About SkyView Partners

Scott Wetzel, JD

Managing Partner

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Scott has over 19 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, Scott served as the Senior Director of Wealth Management for Principal Financial Group for 13 years. Scott acquired over $7 billion in assets in his tenure. In 2002, Scott co-founded Locorr - a third party national distributor of alternative investments. Scott sold his interests and those of all initial capital partners and joined Principal in 2005. In 2006, Scott founded WallSteetUnites.org (WSU), a 501(c)3 that coordinates charitable events for advisors nationwide. In 2017, he received the Presidential Lifetime Volunteer Service Award from the Trump Administration. Scott received his Juris Doctorate from William Mitchell and a BBA in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dame. Currently, Scott serves on the Forbes Finance Council as a Contributing Editor.

Aaron Hasler

Managing Partner

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Aaron brings 19 years of industry experience, focusing exclusively on advisory practice mergers and acquisitions consulting in the wealth management industry. Prior to SkyView, Aaron founded an M&A Consulting and executive recruiting firm, Northrop Consulting, providing sell-side representation to wealth management firms wherein he developed a strategy entitled Generational Partnerships to promote long-range succession planning with short term growth, and fueled the industry with talent through executive and experienced employee advisor recruiting. Prior to founding his consulting firm, Aaron was a Regional Director of Branch Development with LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer. A background in compliance and business process management, as well as developing small to mid-sized businesses allows him to understand the advisor experience and the intricacies of wealth management firms. He has a BA from St. Olaf College where he majored in Economics and minored in English.

Chris Jewett

Managing Partner

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Chris has over twelve years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, Chris served at Morgan Stanley as a Financial Advisor, Assistant Branch Manager, Area Sales Manager, and Complex Sales Manager in the Upper Midwest. Prior to joining SkyView Partners, Chris owned and operated midstream service companies in the energy sector in North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. He is very involved with and sits on the board of directors and advisory councils for a number of non-profits and 501c(3) organizations. Chris is an accomplished competitive sailor who has competed both nationally and internationally and won multiple National Sailing Championships. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and graduated from an executive education program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Katie Bruner

Managing Partner

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Katie brings 18 years of experience in the financial services industry to the SkyView Partners team. Most recently, Katie served as a Director - National Accounts at Principal Financial Group for 13 years. She was responsible for cultivating and growing the major independent and regional broker relationships, including LPL, Ameriprise, Ladenburg, and RBC. In her role, Katie was responsible for retaining selling agreements, positioning investments, gaining model portfolio allocations, and navigating the independent channel’s conference calendar. Prior to joining Principal, Katie was employed by Fidelity Investments in their non-profit retirement plan group. Katie graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and International Relations from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jayne Christian, CFP

President - Lending

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Jayne has been in the wealth management industry since 2010 and has a background as a Retirement Plan Specialist with Principal and a registered Client Associate with Merrill Lynch. During her time as a Client Associate, Jayne was nationally recognized twice as a top service provider within Merrill Lynch in 2014 and 2015. As a CFP® professional, her most recent specialty was offering goals based financial planning to the Ultra High Net Worth sector of private wealth management. Jayne uses her knowledge of financial planning and advisory services to create a streamlined process from introduction to close on all small advisory loans. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Minnesota.

Robert Perry

Chief Credit Officer

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Rob brings a wealth of credit underwriting and bank policy experience to SkyView Partners. Specifically, Rob is one the of the Nation’s leading experts on advisory loans. Prior to joining SkyView Partners, Rob was responsible for creating a lending policy for conventional advisory loan programs at two banks. Rob graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from St. Olaf College where he majored in Economics.

Jim Melland

Chief Lending Officer

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Jim has ten years of experience in commercial banking. Jim has significant cash flow lending experience, specifically in advisory loans from his tenure as commercial banker at Anchor Bank. Jim was instrumental in developing a national financial advisory loan program and growing the leveraged lending portfolio at Anchor. Prior to Anchor Bank, Jim spent six years in various credit rolls at two community banks. Jim has a Bachelor’s Degree from St. Cloud State University in Finance.

