The Industry’s Brightest Minds are on your Side

Mitch’s experience pioneering America’s first online investment advisory service helped him define and codify the investment needs of working Americans. He began his career at Atari and spent the first half of his career as a Silicon Valley software entrepreneur. He then entered investment management with Apex Capital, LLC where he oversaw a $200 million technology portfolio, co-managed its venture capital fund and served as director of four NASDAQ companies as an activist investor.

He soon noticed that the commission-based broker model pervasive in the financial services industry was the reason most investors were suffering from poor returns, and saw an opportunity to use technology to lower costs and emulate the best practices of sophisticated endowments such as Yale and Harvard. In 2008, he founded the first robo-investment firm, MarketRiders.

By 2012, Mitch was aware that robo-investing needed a “human touch,” and he partnered with Scott Puritz to form Rebalance. They recruited an all-star Investment Committee with some of the most globally-renowned economists, including Princeton Professor Burton Malkiel, Yale Professor Dr. Charles Ellis, also the former longtime chairman of the Yale University Endowment; and Jay Vivian, the former Managing Director of IBM’s $100+ billion retirement investment funds.

Mitch graduated from Boston University with a B.S. and earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, PBS/Wealthtrack with Consuelo Mack, and CNN, and is regularly featured in major financial publications, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

He currently resides in Menlo Park, CA with his wife and three children, and is at the helm of Rebalance’s West Coast team.

When Scott Puritz first met Mitch Tuchman while attending Harvard Business School, there was an immediate connection. Entrepreneurial kindred spirits, their friendship continues to this day.

Scott is a nationally recognized retirement investing expert, with references in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Forbes, CBS, PBS and USA Today. He testified before the U.S. Senate on new rules designed to make retirement investing safer for all Americans.

Scott’s career endeavors have had a common thread: harnessing technology and entrepreneurship to deliver value where the need is great. He has successfully started and grown businesses that have helped millions of people.

At Rebalance, Scott has assembled infrastructure and service delivery methods that bring our clients sophisticated investment advice and the personalized service offered by exclusive wealth management firms, for a fraction of the cost.

Scott brings the same enthusiasm to his philanthropic work. As a long-time member of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Outward Bound School, Scott sits on the Investment Committee, which oversees the School’s $20+ million endowment. In addition, he helped establish and grow a fruitful Outward Bound scholarship program for inner-city teens, giving them the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to succeed in life.

Scott received his B.A. in economics, with distinction, from Tufts University, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Scott is a registered Investment Representative and holds a Series 65 securities license. With his wife Susan of 35 years, he is an avid supporter of his two daughters’ forays into travel, sports, and music.

Sally Brandon brings deep experience and a broad skill set in developing and maintaining strong and personal client relationships. As a wife, mother, and senior member of the Rebalance team, she brings an intuitive understanding of the personal side of investing. She understands the difficulties encountered in thinking about retirement in one’s 40s, or even 50s, and how to navigate competing financial demands.

Sally began her investment career at MarketRiders, where she supported many of the company’s retirement-investor clients, who collectively have more than 10,000 portfolios and $4 billion on the MarketRiders platform. She has advised individuals from a diversity of careers and a broad range of needs, from those just beginning their professional lives to retirees actively withdrawing from their savings. She finds great satisfaction in being able to guide people getting their retirement investments in order.

But she takes the most pride and enjoyment in using her expertise to help Americans just like herself enjoy their lives and protect their loved ones through a safe, stable, and effective retirement plan.

Sally spent her early career at The Gap, working in the international group as a financial analyst responsible for forecasting, planning and inventory investment strategies. She received a B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California in 1992. Sally is a registered Investment Representative and holds a Series 65 securities license. Along with her husband of 20 years, Bill, Sally juggles the demands of three children while still finding time to train for half-marathons, do yoga, and, of course, help everyday Americans retire with more.

Christie Whitney is the Vice President of Investment Advice at Rebalance, and she leads the Financial Planning team at the firm. She has over 25 years of experience in the private financial services sector, and has served in many different roles within the world of wealth management throughout the course of her career. As a seasoned CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Christie is passionate about working with clients to provide holistic strategic advice, to improve their financial literacy, and to give them peace of mind as they plan for their retirement.

