Looking beyond the numbers
to focus on you

Our Clients

Our clients tend to fall into one of several groups, each with their own specific needs, concerns, and challenges.

• Families and
  Individuals

   

  These clients’ lives are so busy and hectic that they often have little time to plan for their financial future. They may need assistance in defining goals such as saving for college or understanding their company’s employee benefit plans, or they have may questions about selecting from among the various types of retirement accounts.

  Having someone to look after them with planning knowledge and a disciplined investment approach enables these families and individuals to focus on their other priorities.

• Retirees

   

  With their primary careers completed and their families out on their own, some of our retired clients may want to replace full-time employment with a second career, start a business, or seek greater involvement in community and charitable organizations. Others want to travel and enjoy their grandkids.  In general, their financial priorities are preservation of principal and ensuring that their assets will provide a predictable and rising income for the rest of their lives.

  Our relationship is often very interactive as we discuss issues such as monthly income and budgeting, including the potential need to offset significant medical expenses, or whether it makes sense to downsize to a smaller home. Creating a plan for the eventual smooth transition of assets to their heirs is significant for many.

• Women
  Investors

   

  Many of our women clients had been in relationships where they shared financial decision-making, and after losing their spouse, they want to make sure that they continue to make good choices. They ask questions and tend to be more disciplined investors.

  We allow plenty of time for questions to make sure these clients understand the “how” and “why,” and to give them a sense of confidence leading to their long-term success.

---

Client Advice Process

Our structured, five-step advice process enables us to provide our clients with a detailed assessment of their current situation
as well as a comprehensive, prioritized plan to fulfill their purpose and achieve their goals. We provide both initial and ongoing guidance so that clients can
see their progress and make refinements as necessary due to changes in their own situation or to adjust to changes in market conditions.

• Step #1
  
  Introductory Conversation

   

  During our Introductory Conversation, generally conducted by phone, we begin the process of getting to know one another to determine whether our investment philosophy and process are compatible with the goals you are seeking to achieve.

• Step #2
  
  Discovery
  meeting

   

  Our Discovery meeting begins with a review of what was discussed during our Introductory Conversation leading to a full understanding of your goals as well as enabling you to more fully understand how I work with clients. We review your current holdings, analyze your savings rate and rates of return, and begin the process of developing financial strategies to achieve your specific goals.

• Step #3
  
  Recommendations & Implementation

   

  Next comes creating your investment recommendations along with a written description of how your portfolio will operate. We provide you with a cover letter, your defined goals, your net worth, an educational funding analysis, a retirement plan analysis, your current asset allocation and a sample portfolio. During our subsequent telephone conversation, we review and discuss how the portfolio recommendations are aligned with your desired goals and make any adjustments that may be needed. After confirming your agreement, we begin to implement the recommendations.

• Step #4
  
  New Client
  Welcome

   

  We review everything we have done to this point, including statements and other documents, to confirm your understanding of strategy implementation and how to access information.

• Step #5
  
  Progress
  Review

   

  At our first Progress Review meeting, we go over everything you have received in the mail and discuss what you need to retain and what can be discarded. We also review your first statement to make sure you understand what it is telling you. We also describe the various education pieces that we email to our clients from time to time. Finally, we add you to our call cycle which includes phone calls from us on a regular basis for updates and to answer any questions you may have.

---

Our Family Wealth Management Life Plan table illustrates the various areas where we help our
clients achieve the goals that are most meaningful for them and their families.

About Us

 

Our Experience

Our team’s combined experience totals nearly 100 years. Steve’s Dad and Ben’s mentor Phil had long and successful careers in financial services. That legacy of knowledge and experience through good times and bad has been passed down to us and has had a tremendous impact on how we think about planning and investing.

Our Investment Approach

We believe our clients should know what they own and why they own it. If they are comfortable with the individual securities in their portfolios, they are more likely to make smart decisions when others are panic selling into a volatile market.

That’s also the rationale behind our focus on cash flow. Cash flow helps corporate executives make well-reasoned decisions and encourages clients to stick with investments that are paying them to wait for market recoveries.

Our Challenge Question – What Can Go Wrong With the Story?

Once we implement a plan, it does not remain static. Whether we’re talking about financial planning considerations or managing their investments, we’re constantly looking for anything that could challenge our assumptions and potentially have an adverse effect on our clients’ financial futures.

We review items as simple as account titling and beneficiary designations to more complicated estate planning decisions through the lens of asking, “What could go wrong with this picture?” By speaking up about these considerations, we’ve helped many clients avoid the pitfalls that could create problems for them and for their families.

