About SkyView Partners

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tina joined SkyView Credit Team in August of 2020. Tina is responsible for managing phase one of the underwriting process. Prior to joining SkyView, Tina worked in financial services firm as a Project Manager. Her responsibilities spanned marketing, financial forecasting and client engagement. Recently, Tina received her BA in Mathematics and Statistics with a specialization in Actuarial Science.