About SkyView Partners

Katie brings over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry to the SkyView Partners team. Currently, she oversees sales, marketing, and distribution for SkyView Partners, in addition to loan sourcing through strategic partnerships and multi-medium channels. In January 2021, Katie assumed the role of leading overall strategy and M&A initiatives for SkyView Investment Bank. Prior to SkyView, Katie served as a Director - National Accounts at Principal Financial Group for 13 years, where she was responsible for cultivating and growing the major independent and regional broker relationships. Before 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.

Securities Exams Passed: Series 7 and 63

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.

Securities Exams Passed: Series 7 and 66

Ellen joined the SkyView team in March of 2021, where she assists in the early stages of the underwriting process through document collection and completion of opportunity memorandums. Ellen also helps manage and optimize SkyView’s CRM as a System Administrator. Before her role at SkyView, Ellen worked in the customer service industry while pursuing an education at Minnesota State University, Mankato. During her time at MSU, Ellen participated in writing research essays and engaged in several volunteer opportunities, which she continues to be a part of today.

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.

Securities Exams Passed: SIE

Kayla has five years of marketing and communications experience in the financial services industry. Before joining the SkyView team in 2018, Kayla worked in public relations at Thrivent Financial, followed by a service representative position at Securian Financial. She holds her Certified Digital Marketing Professional (CDMP) certification from the Digital Marketing Institute and her Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) certification from the American Marketing Association. Kayla graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in 2016 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism, specializing in Strategic Communication.

Sarah has been working in the commercial banking industry since 2014.  Before starting at SkyView, she was an underwriter on commercial real estate loans that focused primarily on acquisitions, refinance, new construction, and land development.  Her role later transitioned into working on the documentation side to prepare loans for closing while meeting and satisfying various regulations and compliance standards.  Working on the closing side, she handled roughly 140 loan closings per year.  Her prior accomplishments within her previous roles included creating and updating new procedures that focused on accuracy and efficiency.  Sarah graduated with a bachelor's degree in Finance from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Chris has over 12 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.

Securities Exams Passed: Series 7, 9, 10, 31, 63, 65, and SIE

Nihaara has a wide and varied career background, spanning finance, tech and sales. She began her finance career in consulting as a Municipal Advisor to state and city governments and utilities, advising on primary bond issuance and other debt program management strategies. In this role, Nihaara and her team equipped issuer clients to best position themselves for successful securities sales, helping them to identify deal structures that complemented their debt portfolios and to select strategic investment bank partners. After a brief stint working with real estate investors, Nihaara led a market development team at a property-tech startup, bringing her penchant for picking out key indicators and strong analytical skills to tactically expanding its market. Nihaara has served on two nonprofit boards, including the opportunity to increase alumni engagement for her alma mater as Alumni Director for Los Angeles. Nihaara received her Bachelor’s Degree in a hybrid study of linguistics, rhetoric and social research methods from Point Loma Nazarene University.

Securities Exams Passed: Series 50

Maria joins SkyView with nearly a decade of fintech experience, specializing in new products and capabilities. Maria started her career at a Fortune 500 bank, launching and scaling major co-branded and private label credit card programs, with the largest exceeding $3.5B in annual receivables. She left to support early-stage growth companies in 2020, where she conceptualized, launched, and scaled consumer finance and insurance products for a direct-to-consumer mortgage company. Maria volunteers her time advising financials for a 501(c)(3) organization at her alma mater, Ohio University, where she graduated with a BBA from the College of Business. Maria is also a graduate of the Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Centre at Ohio University.  

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 been a part of the SkyView team since 2018 and has 13+ years of experience in commercial banking. He has significant cash flow lending experience, specifically in advisory loans from his tenure as a 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 roles at two community banks. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from St. Cloud State University in Finance. 

John has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry.  Prior to joining SkyView, John served as the Senior Economist and Macro Strategist for Principal Portfolio Strategies, a boutique multi-asset manager with over $90 billion in AUM. Before joining Principal, John worked at Neuberger Berman as the key contact on International and Emerging Markets Equities team for consultants, clients and prospects. John also worked as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers where he provided financial advice to emerging market governments, including the Finance Ministry and Central Bank of Indonesia in the wake of the Asia Financial Crisis.  Before joining the financial industry, John was a Foreign Service officer and economist at the U.S. Department of State and was posted in Caracas, Bangkok and Washington, D.C.

John was graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in History and received a M.Sc. in Finance from George Washington  University.  He holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Kara has worked in the wealth management industry since 2012. She is experienced in helping late-career advisors establish their ideal legacy plan and identify the pathway to either exit the industry or remain involved with clients well into retirement. Her work with mid-career advisors centers on finding the right buyer or merger partner to achieve immediate liquidity, growth, equity ownership, and expanded career opportunities. Kara has broad experience in helping advisors attract junior partners to create lasting, generational partnerships that establish an eventual successor. Her early career was spent working with blue chip consumer packaged goods companies, and she has a Bachelor's Degree in Art History from the University of Minnesota.

Securities Exams Passed: SIE

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.

Securities Exams Passed: Series 7 and 66

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. 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. 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.

Securities Exams Passed: Series 7, 26, 31, 63 and 79

Oscar currently serves as a Director at the Advisory Practice Board of Exchange (APBOE), guiding financial advisors through the initial stages of APBOE buyer diligence and helping them identify ways to strengthen themselves as buyers throughout the acquisition process. Additionally, Oscar is a junior associate with SkyView Investment Bank to source advisors looking to sell their practice and engage them in the APBOE marketplace. Oscar received a bachelor's degree in Marketing from Rasmussen University, where he graduated with honors.

Securities Exams Passed: SIE