 

Our Team

• 

  Stephen Besse, CFP^®

  Senior Vice President, Investments
  Managing Director
  Certified Financial Planner^™

  Over the years, I have refined the focus of my practice to something I call family wealth advising. This means helping generations of families develop their vision for their ideal future, address their individual needs and concerns, and prepare for their family transitions.

  Before recommending any investments, I believe my clients must have a plan with specific, quantifiable investment goals and a target rate of return to achieve those goals. “I want to make a lot of money,” or “I want to do better than the market,” are not examples of quantifiable goals. On the other hand, “I want to save enough money so that I can afford to have my five-year-old daughter attend U.C. Davis when she is eighteen,” is an example of a specific goal toward which we can tailor an investment plan.

  Early Years

  The son of San Francisco Bay area natives from Oakland, I was born and raised here in the San Ramon Valley. After graduation from Monte Vista High School in Danville, I attended Santa Clara University, playing varsity lacrosse while earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History. Upon graduation from Santa Clara, I worked as a route salesperson for RJR Nabisco in San Francisco.

  Financial Career

  In January of 1994, I followed my father into a career as a financial advisor, serving his clients after he retired in 2001, in addition to my own in Walnut Creek and the greater San Francisco Bay area. In 2007, I earned the Certified Financial Planner™ certification awarded by the CFP® Board of Standards. After over twenty years at Smith Barney and its successor firms, I joined Raymond James in 2014 because of the value I saw in its size, culture, and belief in client-first relationships.

  Personal Background

  I reside in Danville with my fiancée Gina and my two children, Christina (2003), who is in college at the University of Alabama and a member of Alpha Phi sorority, and Andrew (2005), our high school lacrosse player.  I am a baseball fan (Oakland As – of course), an avid reader of military history, and a collector of Second World War memorabilia.

• 

  Ben Rose, CFP^®, RICP^®

  Financial
  Advisor
  Certified Financial Planner^™

  I help our clients in all areas of financial planning, including estate planning, investment asset allocation, risk management and retirement planning. I particularly enjoy focusing on situations where I can make complicated financial subjects easy to understand or those times when I can recommend an approach that is likely to have a major impact on our clients’ or their families’ well-being.

  After growing up in Toronto as one of 4 siblings, I graduated from the University of Toronto and then moved to the Bay area in 1998. I began working with Phil Economopoulos & Ana Pequeneza in 2007, and then Ana and I joined Steve Besse & Vanessa Jimenez when Phil retired in 2022.

  With over 25 years in financial services, I have served as the pro bono chair of the Financial Planning Association of San Francisco and as the treasurer of Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley.

  My wife and I live in Berkeley and have a “twenty-something” son. Everyone says I spend far too much of my spare time agonizing over the perpetual futility of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sigh!

• Vanessa Jimenez

  Senior Client Service Associate

  I love getting to know our clients to the point of instantly recognizing their voices when they call. They know I am committed to being responsive, proactive, and efficient in taking care of whatever service needs they may have. While I work hard to get things done quickly, if something gets delayed, I know how important it is to reach out with a status update so they will know what to expect.

  Prior to joining Raymond James with Steve Besse as his Service Associate in 2014, I started my career in 2006 as a receptionist at Smith Barney/Morgan Stanley before moving into various operations and administrative positions.

  My husband (also named Steve!) and I live in Antioch with our three sons: Derrick (2006), Jaxon (2012), and Jrue (2019). Like many families with a house full of boys, we spend most of our time traveling and hustling them to their various sports events – particularly football!

• Ana Pequeneza

  Senior Registered Client Service Associate

  Our clients expect me to respond quickly to their questions and requests, while making time to be that pleasant voice on the phone. Talking about what is going on in our clients’ lives is something I have always enjoyed, and it’s enabled me to build strong relationships with them.

  Born in Portugal, I came to the U.S. at the age of three. I started my career at age 20 as a receptionist at Dean Witter before moving into various operations and administrative positions there and at PaineWebber/UBS. For the last twenty years I worked with Phil Economopoulos as his Senior Registered Service Associate at Raymond James and predecessor firms before joining Steve Besse & Vanessa Jimenez when Phil retired in 2022.

  I have lived (and now work!) in Walnut Creek for more than fifteen years. I enjoy time with my nephew, brother, and parents as well as Pita, my aging kitty. Favorite activities include walking, hiking, and reading. 

---

CFP^® | Certified Financial Planner^™ |
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., owns the certification marks above, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements.

Contact Us