HerPath
HerPath is an initiative by Pathstone dedicated to advancing women’s financial knowledge, enabling them to be better informed and equipped to make financial decisions with confidence.
Vision
Women are powerful and can build a better path for themselves, their families, and their community when they are empowered to be financially independent.
When women become more empowered in financial matters, self-assurance extends to all areas of their lives.
Susan Peterson
Managing Director
Mission
Create a welcoming and trusting space for women to come together, exchange ideas, collaborate, learn, and help each other grow. Encourage women to play a more active and integral role in their financial lives by elevating their confidence and furthering their knowledge.
We believe that when women become more empowered in financial matters, self-assurance extends to all areas of their lives, ultimately leading to greater fulfillment overall.
Recent studies have found that women control more than half of the U.S. personal wealth, and that number is growing. Our intention behind HerPath is to create tools and strategies to help women embrace the magnitude of their role, successfully steward their wealth and navigate the financial complexities they face with confidence.
Through a series of interactive learning events, we provide our female clients an opportunity to network with one another, share experiences, ask questions and problem-solve. By delivering educational tools and advice during these programs, we aim to advance women’s financial savviness. Specifically, HerPath offers an opportunity to connect with women that face similar challenges and opportunities.
- Structured, yet fun, setting for a community of women to learn and grow from one another
- Safe, non-judgmental environment allowing women to ask questions about fundamental wealth issues such as investments, philanthropy, estate planning, taxes, money management and more
- Connecting with women facing similar challenges and opportunities
- Sharing with the next generation of women what you wish you had known when you were younger
Director
Andrea Leech is a Director in Pathstone’s Bellevue office, serving as a main point of contact for many of Pathstone’s high net worth and ultra-high net worth families. Passionate about serving clients with complex financial needs, Andrea works to create, customize, and implement financial planning solutions to meet current and legacy financial planning objectives which encompass the next generation, philanthropy, private foundations, and customized portfolio solutions. She serves as a liaison to seamlessly integrate her clients’ family office needs across partnerships with the client’s CPA, estate planning counsel, insurance brokers, and other professionals. Andrea is well-versed in strategic modeling, evaluating and implementing estate planning solutions, managing cash flows, and administering estates and trusts. In addition, Andrea serves as a valuable resource within Pathstone’s client advisory team and regularly provides guidance to Pathstone’s advisors and senior advisors.
Andrea began her financial planning career in 2006 with Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. where she last served as a Director, Associate Client Manager.
Director
Blaire is a Director based in Pathstone’s Seattle office. She provides personalized financial guidance to every individual, family, and institution she serves. In following Pathstone’s guiding philosophy, to always uphold the client’s best interest, Blaire builds unbiased comprehensive wealth management strategies that allow clients to enjoy life beyond wealth. By truly integrating into the lives of clients, Blaire is able to provide much more than financial advisement by building valuable and enduring relationships beyond the traditional transactional nature of financial services.
Manager
Christine Fu is a Manager of Marketing in the Los Angeles office and is responsible for the Firm’s social media strategy. In addition to her marketing responsibilities, she provides executive level support to the Co-CEO, Steve Braverman, and assists in operations for the team. She is a member of the Firm’s next generation initiative, FuturePath, and is Chair of events for this Committee.
President
Kelly Maregni is the President of Pathstone, the Modern Family Office, which serves families, family offices, and endowments and foundations. Kelly is the strategic leader and visionary of the Advisory practice, which includes Investment Advisory, Research, Tax, Accounting, Wealth Planning, and the Regional Leadership Teams. Kelly is a shareholder, a voting member of the firm’s Investment Oversight Committee, and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. Prior to her role as President, she served as the Chief Advisory Officer at Pathstone.
Managing Director
Kelwin Conroy is a Managing Director and shareholder of the firm. She brings fifteen years of investor relations and marketing experience at several global financial services institutions, including UBS and Wellington Management Company, where she gained a broad understanding of diverse product areas ranging from public equities to venture capital. She directly advises both high net worth individuals and investment committees of several private foundations on a variety of investment-related issues ranging from asset allocation to individual manager selection to account rebalancing. Kelwin also works closely with clients’ other advisors including attorneys and accountants to provide comprehensive financial planning advice to address cash flow, insurance, tax, retirement and estate planning issues.