While the scope of her clients is broad, she often works with couples who are in their peak earning years or on the cusp of retirement, and women going through significant transitions in their lives, such as divorce and widowhood. Christie helps instill clients with the confidence they need to feel secure about their goals, financial decisions, and future.

Christie is a graduate of UC Berkeley in Personal Financial Planning, with distinction, and received her B.A. from the University of California, San Diego. When she is not engaging with clients throughout the financial planning and retirement investment processes, she enjoys various fitness activities including yoga, swimming, and spending time in the outdoors with her husband and teenage boys.

Sonja Breeding is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, CFP^®, who brings nearly twenty years of wealth management experience to Rebalance. In her role as a Vice President of Investment Advice, Sonja provides our clients with the guidance they need to Live Well and Retire With More.

Sonja is passionate about working with clients to provide a personalized financial roadmap, ensuring that they stay on the best financial path for their own life situations.

Before joining the Rebalance team, Sonja spent over 12 years as a Financial Planner and Investment Advisor with Homewood Capital Management, where she was responsible for the financial planning, investment management and servicing of over 200 client accounts with approximately $110 million in assets under management. She also has worked for Aspirant as a Senior Associate Wealth Manager.

Sonja is based in the San Francisco Bay area. She graduated from UCLA with a BS in Mathematics with a Specialization in Computing, and received her CFP^®certification from the University of California, Berkeley.

When she is not helping Rebalance clients map out a successful financial future, Sonja enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters, their mini zoo of pets, gardening, cycling, yoga, and dusting off her German with friends and family.

Jill Carothers, CFP^® is a senior wealth manager and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. As Vice President of Wealth Management, Jill brings over 25 years of experience in the financial services world.

She spent over 14 years building a $200 million book of business working with her clients as they navigated luxury mortgage lending. While working with these clients, she saw a critical need for sage financial planning and advice, and made the decision to change the course of her career path. After completing the UC Berkeley Personal Financial Planning Program, she formally became a CFP^® and transitioned into being a wealth manager full-time.

Jill is extraordinarily accomplished at providing high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients with sophisticated TLC. Her disciplined and in-depth financial planning approach includes comprehensive reviews of client’s tax returns, estate plans, insurance policies, and other important financial documents. She specializes in working with clients who are in their 40s and 50s, in their peak earning and spending years, and are seeking advice and guidance for their financial present and future.

Jill graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in business. She and her husband, Andrew, live in Marin with their white bichon, Misty. Their two children, Drew and Caroline, are 3L law students at Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, respectively.

In her free time, Jill is a high adventure traveler, and most recently traveled to Iceland where she climbed cliffs and explored glaciers, among other thrilling activities. She is an avid hiker, often climbing the hills in Marin, and has also trekked through exotic locales such as in Peru.

Dan Mavraides possesses a wealth of experience and innovative ideas, drawing on ten years of expertise in the investment world. As the former Senior Vice President at Evoke Advisors, a top-tier wealth firm recognized by Forbes as the #1 RIA in America in 2022 and 2023, Dan was instrumental in the firm’s success, overseeing over $100 million of AUM growth. He graduated from Princeton University in 2011 with a degree in Economics and has extensive knowledge in the wealth management industry.

Beyond his financial acumen, Dan has a passion for basketball. At Princeton, he played Division 1 basketball for four years, served as team Captain his senior year, and led the Tigers to an Ivy League championship. After college, Dan pursued professional basketball in Greece and Italy, where he developed a keen interest in 3×3 basketball. His dedication to the sport led him to become the USA National Team Captain for 3×3 and an Olympic Ambassador for FIBA, representing the sport in Tokyo and Paris.

Dan also is a committed advocate for social causes, particularly in fighting racial inequity and homelessness in Los Angeles, where he actively works with local community organizations. His diverse background and dedication to both his professional and personal passions make him a valuable asset to the Rebalance clients.

Matt Jude brings deep financial planning expertise to Rebalance. As a seasoned CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, CFP^®, and Equity Compensation Associate, ECA, he strategically advises clients with employment benefits such as restricted stock, incentive stock options and employee stock purchase plans (among others). He specializes in optimizing financial plans, tax harvesting and trading as well.

