Our People
We pursue our mission through our dedicated full-time staff, the independent members of our investment committee and a select number of partner firms.
All full-time employees have an ownership interest in First Ascent and invest in the same portfolios as our clients.
Karen L. Garcia
Chief Operating Officer
I feel that we can make a positive difference for clients and their advisors....
Patrick Krulik, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
My role is to oversee the investment process while working closely with both our internal investment team and external i...
Walter Gengarelly
Director of Technology
What I do here: I develop technology solutions that help advisors serve the needs of their clients. Why I love my job: A...
Charles Staples
Senior Trading/Investments Manager
What I do here: I am responsible for generating and executing trades and providing support to the investment team. Why I...
Josh Smith
Trader/Analyst
I work with the investment and trading team on all aspects of the process, from executing trades to assisting on various...
Mac MacKillop
Director of Advisor Consulting
I work directly with financial advisors to help them best use First Ascent’s strategies and services for their clients...
Marisa Viterbo
Advisor Consultant
I work directly with financial advisors to help them best use First Ascent’s strategies and services for their clients...
Travis Nelson
Director of Client Service and Operations
I manage all operational and servicing aspects for client accounts, interfacing with advisors, and custodians and vendor...
Natalie Dilley
Investment Operations Associate
I work on the operations team providing client service and day-to-day account administration....
Alla Aristov
Investment Operations Associate
I assist advisors with their client’s administrative needs. ...
Ben Sullivan
Director of Communications
I create and manage the production of the media and the videos on the Knowledge Center....Our Investment Team
Our investment team consists of our internal investment staff plus the independent members of our investment committee. This structure brings new ideas, fresh perspectives and an additional level of objectivity.
Scott MacKillop
Chief Executive Officer
I imagine how we can become more useful to the financial advisors and clients we work for and encourage my teammates to ... Patrick Krulik, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
My role is to oversee the investment process while working closely with both our internal investment team and external i... Charles Staples
Senior Trading/Investments Manager
What I do here: I am responsible for generating and executing trades and providing support to the investment team. Why I... Josh Smith
Trader/Analyst
I work with the investment and trading team on all aspects of the process, from executing trades to assisting on various...Our Investment Committee
Independent Members of Our Investment Committee
Charles Burgess, CFA. Chuck has 15 years of financial services industry experience. He served as Senior Portfolio Manager and a member of the investment committee at Frontier Asset Management, and as a Senior Fund Analyst at Oppenheimer Funds.
Mary Kathryn Campion, Ph.D., CFA, AIFA. President and Founder, Champion Capital Research. Dr. Campion has decades of experience as a financial economist and portfolio strategist.
Geoff Selzer, CFA. Geoff has 20 years of financial services industry experience. He served as a Senior Vice President at Envestnet/PMC and as Director of Consulting Services at Prima Capital.
Shane Morrow, CFP®, CIMA, CAIA, CFA Level II candidate. Shane has 14 years of financial services industry experience. He is Managing Partner of IronBridge Wealth Counsel.
Merrill Stillwell, CFA. Managing Partner, Blue Mountain Investments. Before founding Blue Mountain Investments, Merrill was an analyst at Denver Investments from 2010-2014.
Our Creative Team
The creative team consists of full-time First Ascent employees supported by talented individuals from some of our partner firms.
Scott MacKillop
Chief Executive Officer
I imagine how we can become more useful to the financial advisors and clients we work for and encourage my teammates to ... Walter Gengarelly
Director of Technology
What I do here: I develop technology solutions that help advisors serve the needs of their clients. Why I love my job: A... Mac MacKillop
Director of Advisor Consulting
I work directly with financial advisors to help them best use First Ascent’s strategies and services for their clients... Marisa Viterbo
Advisor Consultant
I work directly with financial advisors to help them best use First Ascent’s strategies and services for their clients... Ben Sullivan
Director of Communications
I create and manage the production of the media and the videos on the Knowledge Center....Outside Creative Partner Firms
Web Development by CodeGeek
Graphic and Web Design by Vernon Design
Copy writing and Editing by S. LeBlanc and Company
Our Service Team
The service team consists of full-time First Ascent employees supported by talented individuals from some of our partner firms.
Karen L. Garcia
Chief Operating Officer
I feel that we can make a positive difference for clients and their advisors.... Walter Gengarelly
Director of Technology
What I do here: I develop technology solutions that help advisors serve the needs of their clients. Why I love my job: A... Mac MacKillop
Director of Advisor Consulting
I work directly with financial advisors to help them best use First Ascent’s strategies and services for their clients... Marisa Viterbo
Advisor Consultant
I work directly with financial advisors to help them best use First Ascent’s strategies and services for their clients... Travis Nelson
Director of Client Service and Operations
I manage all operational and servicing aspects for client accounts, interfacing with advisors, and custodians and vendor... Natalie Dilley
Investment Operations Associate
I work on the operations team providing client service and day-to-day account administration.... Alla Aristov
Investment Operations Associate
I assist advisors with their client’s administrative needs. ...Our Partner Firms
We would like to thank the following firms for their contributions to First Ascent and for their ongoing support:
CodeGeek (website development)
Davis, Graham and Stubbs (legal services)
Holben, Hay, Lake and Balzer (accounting services)
Morrison Shafroth, Shafroth Consulting (Public Relations/Social Media/Content Marketing)
Orion Advisor Services (cloud-based portfolio accounting platform)
Tech Inc. Solutions (technology support)
S. LeBlanc and Company (copy writing and editing)
TD Ameritrade (custodian)
Vernon Design (graphic and web design)