Associate Director
Michelle Epstein is an Associate Director based out of Pathstone’s Washington, DC area office. She is part of the Pathstone team responsible for providing customized wealth management solutions to some of the firm’s larger ultra-high net worth clients. Michelle advises on portfolio construction, asset allocation, and estate and tax plan implementation. Serving as the main point of contact for clients, Michelle supports their individual investment objectives and reporting needs. She is a member of the HerPath committee.
Director
Sharon H Gupta is a key member of the Chief Marketing Office and Director of Marketing and Business Development at Pathstone. She oversees the Firm’s marketing efforts including brand, communications, digital, events, and PR, as well as sales strategy and prospecting. Sharon is part of the FuturePath and Impact Committees. Also, she serves as a mentor to Pathstone’s next generation of leaders and advisors through the Firm’s FuturePath initiative and co-directs the HerPath initiative.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Sharon is an experienced executive who specializes in High Net Worth marketing and branding. Previously, Sharon was Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Dynasty Financial Partners, a strategic partner of The Rudin Group, and led the marketing efforts at Fortigent (Fortigent was purchased by LPL Financial in 2012).
Managing Director
As a Managing Director in Pathstone’s Bellevue, WA office, Sue specializes in helping widows and divorcees, women business owners, and executives, advising individuals and families on a variety of wealth management issues, including financial and legacy planning, investment management, and income taxes. She also serves as co-chair of HerPath, whose mission is to ensure women are prepared to play an integral role in their financial lives by elevating their knowledge and confidence in financial decision-making. In addition, Sue enjoys contributing to the firm’s business development efforts and mentoring the next generation.
Sue’s passion for helping clients effectively and thoughtfully steward their wealth means building deep and abiding relationships. She values being her clients’ first call, whether there is a problem to solve or good news to celebrate. She is singularly focused on being a trusted advisor who brings compassion and creative problem-solving to accomplishing client objectives so their lives are freed up to focus on what they most enjoy.
Before joining Pathstone, Sue was a Managing Director at Cornerstone Advisors, where she served as a client manager for over 25 years.
Managing Director
Susan Wittliff is a Managing Director and shareholder at Pathstone. She provides strategic advice to clients designed to solidify their goals and help them to build a roadmap for the future. She places her clients’ values and interests first in helping them to determine their financial strategy, believing that wealth planning and investment strategy gain true resonance when they are reflective of the people involved.
Managing Director
As a Managing Director in Pathstone’s Winter Park office, Vivien provides investment advice and advanced planning for individual and institutional clients.
Director
Andrea Leech is a Director in Pathstone’s Bellevue office, serving as a main point of contact for many of Pathstone’s high net worth and ultra-high net worth families. Passionate about serving clients with complex financial needs, Andrea works to create, customize, and implement financial planning solutions to meet current and legacy financial planning objectives which encompass the next generation, philanthropy, private foundations, and customized portfolio solutions. She serves as a liaison to seamlessly integrate her clients’ family office needs across partnerships with the client’s CPA, estate planning counsel, insurance brokers, and other professionals. Andrea is well-versed in strategic modeling, evaluating and implementing estate planning solutions, managing cash flows, and administering estates and trusts. In addition, Andrea serves as a valuable resource within Pathstone’s client advisory team and regularly provides guidance to Pathstone’s advisors and senior advisors.
Andrea began her financial planning career in 2006 with Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. where she last served as a Director, Associate Client Manager.
Director
Blaire is a Director based in Pathstone’s Seattle office. She provides personalized financial guidance to every individual, family, and institution she serves. In following Pathstone’s guiding philosophy, to always uphold the client’s best interest, Blaire builds unbiased comprehensive wealth management strategies that allow clients to enjoy life beyond wealth. By truly integrating into the lives of clients, Blaire is able to provide much more than financial advisement by building valuable and enduring relationships beyond the traditional transactional nature of financial services.
