Advanced Equities Wealth Management

Advanced Equities Wealth Management provides integrated financial planning and wealth management programs. AEWM capabilities are driven by an in-house team of financial talent and strategic thinkers who design and manage each of the four cornerstones of our balanced platform: business structure optimization, risk management, portfolio design and estate planning. Advanced Equities Wealth Management is part of the Advanced Equities family of companies.

Robert S. Holcomb

Robert S. Holcomb sets the firm’s strategic direction and management priorities. Prior to becoming CEO, Mr. Holcomb founded DataStream, a software development firm that created proprietary applications for the financial services industry. DataStream was acquired in early 2000 by Thomson Financial, a division of the Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC). Post-acquisition, Mr. Holcomb served as Chief Operating Officer for Thomson’s Wealth Management division, overseeing several large contract “wins” for the design of next generation in wealth management technology. Mr. Holcomb has also served as a lead consultant to prominent investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan on many of the largest IPOs in Wall Street history.

Craig E. Columbus, JD, MBA

Craig E. Columbus serves as President of Advanced Equities Asset Management (AEAM), managing day-to-day operations of Advanced Equities’ captive money management subsidiary. In this capacity, Mr. Columbus is responsible for the portfolio management team and its efforts, including portfolio selection, trading, execution, proprietary money management and product development. Mr. Columbus was formerly Vice Chairman of Greenbook Financial Services as well as Co-Portfolio Manager and the Managing Director of Discretionary Accounts for Greenbook Investment Management, Inc. Prior to Greenbook, Mr. Columbus was the Chief Market Strategist for Thomson Financial, a leading provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide financial community. During this time, he became one of Wall Street’s most recognizable figures, appearing each Monday on CNBC’s Power Lunch program for seven years. Mr. Columbus is a graduate of Loyola University, holds an MBA degree from Penn State University and a law degree from Indiana University. He was previously a candidate for the United States House of Representatives.

Rick A. Jaye

Rick A. Jaye serves as Chief Financial Strategist, providing management support and financial planning oversight to the company’s Advisor community. His duties also include integrating existing programs into the firm’s portfolio of solutions and developing new services and strategies for clients. Previously, Mr. Jaye spent 23 years providing financial services to high-net-worth business owners and health professionals through his affiliation with several national planning and investment advisory organizations. Mr. Jaye serves on the Board of Directors of Doctors Bank, LLC, a bank holding company in Manhattan Beach, CA. He is a registered investment advisor representative and holds a life, health, and variable insurance license. Mr. Jaye earned an economics degree from the University of California, San Diego.

Silas I. Harrington, JD, LLM (Tax)*

Silas I. Harrington serves as General Counsel, working closely with the Pension Services team to oversee compliance for advanced pension plan design. Mr. Harrington previously worked for the Washington State Bar. He later joined the Seattle law firm of Preston, Gates, and Ellis, where he was involved in high-profile cases, including Microsoft’s antitrust defense. Mr. Harrington obtained his undergraduate history degree and his law degree from the University of Washington, and returned to the University of Washington School of Law to attend the Graduate Tax Program, with areas of practice concentration including qualified and non-qualified deferred compensation plans and advanced wealth transfer. In addition to his duties on the in-house legal team, Mr. Harrington provides seminars to various groups around the country on the benefits of qualified retirement plans for business owners and their employees. *Licensed in CA & WA.

Gary R. Schulte

Gary R. Schulte serves as President of Advanced Equities Insurance Services, working with industry-leading providers of life, disability and long-term-care policies, as well as fixed-rate and bond or equity-indexed annuity products. His professional career spans more than two decades of building, managing and restructuring insurance and annuity product delivery systems. Previously, Mr. Schulte oversaw the insurance industry’s first Producer Group and first Agent-Owned Re-Insurance Company. He has addressed insurance audiences around the world through associations, industry conferences, and national television and radio appearances such as The Larry King Show. Mr. Schulte has also authored two popular books, The Fall of First Executive and Successful Life Insurance Selling in the Year 2000 and Beyond.

Robert G. Thurlow, JD

Active in both the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) and the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA), Robert G. Thurlow serves as President of the firm’s Pension Services Division. Mr. Thurlow was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from NIPA, and is a published author and speaker at national conferences. Mr. Thurlow has more than 27 years of executive experience in specialty employee benefits. He has been responsible for the design, installation and administration of thousands of qualified pension and profit sharing plans. Mr. Thurlow earned a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and a JD from McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific.

Jeffrey J. Mindlin, CFA

Jeffrey J. Mindlin serves as Advanced Equities Asset Management’s Managing Director and Co-Portfolio Manager. Prior to joining AEAM, Mr. Mindlin was the Director of Research and Co-Portfolio Manager of Greenbook Investment Management, Inc., where he was instrumental in the design of sophisticated, proprietary investment portfolio strategies. Before that, he worked as the Assistant Portfolio Manager and Senior Financial Engineer for Pinnacle Investment Advisors, LLC, which operated a hedge fund and a series of managed accounts for institutional and high-net-worth clients, and sub-advised a publicly traded mutual fund. Previously, Mr. Mindlin was the Manager of Financial Engineering at Camelback Research, leading the development of several successful institutional grade quantitative products, including the widely popular MSN Money Stockscouter system. Mr. Mindlin has earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, as well as a BS in Economics and a BS in Finance from the College of Business Honor’s Program at Arizona State University, where he received the prestigious Moore Award.

Michael A. Nichols

Michael A. Nichols serves as Vice President of Marketing for Advanced Equities Wealth Management, Inc. overseeing the company’s integrated marketing strategy. In this position, Mr. Nichols is responsible for AEWM’s brand identity, lead generation efforts and events, working from the company’s Scottsdale, Ariz. office. Mr. Nichols began his career in business media, holding a variety of editorial and publishing roles over a nine-year career at VPI, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based publisher of niche trade magazines. He later served as Director of Technology Marketing at IKON Office Solutions, responsible for all technology and product marketing deliverables, as well as the company’s various websites and Research and Development labs. Prior to joining Greenbook, Mr. Nichols was Director of Product Marketing for Electronics for Imaging, a Foster City, Calif.-based software company. Mr. Nichols earned a BA degree from Kansas State University.