2020 FOX Wealth Advisor Forum Presenters
Presenter Biographies
Doug Fritz
CEO and Founder, F2 Strategy
Doug Fritz is CEO and Founder of F2 Strategy, a leading technology consulting firm to the wealth management industry. Prior to founding F2 Strategy, Doug was Chief Technology Officer for First Republic Private Wealth Management where he led the execution of the Wealth Tech Roadmap and introduced transformative technology to an amazing, client-focused firm. The new tools he rolled out for their portfolio managers enabled FRB to continue its stellar reputation well into the 21st century. Prior to joining First Republic, Doug was senior vice president at Wells Fargo Wealth Management where he ran strategy, implementation and support for the Portfolio Management Desktop including portfolio analytics, advisor dashboard, compliance and proposal generation. Doug was poised for success after years as a management consultant for KPMG Consulting. Doug is frequently quoted in the media and a sought-after public speaker. He earned a B.A. in Russian and International Business from Southern Illinois University and started his career at Credit Suisse in Moscow.
Thomas P. Melcher
Managing Director, Director of Family Wealth, Glenmede
Prior to joining Glenmede, Thomas devoted two and a half decades to PNC, where he most recently served as EVP and Chief Investment Officer (CIO), for the PNC Asset Management Group. Prior to that, he was the Managing Executive for Hawthorn, PNC Family Wealth, where he built the practice into one of the nation’s largest providers serving ultra-high net worth clients. Previously, Thomas held the CIO role for PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. Mr. Melcher’s media presence includes appearances on CNBC, citations in the Financial Press and extensive quotations in “The Family Office Book,” written by Richard Wilson. Thomas also authored the foreword to “Sell Like A Team” by Michael Dalis and was twice recognized as one of the nation’s “Top 100 Wealth Advisors” by Worth Magazine.
Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and has pursued graduate work at Drexel University in investment management.
Milton Pedraza
Chief Executive Officer, Luxury Institute, LLC
Milton Pedraza is the CEO of the Luxury Institute and a private investor. Today, Luxury Institute is the world's most trusted research, training, and elite business solutions partner for luxury and premium goods and services brands. With the largest global network of luxury executives and experts, Luxury Institute has the ability to provide its clients with high-performance, leading-edge business solutions developed by the best, most successful minds in the industry.
Over the last 17 years, Luxury Institute has served over 1,100 luxury and premium goods and services brands. Luxury Institute has conducted more quantitative and qualitative research with affluent, wealthy and uber-wealthy consumers than any other entity. This knowledge has led to the development of its scientifically proven high-performance, neuroscience and emotional intelligence-based education system, Luxcelerate, that dramatically improves brand culture and sales performance.
Milton advises and coaches luxury CEOs and advises and serves on the boards of top-tier luxury and premium brands, as well as luxury and premium startups. He is a member of the Advisory Board at the Ultra High Net Worth Institute. He is a recognized investor and authority on the Personal Data Economy, Privacy and Personalization, Customer Relationship Management and Artificial Intelligence technologies. Prior to founding the Luxury Institute, his successful career at Fortune 100 companies included executive roles at Altria, PepsiCo, Colgate, Citigroup and Wyndham Worldwide.
Nicholas Petrie
Author, Work Without Stress: Building a Resilient Mindset for Long Term Success
Nicholas Petrie helps organizations prepare their leaders for a complex world. His clients include: Google, Walmart, Home Depot, Salesforce, NASA, Airbnb, Delta and Comcast. He has worked globally across industries including; engineering, tech, banking, education, energy, law and television. His specialty areas are: leading in complexity (vertical development), C.E.O. led leadership development and resilience under pressure.
Nicholas holds a master’s degree from Harvard University and is the author of the book, "Work Without Stress: Building a Resilient Mindset for Long Term Success".
Amy E. Szostak
Senior Vice President, Director, Family Education and Governance, Northern Trust Company
Working with Northern Trust’s wealthiest client base, Amy has gained insights into how families successfully navigate sustainable intergenerational wealth. She works with families to identify their goals, develop a common purpose, create a framework for decision making, execute succession plans, deliver financial literacy curriculum and cultivate a growing appreciation for the impact of wealth beyond the balance sheet. All of this to empower clients to not only successfully manage their wealth today, but to develop the stewardship skills to flourish long into the future. Prior to her current role, Amy served as the Chief Fiduciary Officer for the Global Family and Private Investment Office Group (GFO) where she oversaw the fiduciary client base in the US, Cayman Islands and Bailiwick of Guernsey.
Amy is a Senior Vice President at Northern Trust. She holds a license to practice law in Illinois, is an active member of STEP (Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners), a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA), a Certified Investment Management Analysis (CIMA), and obtained her STEP Certification in International Trust Management (2017).
Jack Thurman
Managing Partner, BKD Family Office
Jack Thurman is Managing Partner of BKD Family Office, a wholly owned subsidiary of BKD CPAs & Advisors, a national CPA and advisory firm. BKD Family Office is an advisory practice that provides integrated family office services to ultra-affluent families and family office leadership.