Prior to working in the world of wealth management, Matt was a group health insurance analyst and advisor. Within this role, he specialized in strategic plan design and employer and employee education.

Matt graduated from California Polytechnic State University, where he earned a BS in Business Administration, with a Concentration in Financial Management, and UC Berkeley, where he attended a Post-Baccalaureate program in Counseling and Psychology.

He has spent many hours of his life in the pool starting at age 4. Impressively, Matt was a NCAA Division 1 swimmer at Cal Poly, specializing in freestyle. The discipline, competition and drive that this level of collegiate swimming requires has been a constant thread throughout his professional background as well.

Matt, a native of Seattle, currently calls Sacramento home, where he resides with his wife, Morgan, and their two labs, Yello and Blue. Morgan is an MD and current resident of the Neurological Surgery at the UC Davis Medical Center.

David Ranney brings deep experience to his role as Vice President of Sales for our firm’s premier small business 401(k) offering, BetterK. Prior to joining Rebalance, he spent more than two decades at Fidelity, driving innovation in workplace retirement investing.

During David’s 20+ year tenure at Fidelity, he led the Workplace Investing team in a variety of managerial roles, including Vice President of Sales. He has a track record of success in client-facing roles, leading 401(k) sales efforts in employer-sponsored retirement plans. While at Fidelity, he won several prestigious leadership awards, including the National Leadership Award, President’s Circle Award, the Regional Leadership Award, and the 100% Club Award.

As Vice President of Sales at Rebalance, David partners with small businesses across many industries throughout the country. He believes in the Jesuit ideal of “men and women for others.” He educates small businesses about how to avoid high 401(k) fees, how to optimize asset allocation, how to increase plan participation, and how to utilize retirement planning. The net result is higher employee satisfaction and greater employee retention.

David graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He earned his Master of Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Marketing from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. David also holds a Series 65 securities license.

He currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife and three children. When not engaging with small business owners on their retirement plans, David enjoys being a maddeningly average golfer and hitting the beach or any other body of water to stay cool in the Carolina summers.

Lauren Simpson is passionate about the value of data in decisions and in engaging audiences. She captures and visualizes user behaviors to make data-driven decisions at every part of the customer journey.

Lauren began building her analytics career in product development at a marketing agency, spearheading product testing and market research for General Mills and other companies. From there, she worked in account management at Gartner, where she gained experience in the finance, technology, healthcare, and security industries. 

As Chief Marketing Officer at Rebalance, Lauren’s passion for personal finance intersects with her professional activities. She utilizes data analytics to improve the client experience and evolve our marketing strategy. She leads internal and external webinars and events and manages all digital communications. Lauren spearheads B2B and B2C campaigns and tracks all analytics for the firm. Her acumen in utilizing data to drive growth plays a pivotal role in leading the Growth Marketing Team. 

Lauren graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, and she holds a Google Analytics certification. She now lives in Utah with her husband and son, where they enjoy the great outdoors and are working toward visiting every U.S. national park.

Of all her successes and accomplishments, Lauren is most excited about one goal she strives for every day: to retire early. 

Kameron Javier joins Rebalance as a Client Service Manager, overseeing client relationships and providing service to both wealth and BetterK clients.

Kameron lives in Granite Bay, California and brings over 5 years of experience in the field of client services. She specializes in the onboarding process for clients and providing consultative support to clients and advisors. She also has expertise in handling custodian paperwork, monitoring client accounts, maintaining accurate record-keeping, and meeting RIA firm standards. Her background is in the custodial platforms of Charles Schwab and Fidelity, and she is proficient in the e-Money Customer Relationship Management system.

In addition to her client services experience, Kameron also worked as a marketing specialist for several years, assisting with monthly webinars, making recommendations to improve company websites, webinars, and marketing materials, and organizing quarterly company-wide events.

Kameron graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with a B.A. in Business Administration and an emphasis in marketing.

In her free time, Kameron spends time with her shih tzu/poodle mix Elway, and is on a journey of learning how to bake delicious treats for friends and family.

