includes UBS’s support of wealth transfer and transition strategies between generations and the Rising Gen. James and his team work to bring the best of UBS’s resources to these important client segments.

James has been with UBS since 2006, previously working in the WMA Banking Group to build banking, cash and lending solutions that meet the needs of High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth individuals and the Financial Advisors that support them. James has driven and executed strategies to expand securities-based lending, develop a proprietary credit card tailored to UBS's unique client base and helped to manage UBS’s deposit program, including pricing, sales, and product development programs.

James holds a BS in Finance and Economics from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Outside of UBS, James is a member of the board of directors and co-treasurer for the Bronx Academy of Letters Foundation, supporting a public middle and high school in the poorest congressional district in the US, and enjoys experiencing travel and cultures different from his own. He also holds FINRA Series 7 license and Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) designation.

Wale Ogunleye leads the UBS Sports and Entertainment business for Wealth Management USA. As head of the division, Wale draws on his background as a college and professional football player to help Financial Advisors understand and address the needs of athletes and entertainers. The goal of the team is to facilitate holistic advice and planning for these high-profile individuals, and provide Financial Advisors who are focused on this segment with the resources they need to grow their business.

Making a difference—beyond the game Wale notes that, far too often, we see our favorite athletes or entertainers in the news because they have made poor financial choices or listened to unsound advice. As an NFL player, he had the common experience of being offered a wide variety of financial opportunities without any context for how to evaluate them. After his football career, Wale pursued his interest in business by earning his M.B.A. He joined UBS in order to help make a positive impact on the lives of athletes and entertainers.

Wale is a natural leader who was named Most Valuable Player by the Miami Dolphins in 2004. As the team captain for the Chicago Bears in 2006, he helped them win their conference title and reach Super Bowl XLI. He brings that leadership experience to UBS, working with Financial Advisors to harness the firm’s capabilities on behalf of their sports and entertainment clients.

Wale is singularly focused on creating a division that is thoughtful in its approach, rigorous in its planning, grounded in integrity and dedicated to putting clients first. Wale’s goal is simple: to advise every client as if they were the CEO of a multimillion- dollar business. The team will also help student athletes prepare for life after college by educating them about personal financial topics.

 

Professional History

As a Senior Strategist, Shawna co-leads Family Advisory and Philanthropy Services for the West Division. Shawna works closely with advisors to support families on achieving their goals in optimizing money, centering values, and living their philanthropic intent. The Family Advisory and Philanthropy Services team serves as a thought partner to advisors and their exceptional client families on wealth transitions, family governance, family office strategies, and philanthropy.

Shawna joined UBS in 2021 from Pacific Foundation Services where she was a Senior Program Officer and Philanthropy Advisor. Before that, Shawna had two roles within Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The first was in fundraising, the second was guiding a global Habitat for Humanity grant program and providing advisory support to Cisco Systems' employees worldwide. Prior to her service in philanthropy, Shawna lived in New York, spending time at a hedge fund and co-launching an Ethiopia-based education nonprofit.

As a native of Santa Barbara, California, Shawna’s family spans across the West. She is an active volunteer to several community organizations and lives in San Francisco.

Education
Shawna received a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from The New School, and a Bachelor of Science in International Business from California State University Northridge.

Kirtana has 15 years of experience in the Life Insurance & Financial Services industry. Kirtana began her career in financial services with various life insurance companies such as Northwestern Mutual and Guardian Life. This led to her most notably working at Merrill Lynch Bank of America whereby she was the UHNW Wealth Structuring Insurance Specialist covering 3000 FAs.  Prior to joining UBS, Kirtana was a General Agent herself working at Crump Life, Truist Financial as a Regional Insurance Specialist.

She earned her degree in Economics and Statistics at Rutgers University and has obtained her Series 7 and 66 securities licenses as well as her life insurance and annuity licenses. In addition, Kirtana has earned her CFP® designations. Kirtana currently resides in New Jersey with her husband and three boys.