Lancaster, CA

Michele is the lead advisor for Palmdale, California region with over 30 years of advisory experience, joined the network in 2010. Michele currently has $1.3 Billion AUA with corporate retirement plans. Michele is very innovative with all her clients and works with them to provide customized strategies for their retirement plans. She is very hands on with her plans/participants, involved in educational meetings for employees and providing fiduciary training to their committees. Early in her career when with Lincoln Financial she received various awards such as Presidential Partner, Presidential Council, and Executive Council from 2000-2007. She was also recognized as one of the 2016,2018, and 2020-2022 Top Women Advisors by the National Association of plan Advisors (NAPA). Michele earned her series 7 and 63 registrations and Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA).

The National Association of Plan Advisors, a branch of the American Retirement Association, has put out a list of women advisors who are making significant contributions to a male-dominated profession. The list includes 3 categories of advisors, all chosen based on qualitative and quantitative responses related to their retirement plan practice and their experience throughout their career in the industry.

The three categories include:

Captains: All-stars who happen to be principals, owners, or team captains of their organizations.

All-Stars: Top producers who have their own practice.

Rising Stars: Top producers who have less than five years of experience with retirement plans as a Financial Advisor (some have been working with plans longer, but not as a plan advisor).

Sarah has been an administrative assistant for 15 years in the financial industry and help with day-to-day administrative task for Palmdale, Ca office.

Taylor joined the Pensionmark, now WIA, team in 2011 and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Client Relations. In this role, she oversees the implementation of all retirement plan management systems uniquely designed for WIA’s independent advisor network. The breadth of responsibility includes the onboarding of new advisor affiliates, sustaining high-quality corporate and branch relationships; overseeing internal sales desk operations; organizing national conferences, and supporting the expansion and retention of WIA’s services within its national market.

Taylor has a master’s in Business Administration, Finance from the University of Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics, Accounting with a minor in Technology Management. Taylor is an active member of the Junior League of San Diego, an organization of philanthropic women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

Nate Garrison serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of WIA. Nate leads the World investment team from Washington, Iowa (located between Cedar Rapids and St. Louis). Nate most recently held leadership positions at Cambridge Investment Research on their Advisory Solutions team, and previously led their Due Diligence team for over 5 years. Prior to Cambridge, Nate worked at Credit Suisse in Washington, D.C. and Steben & Company in Rockville, MD.

He holds a number of technical designations and licenses including the CFA, CIPM, CAIA, and FRM, as well as his Series 3, 7, 24, 63 and 66 registrations. He also holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and History from the University of Virginia, a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and is completing a Master of Science in Analytics at Georgia Tech next year. 

Emilio joined Pensionmark, now WIA, in 2014 and serves as the Director of Participant Engagement. His team provides financial wellness education, and advice/planning services to 401(k) participants with a mission of creating inclusivity where people can make better money choices, change the systemic issues that serve as barriers, and have better financial health.

Emilio graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a double major in Communications and Spanish and is an MBA candidate at the University of Southern California. He holds is Series 6 and 63 registrations.