Svetlana Kot joined Rebalance as Vice President of Finance and Operations from EQIBank, where she was in the role of Controller. In her role as Vice President of Finance and Operations at Rebalance, Svetlana is responsible for finance, operations and compliance. In addition, she manages the firm’s functional platforms to facilitate scalable growth. She also holds a Series 65 securities license

Svetlana has more than a decade of accounting and financial planning and analysis experience at a variety of organizations, including the Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Integrity Gaming, and BKD CPAs & Advisors, all based in Tulsa, OK. 

A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Svetlana came to the U.S. in 2001 when her husband began a fellowship at Harvard University. She has a unique career background: prior to beginning her journey in accounting and finance, she was on a path focused in chemistry, and earned a B.S./M.S. in Chemistry from St. Petersburg State University in Russia. Following her relocation to the U.S., Svetlana achieved a Certificate in Accounting and an M.S. in Business Analytics, both from The University of Tulsa.

Svetlana and her family lived in Madison, WI, before permanently settling in Tulsa, where her husband, Alexei, is an Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering Physics at The University of Tulsa.  They have two daughters, Alisa (19) and Vera (13). In her free time, Svetlana enjoys traveling, visiting family and friends, and growing orchids. 

Kate Cotter is a strategic communications professional who is passionate about using writing to make organizations’ missions come alive.

Over the course of her career in communications, Kate has developed an extensive background in media relations, message development, and program strategy. She began building her career in public relations at several agencies in Boston, where she worked with clients in technology, healthcare, and consumer industries. Kate was a founding partner at a boutique public relations firm in Boston and led strategic communications activities for numerous clients. Later on in her career, Kate worked in-house for a major pharmaceutical company and a leading global consumer brand.

As Chief Strategic Communications and Business Development Director at Rebalance, she manages the firm’s media relations, speaking engagements, and award programs. The goal is to showcase Rebalance’s mission of helping Americans live well and retire with more.

Kate graduated from Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and English, and she earned her Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.

Kate lives in the coastal Massachusetts town of Scituate, just south of Boston, with her husband John and their three boys. When not at the hockey rink, baseball or lacrosse fields, Kate and her crew are likely exploring one of the five beaches in their hometown.

Greg Brown has spent the past 25 years in the world of economy and global business, focusing heavily in recent years on personal finance and investing. Greg serves on the Investment Committee of an established global foundation that oversees more than $200 million in assets. His media career has given him direct access to the insights and experiences of investment thought leaders, including the “founding father” of index investing, Vanguard Group’s John C. “Jack” Bogle.

Greg has lived abroad, reporting real-time economics news and corporate earnings from Chile and covering the South American country’s rapid growth as it left the ranks of the region’s emerging economies to join the fully developed world.

His career path has turned toward helping everyday people learn the ropes of investing and to overcome the emotional responses that hinder their long-term success. As a Senior Financial Consultant at Rebalance, his natural teaching style lends itself to introducing clients to the fundamentals of disciplined, low-cost index investing.

Greg lives in North Carolina, with his wife Jimena and their two sons. He is an avid home cook, a musician, reads constantly and is a late-blooming athlete.

Aryion “Ary” Petrelle is a talented and versatile creative art director.  Throughout her career, she has developed and implemented award-winning creative campaigns across the U.S. and Europe.  Her campaigns have aspired to connect people, make an impact, and drive progress. 

At Rebalance, the Growth Team will harness her creativity to effectively visually communicate the mission, values and uniqueness of our firm. 

As a creative director, Ary enjoys blending the art and science of strategic marketing to help brands and businesses grow.  She has worked both in-house and at a variety of agencies, across many different industries, most recently at Yay Lunch!, a modern dining solution for schools throughout the U.S. 

One of the notable projects she spearheaded is the Adidas Breaking Barriers campaign, a European international campaign aiming to champion all women in sports. Additionally, during the Covid pandemic, Ary led a team to develop and execute a campaign to temporarily replace The London Marathon, to create charity fundraising momentum despite everything being shut down. This campaign, called The 2.6 Challenge, raised over £11 million for the charities of Britain.

Ary graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a BA in Graphic Design, and Kingston University, London, with an MA in Communications.

She resides in Queens, NY, with her cat Fig.  She devotes much of her free time to volunteering with the charity EV Loves NYC, which feeds over 2,000 people every Sunday with meals from varying cultures. As an avid and talented cook, Ary often hosts “supper clubs” with varying themes for friends and family.