Ben Collins, CFA

Chief Financial Officer/Chief Investment Officer

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Ben has more than nine years of experience in the wealth management industry conducting investment research and analysis. Ben was most recently a portfolio manager and analyst at Merrill Lynch where he conducted investment research and built and managed discretionary model portfolios. He has also spent time as an equity analyst with Provenire Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund, and as a research analyst at Slocum, an institutional consulting firm where he focused on alternative investments and operational due diligence.

Ben holds the Chartered Financial Analyst^® (CFA^®) designation and is an active member in the CFA^® Society Minnesota and CFA^® Institute. He received his Bachelor's of Science from the University of Minnesota.

Kim McGraw

Chief Marketing Officer

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Kim has over 30 years’ experience in the marketing/design industry. For over 20 years she has served as an independent design consultant for a variety of firms. Prior to owning her own business, Kim worked initially as an Art Director, then became Creative Director at American Express Financial Advisors, partnering with many different parts of the company to help develop their marketing initiatives. She also worked as a Senior Designer for five years at Spangler Design Team. Kim has a B.F.A., Communication Design, from College of Visual Arts.

Kara Miller

Director of Banking and M&A Services

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Kara has worked in the wealth management industry since 2012. Most recently, Kara was a recruiter working exclusively with financial advisors at all stages of their careers. She is experienced in helping late career advisors identify and bring in junior partners to create lasting, generational partnerships that fuel business growth and establish an eventual successor. She has also helped successful mid-career advisors find merger and acquisition partners to fulfill their growth strategies. Previously, Kara spent 12 years providing competitive business intelligence services to marketers and advertisers at Fortune 500 packaged goods companies. Kara has a Bachelor's Degree in Art History from the University of Minnesota.

Kayla Hagedorn

Associate Managing Director

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Kayla brings marketing and public relations experience in the financial services industry to the SkyView Partners team. Kayla’s financial services experience includes a public relations position at Brightpeak Financial and a service representative position at Securian Financial. Kayla graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism, specializing in Strategic Communication.

Henry Schulenberg

Associate Managing Director

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Henry provides strong writing ability and unique finance experience to the SkyView Partners team. While earning his bachelor's degree, Henry worked for a hedge fund known as Pretium Partners. Here, he learned how to assess and re-structure pools of stressed mortgage loans. Henry's most recent experience includes positions at RBC Wealth Management and SetSight, a large data company located in Minneapolis. At RBC, Henry worked alongside several financial advisors, learning the ins and outs of the industry while simultaneously acquiring valuable client-relations skills. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in English from St. Olaf College.

Martin Weber

Sales Desk Manager

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Martin has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, Martin served as an Investment Consultant at Scottrade. Prior to this role, he spent over 16 years as an Investment Executive at Feltl and Company where he helped clients meet their financial goals, created personalized investment portfolios, and raised start up capital for private and public companies. Martin excels in delivering a high level of customer care and service. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Saint Johns University.

Oscar Zejdlik

Associate

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Oscar started as an intern at SkyView Partners in March of 2019 and quickly worked his way into the positions of Internal Wholesaler and Sponsorship Director. Oscar’s background in running his own clothing business has helped him in understanding structures and strategies as they pertain to business, such as developing strong communication skills, having a clear understanding of how to market to different demographics, and possessing a highly creative and adaptable business approach. Oscar is currently pursuing a degree in business and will soon complete his SIE Exam.  

Paul O'Connell

National Sales Director – East

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Paul has 30 years of consulting experience in the Wealth Management industry. Most recently, Paul successfully served as Senior Director for Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Wells Fargo at Principal Global Investors. Prior to Principal, Paul served as Senior V.P./Portfolio Director for Manulife Private Account and American Century Investments. Paul began his career as National Account Manager at Xerox Corporation. For 10 years, Paul has volunteered as a Big Brother and lives in Falmouth, MA and Sarasota, FL with his wife of 37 years.

Adam Arnold, JD

Managing Partner – Legal

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Adam combines his prior experience as a corporate attorney with decades of negotiating financing and owning and operating a successful multi-faceted organization. Adam graduated Summa Cum Laude in Finance & Business Economics from Notre Dame and Magna Cum Laude from William Mitchell College of Law.