Bob Veres, Inside Information

Bob Veres is editor and publisher of the Inside Information interactive guide to trends and innovations in the profession, and contributing editor and columnist for Financial Planning magazine. Over his 30-year career in the financial services world, Bob has worked as editor of Financial Planning magazine; as a contributing editor to the Journal of Financial Planning; as a columnist and editor-at-large of Investment Advisor magazine; and as editor of Morningstar’s advisor website, MorningstarAdvisor.com. In addition, he is a sought-out speaker for many of the planning world’s most important professional conferences, and he co-produces the Insider’s Forum conference for independent financial advisory firms.

As a journalist, Bob has won several national awards, including the Jesse H. Neal Award from the American Business Media group, considered the most prestigious editorial honor in the field of specialized journalism, and the Azbee Award of Excellence from the American Society of Business Press Editors. He has been named one of the most influential people in the financial planning profession by Investment Advisor magazine and Financial Planning magazine, was granted the Special Achievement Award for service to the profession by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, and the Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award from the Denver-based Financial Planning Association.

William J. Bernstein, Efficient Frontier Advisors

William Bernstein is a neurologist and co-founder of Efficient Frontier Advisors, an investment management firm. He has written several titles on finance and economic history. He has produced three finance books: The Intelligent Asset Allocator, The Four Pillars of Investing, and The Investor’s Manifesto; and also two volumes of economic history: The Birth of Plenty and A Splendid Exchange. The former about the economic growth inflection of the early nineteenth century, and the latter a wide-angle look at the history of world trade. A third history book, Masters of the Word, from Grove/Atlantic Press, explores the effects of access to technology on human relations and politics.

Kelly Clark, Bradford and Company, Inc.

Kelly Clark is a business consultant and training specialist with a proven background in education and business management. Having been personally selected and trained by W. Murray Bradford, she has worked closely with Bradford and Company, Inc., since 2000, as both instructor and Operations Manager. With a proven record as a speaker, Kelly is a recognized professional with over 1200 locally and nationally taught sessions on tax strategies for the self-employed. Over the past 20+ years, she has been involved in a variety of business and professional avocations, including: Chief Financial Officer for a midsize contracting company; Chief Operating Officer for a building developer; President of the Mt. Diablo Property Association; board member for both the East Bay Adjusters Association and Honorable Order of the Blue Goose International. She brings experience, integrity, knowledge, and results.

Kelly is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, spent a number of years as an owner and a consultant to small business, and she specializes in the design and implementation of transferable systems of operation to facilitate expansion.  

Michael Finke, The American College of Financial Services

Michael Finke, PhD, CFP®, is the dean and chief academic officer at The American College of Financial Services. Dr. Finke served as the editor of the Journal of Personal Finance and is a contributing editor to Research Magazine. He received a doctorate in consumer economics from the Ohio State University in 1998 and in finance from the University of Missouri in 2011. Dr. Finke was named to the 2013 and 2014 Investment Advisor IA25 list, and the 2012 Investment News Power 20, and received the Montgomery Warschauer best paper award from the Journal of Financial Planning in 2013 and 2014.

Ken Nopar, American Endowment Foundation (AEF)

Ken Nopar is a senior philanthropic advisor to the American Endowment Foundation (AEF), one of the country’s largest independent donor-advised fund sponsors. After managing his family’s 100-year-old business for 20 years and working in the philanthropic advisory field, Ken has become one of the country’s leading charitable planning advocates; encouraging wealth, legal, and tax advisors to discuss their clients’ charitable plans. He has been quoted in and has written columns for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Planning, Financial Advisor, Think Advisor, Accounting Today, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Planned Giving Today, and other publications.

Jon Talton, The Seattle Times

Jon Talton is the economics columnist for The Seattle Times. He also writes the commentary blog, Rogue Columnist (www.roguecolumnist.com). For 30 years, Jon has covered business and finance, specializing in banking, urban economies, energy, real estate, and economics and public policy. He has been a columnist for the Arizona Republic, Charlotte Observer and Rocky Mountain News, and his columns have appeared in newspapers throughout North America, including The New York Times and other news services. Jon also served as business editor for the Dayton Daily News, Rocky Mountain News, Cincinnati Enquirer and Charlotte Observer. In Dayton, he was part of a team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service, for the nation’s first computer-assisted report on worker safety. In Charlotte, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers honored the business section as one of the nation’s best. Jon is the author of 11 novels, including the David Mapstone mysteries and the Cincinnati Casebooks, and one non-fiction history of Phoenix. His latest novel is High Country Nocturne.

Jon was a Knight Western Fellow in Journalism at the University of Southern California and a community fellow at the Morrison Institute at Arizona State University. Before journalism, he worked four years as an ambulance medic in the inner city of Phoenix. He was also an instructor in theater at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. A fourth-generation Arizonan, Jon was educated at Arizona State University and Miami University of Ohio.

Stephanie Bogan, Educe, Inc.

Stephanie Bogan founded and was CEO of Quantuvis Consulting, a top financial services consulting firm, for nearly two decades before selling to Genworth Financial (Fortune 200) in 2008, where she joined the executive team. In 2012, she left Genworth for a year of travel abroad. Stephanie then joined United Capital Wealth Advisors as SVP Client Experience & Enterprise Development, helping deepen and scale the firm’s offering nationally. And then, without warning, in 2014 she left it all behind and moved to Costa Rica with her family. Here, Stephanie says, is where her real learning began. She pursued her avid interest in success, leadership, and behavioral and brain sciences seeking to understand what drove her, and her success. Along the way, Stephanie learned that each of us has unlimited potential, and that – regardless of circumstances – each of us determines our own limits.

In her 20-year career, Stephanie has authored The Power of Practice Management (Bloomberg Press), wrote a column for Financial Planning magazine, was named an Industry Influential, and is a highly sought after speaker, business strategist and executive coach. In addition to her coaching work, she is a recognized industry thought leader and consults to various corporations, boards, and private equity firms on trends and opportunities in the industry.  

Known as a savvy, sassy, straight-shooter who tells it like it is, Stephanie has an uncanny ability to get at the heart of what’s really happening, quickly re-frame perceptions and share keen insights needed to inspire real change. Her passionate yet down-to-earth style, brings real-life stories, practice examples and a large dose of humor to her work. Stephanie is well known for business and coaching skills, and her ability to connect with top entrepreneurs and executives in ways that propel them to new heights. She shares with listeners what she’s learned about what really drives success, wealth and happiness – in life and in business – and how to overcome the hidden challenges, obstacles, and barriers that limit us all. 

Joel Hefner, Dimensional Fund Advisors

Joel Hefner is a vice president in Dimensional's Financial Advisor Services Group and responsible for the relationship with ACP. For 15 years, he spearheaded the firm's extensive financial advisor conference and seminar system. Joel currently oversees the network of Dimensional's lead advisor study groups while frequently speaking at industry and client events across the country. A former senior manager of a Big Five accounting firm, he was also the chief portfolio manager for a large fee-only advisory firm, managing more than $1 billion in client accounts. A CFA charterholder, Joel graduated with a BA in economics and political science from California State University, Chico, and an MA in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.