Manager
Christine Fu is a Manager of Marketing in the Los Angeles office and is responsible for the Firm’s social media strategy. In addition to her marketing responsibilities, she provides executive level support to the Co-CEO, Steve Braverman, and assists in operations for the team. She is a member of the Firm’s next generation initiative, FuturePath, and is Chair of events for this Committee.
President
Kelly Maregni is the President of Pathstone, the Modern Family Office, which serves families, family offices, and endowments and foundations. Kelly is the strategic leader and visionary of the Advisory practice, which includes Investment Advisory, Research, Tax, Accounting, Wealth Planning, and the Regional Leadership Teams. Kelly is a shareholder, a voting member of the firm’s Investment Oversight Committee, and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. Prior to her role as President, she served as the Chief Advisory Officer at Pathstone.
Managing Director
Kelwin Conroy is a Managing Director and shareholder of the firm. She brings fifteen years of investor relations and marketing experience at several global financial services institutions, including UBS and Wellington Management Company, where she gained a broad understanding of diverse product areas ranging from public equities to venture capital. She directly advises both high net worth individuals and investment committees of several private foundations on a variety of investment-related issues ranging from asset allocation to individual manager selection to account rebalancing. Kelwin also works closely with clients’ other advisors including attorneys and accountants to provide comprehensive financial planning advice to address cash flow, insurance, tax, retirement and estate planning issues.
Associate Director
Michelle Epstein is an Associate Director based out of Pathstone’s Washington, DC area office. She is part of the Pathstone team responsible for providing customized wealth management solutions to some of the firm’s larger ultra-high net worth clients. Michelle advises on portfolio construction, asset allocation, and estate and tax plan implementation. Serving as the main point of contact for clients, Michelle supports their individual investment objectives and reporting needs. She is a member of the HerPath committee.
Director
Sharon H Gupta is a key member of the Chief Marketing Office and Director of Marketing and Business Development at Pathstone. She oversees the Firm’s marketing efforts including brand, communications, digital, events, and PR, as well as sales strategy and prospecting. Sharon is part of the FuturePath and Impact Committees. Also, she serves as a mentor to Pathstone’s next generation of leaders and advisors through the Firm’s FuturePath initiative and co-directs the HerPath initiative.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Sharon is an experienced executive who specializes in High Net Worth marketing and branding. Previously, Sharon was Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Dynasty Financial Partners, a strategic partner of The Rudin Group, and led the marketing efforts at Fortigent (Fortigent was purchased by LPL Financial in 2012).
Managing Director
As a Managing Director in Pathstone’s Bellevue, WA office, Sue specializes in helping widows and divorcees, women business owners, and executives, advising individuals and families on a variety of wealth management issues, including financial and legacy planning, investment management, and income taxes. She also serves as co-chair of HerPath, whose mission is to ensure women are prepared to play an integral role in their financial lives by elevating their knowledge and confidence in financial decision-making. In addition, Sue enjoys contributing to the firm’s business development efforts and mentoring the next generation.
Sue’s passion for helping clients effectively and thoughtfully steward their wealth means building deep and abiding relationships. She values being her clients’ first call, whether there is a problem to solve or good news to celebrate. She is singularly focused on being a trusted advisor who brings compassion and creative problem-solving to accomplishing client objectives so their lives are freed up to focus on what they most enjoy.
Before joining Pathstone, Sue was a Managing Director at Cornerstone Advisors, where she served as a client manager for over 25 years.
Managing Director
Susan Wittliff is a Managing Director and shareholder at Pathstone. She provides strategic advice to clients designed to solidify their goals and help them to build a roadmap for the future. She places her clients’ values and interests first in helping them to determine their financial strategy, believing that wealth planning and investment strategy gain true resonance when they are reflective of the people involved.
Managing Director
As a Managing Director in Pathstone’s Winter Park office, Vivien provides investment advice and advanced planning for individual and institutional clients.
HerPath Events
December 3, 2021
Virtual
Insights
May 25, 2023
Please enjoy an in-depth discussion on getting comfortable with Private Investing as our panelists tackle the common questions about Private Investments:
January 18, 2023
Children – When should they come off your policy?
