Mike Stiefel leads the firm and is the primary contact for all clients. Mike specializes in building globally diversified, low-cost investment portfolios across asset classes, strategies, market caps and risk factors. Portfolios incorporate a wide range of low-cost ETFs, individual stocks, bonds, cash equivalents and REITs, as well as alternatives such as commodity and inverse exchange traded products (ETPs), all with the goal of achieving returns across various market cycles.

Mike’s background includes 14 years (1989-2003) of managing client assets at three Wall Street firms in Los Angeles, California: Dean Witter Reynolds (now Morgan Stanley), Solomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup) and Prudential Financial.

This ’Wall Street-Wire House’ experience provided Mike with invaluable insight into the products, operations and culture of these firms, which enables him to leverage that insight into presenting a custom-built, low-cost alternative to clients and prospects.

Typical retail advisors at Wall Street firms suffer from low payout, high sales quotas, pressure to sell proprietary products and limited support from management. Even worse, clients of Wall Street firms face high fees, black-box strategies, unwanted product sales pitches and a lack of personal service.

In 2003, Mike made the decision to leave the Wall Street business model behind and go independent, partnering with LPL Financial to launch his own Independent Financial Advisory Practice in Los Angeles.

In 2007, Mike moved his growing practice and his growing family to Greensboro, North Carolina.

Mike has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in finance from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California (Class of ’88), and holds the following licenses at LPL Financial:

FINRA Series 7 – General Securities License
FINRA Series 24 – Registered Principal License
FINRA Series 65 – Investment Advisor Rep License