Jack oversees a monthly webinar series, “BKD Family Office Thoughtware,” that provides intellectual capital and best practices for family office leadership team members. He has also been quoted in publications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, SmartMoney and CNBC.com.
Jack obtained his Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) designation from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and has completed the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School’s Financial Management for the Family Office program.
He is a member of the Investments & Wealth Institute™. Jack is a 1983 graduate of Drury University, Springfield, Missouri, with a B.A. degree in business administration.
Jaclyn Webb
Family Learning and Events Manager, Walton Enterprises
John Zimmerman
President, Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank
As President of Ascent Private Capital Management, John Zimmerman sets the strategic direction and oversees all aspects of Ascent. He has more than 30 years of financial services experience, particularly in serving ultra-high net worth clients. Prior to his appointment as President, John served as Ascent’s Regional Managing Director for the Denver region.
John is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a bachelors degree from the University of Missouri and a master's degree from Saint Louis University. Community involvement is a passion; he serves on the boards of Boy Scouts of America — Denver Area Council, Seeds of Hope Charitable Trust, the Catholic Foundation of Northern Colorado and the University of Missouri Trulaske School of Business strategic development board.
FOX Presenters
Glen W. Johnson
Chief Operating Officer
Glen Johnson is Chief Operating Officer at Family Office Exchange (FOX). In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the member experience, ensuring that each family member, family office executive, and trusted advisor has an unsurpassed experience partnering with FOX by providing unique industry knowledge and insights coupled with a safe and confidential environment where members can share best practices. In addition, Glen oversees the operations of FOX and is charged with establishing and executing systems to execute FOX’s strategic plan, promoting it’s vision and service-centric culture, and enabling the FOX team to work together to exceed our member’s expectations.
Glen has over 30 years of experience working with family offices, business owners, and executives, first as an attorney and then as a wealth advisor, eventually founding Mirador Family Wealth Advisors – the multi-family office for Fifth Third Bank. He has worked with business owners and executives across all stages of their business life cycle including business succession. Glen writes and speaks nationally focusing on family and business governance and the unique challenges faced during the sale and transition of closely held businesses.
Glen earned a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Education from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI and a Juris Doctorate degree from Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, MI.
Mindy Kalinowski Earley, CMP, CFBA
Chief Learning Officer, FOX Family Learning CenterTM
Mindy has held various roles in small and large family offices and has been responsible for creating and stewarding professional learning networks in support of human and intellectual capital. She has designed learning experiences that increase the knowledge base and enhance the life path of individuals while providing personalized support and coaching to help them meet their goals. As a Certified Meeting Professional with a certificate in Family Business Advising, she enjoys helping families and rising generation members navigate the unique world of enterprise family and family relationships by understanding that responsibility and intention pave a path to personal achievement and satisfaction.
Ruth Easterling
Managing Director, Member Services
Karen Rush
Managing Director, Membership
Prior to joining FOX in 2005, Karen spent 10 years at a large, multi-generational family office as the Communications Coordinator. She worked directly with the family office and family members to develop a family meeting process and an education program for the younger generation.
Karen received a B.A. in political science from Southern Illinois University.
Bill Sullivan
President
Bill Sullivan is the President of Family Office Exchange (FOX). He is a thought leader who understands the role that disruption and innovation will play in transforming our industry. He leads FOX in helping members to understand and plan for future transitions in the family enterprise, the family business, and the family office.
For the past 10 years, Bill has served as the Global Head of Financial Services Market Intelligence at Capgemini. He is a distinguished financial services executive consultant and trusted expert in his field with over 20 years of experience in many globally diverse roles including two years in Paris, France and three years in Hyderabad, India. Bill brings exceptional leadership skills with nearly two decades of leading multi-cultural teams in the U.S., Europe, & Asia-Pacific, as well as in his entrepreneurial background having successfully run his own start–up for three years.
He is a member of the Advisory Board of Ascent Private Capital Management (part of U.S. Bank), currently serves on the Zeta Beta Tau International Supreme Council, is an annual judge for the PWM/The Banker Global Private Banking Awards, and is a multiple recipient of Irish America Magazines Top 100 Business Leaders list.
Bill received a B.S. from Tufts University as a double major in Economics and Psychology.
David Toth
Managing Director
David brings over 30 years of wealth and investment management, marketing, and strategic
consulting experience to the FOX team. He held key leadership positions in the Asset Management Division at PNC Financial, formulating and implementing growth strategies that helped to more than double the size of their wealth and ultra-high net worth businesses.
David earned a B.B.A. majoring in Marketing and an M.B.A. majoring in Finance & Economics
from University of Michigan and the University of Detroit/Mercy, respectively. In addition, David
has completed Leadership and Executive Development programs at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Scott Winget
Market Leader, Enterprise Families