Minor children are covered under both your home and auto policies. For auto policies, it is important to add drivers as they receive their permits to drive, which will increase the premiums paid. The question becomes, what happens when your child graduates from high school and leaves the home? Your homeowner’s policy will continue to cover your child, even if they travel out of state, if they are: attending school full time, under the age of 26, and use the home as their primary residence prior to moving away. This coverage extends to their personal belongings and includes liability coverage.
Unlike health insurance coverage, there is no age limit to remove your adult child from either your home or auto policy. If your child moves back home after college, then your auto and homeowner’s policies will continue to cover that child since those policies default to cover anyone who is living with you. Once your child finds their first job after graduating from college, this may be the opportune moment to shift financial responsibility of premium payments to your child. Timing this shift will depend on family and personal values and can vary per child.
Why is my insurance provider increasing my premiums?
A recent trend that we have noticed amongst insurance carriers is increasing premiums, preference towards non-renewing policies and even pulling completely out of certain markets. Our friends at Lockton have put together this summary describing these trends and why we are seeing them. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the reasons we are seeing this trend comes back to supply-chain issues resulting in higher costs for repairs to damages. Climate change is another factor. We are seeing an increase in disasters caused by wildfires, hailstorms, hurricanes, and other weather events across the country. These increase the burden on the insurance carriers of paying out claims which translates to higher premiums.
What if I own my property within a Limited Liability Company or Trust?
Another area for consideration is how to insure a property that is owned by a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or a Trust. There are a few options to setting a policy, but most important is to ensure that you work with your trusted advisor to ensure proper coverage of your home and your contents. The most common option to consider is listing the homeowner as the owner of the policy, and then listing the trust or LLC as the additionally insured party. This results in one policy with property and casualty coverage for the trust or LLC. As we often see, the type and number of policies needed for adequate coverage will vary between state and should be tailored to specific client needs. It is best to work with your financial adviser to help find the most appropriate coverage.
January 18, 2023
How do I know if the contents of my home are properly insured?
Personal Property consists of the contents of your home and other personal belongings that are owned by you and family members living with you. We typically think of these items like furniture and appliances, but it also pertains to jewelry, antiques, art, entertainment equipment, etc. The personal property section of your homeowner’s insurance policy covers these items no matter where the item is located at the time of the loss. However, the coverage under the policy is limited to actual cash value which is different than replacement cost which is found in the main dwelling section of your policy. We cover replacement cost in our article titled “Property and Casualty Insurance: The Basics”. Actual cash value is the cost of the property minus depreciation. Depreciation can be thought of as normal wear and tear. Therefore, there is potential for financial loss, especially on those sentimental/specialty property items such as jewelry, or antiques that have a higher value than the actual cash value covered in the policy. This is where an endorsement can be used to supplement the potential loss of these items.
Since coverage in the personal property section of a homeowner’s policy is limited in the event of a loss, an endorsement should be used to supplement the property that has been valued higher than the actual cash value. A schedule is attached to the homeowner’s policy, lists the specific items, and has the value for each item. The values are agreed upon between the insured and the insurance company, with some items needing to have a separate valuation to support the replacement value requested. The deductible is waived for separately scheduled items in the event of a loss.
https://www.allstate.com/resources/home-insurance/what-is-an-insurance-rider
Do I need more liability coverage than provided by my homeowner’s policy?
Liability insurance under the homeowner’s policy covers the insured and all resident family members. If someone brings a claim against you stating that they have been hurt or that their property was damaged by something you did or did not do, you will be covered under liability insurance. The coverage is subject to a limit per occurrence and will vary between states and policies. The insurance company will provide and pay for all legal and any settlement costs if a dispute were to arise. It is a good practice to review this section to ensure that this coverage is sufficient or if a Personal Liability Umbrella Policy (PLUP) should be used to supplement the policy.
A Personal Liability Umbrella Policy (PLUP) is additional property and casualty insurance that may be recommended by your financial advisor depending on your financial situation. A PLUP will cover an amount above your homeowners and auto insurance limits. A PLUP will typically start coverage at $1 million, purchased in increments of $1 million and has a relatively low cost. The following link to Kiplinger.com is a great resource to help get an idea of how much coverage may be needed given a certain level of assets.
