Littleton, CO

Kristen manages retirement plan relationships with an emphasis on fiduciary oversight and risk management. Kristen wants her clients to be confident that they have a sound investment process and that their plan participants are prepared for retirement. The key to long-term success is setting retirement plan objectives that align with clients’ strategic business goals. It’s not just investment performance and low fees that drive results, but rather: Are your employees saving enough? Do they have the tools they need to be successful in their retirement years? Kristen helps keep a close eye on fiduciary oversight and manages the risks associated with the plan, and her documented process will help you make informed decisions. Kristen has been recognized as one of the Top Women Advisors by the American Retirement Association for over 10 years. She holds her B.S degree in finance from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She also has been invited to Capitol Hill to listen and advise top Congressional leaders about the future of retirement savings.

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).

Amy has nearly 20 years of experience working with retirement plans, advisors and providing customer support. Prior to joining the team in 2021 she worked for two of the largest recordkeepers working in areas of support and services including plan reviews, participant and sponsor education, training and provider transitions and implementation.

Amy currently oversees provider conversions acting as both a plan consultant and liaison to clients. She works closely with clients, consultants, recordkeepers and third-party administrators to ensure a smooth and seamless plan transition and implementation. She works closely alongside Shelly Horwitz to manage retirement plan relationships ensuring that each retirement plan aligns with the sponsor’s goals and to set up plan participants for success in retirement.

Amy earned her BA degree in Psychology from the University of Northern Iowa.

Bio coming soon. 

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. 

Jack initially joined the Pensionmark, now WIA, team in 2017 as an intern with the Lead Generation department. In 2018, Jack joined the team full time and transitioned to the Advisor Support team. His responsibilities include onboarding new advisors and teams, internal sales desk operations, and providing additional advisor support through various channels.

Jack graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Economics & Accounting with a minor in Technology Management and holds his Series 65 registration and CPFA credential.

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.

Renata joined the Pensionmark, now WIA, team in 2015 in a client support role. In 2016, she transitioned into the marketing department and currently serves as Director of Marketing Communications for World's financial services division, World Investment Advisors. She oversees the planning, development, and execution of the marketing strategy for the WIA firm and its network of advisors.

Renata graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Global and International Studies.

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.

Gregory joined Pensionmark, now WIA, in 2019 on the client operations support team. He is a great addition to the team and quickly got on board with the firm's vision. He is part of our Financial Wellness Team and supports retirement plan participants through various channels and loves helping participants and being able to provide resources and build a gap between financial barriers they may have. He also supports advisors and takes on Relationship management duties for plan sponsors.

Greg graduated from Northern Arizona University with a B.S. in Biology and minor in Chemistry and Certificate in Forensic Investigation. He started his financial career with The Vanguard Group in Scottsdale, AZ and has about a decade year of experience in the financial industry. He currently holds Series 6, 7, and 63 licenses and is bilingual and speaks Spanish.

He recently became a father to identical twin girls, Ariana and Alexia. He loves to spend time with family and enjoys playing sports and playing music with his guitar, drums, and trumpet from time to time.

Kera joined the Pensionmark, now WIA, team in 2019 in a client support role. In 2021, she transitioned into the Participant Engagement department to develop and implement the SMARTMap Financial Wellness Program. Currently, she serves as the Product Marketing Manager for SMARTMap, overseeing brand strategy, content creation, and user research.

Kera graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Economics and is working toward her Series 65 registration.

Kyle joined the Pensionmark, now WIA, team in 2014 and serves as Director of Advisor Relations. He focuses on supporting WIA’s advisors from their initial introduction and throughout their affiliation. Kyle’s scope of work includes 401(k) vendor management, onboarding new advisors, and providing client support through various channels.

Kyle graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Economics and holds his Series 6 and 65 registrations.

Christina joined the Pensionmark, now WIA, team in 2018 and now serves as Manager of Business Development. She works to connect our team of advisors with Plan Sponsors in need of unbiased retirement plan consulting, financial wellness services, fee benchmarking and other industry resources.

Christina graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Economics and Undergraduate Certificate in Technology Management.

Maren joined the Pensionmark, now WIA, team in 2018 and serves as a Senior Investment Analyst for the Investment Team. She assists with fund research & due diligence, quarterly reporting for advisors and analyzing retirement plan fund line-ups.

Maren graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in Communication Studies. She holds her Series 65 registration, the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) designation, and is a CFA® charterholder.

Evan joined Pensionmark, now WIA, in 2021 as an Investment Analyst. He works with the other members of the Investment Team to perform due dilligence research and provide fund recommendations for WIA's Advisors.

Evan graduated from Westmont College with a B.A. in Economics and Business.