As Chief Investment Officer, Kurt heads the TownSquare investment committee in the design and construction of client portfolios including asset class selection and the vetting of outside money managers. With nearly 25 years of both buy and sell-side capital markets experience, Kurt has managed portfolios for Fortune 500 companies, hedge funds, university endowments, Taft Hartley plans, bank trust portfolios, and individual retirement accounts. Prior to forming TownSquare, Kurt was a principal at Alta Capital, a high-quality growth equity manager based in Salt Lake City, Utah. During his 12 years with Alta, Kurt helped grow the firm’s assets under management from $300 million to over $3 billion. In addition to his investment work, Kurt is frequently called upon to speak at investment conferences, universities, and CPA and Estate Planning conferences. Topics include capital markets inefficiencies and conflicts of interest associated with investment products and brokerage firms. Prior to Alta, Kurt was with Black Rock Capital and Bank of America / Montgomery Securities where he advised institutional clients on trading and risk management issues including the divestiture and hedging of concentrated equity positions and the creation of structured product. Kurt studied Finance and Economics at Brigham Young University where he currently serves as an adjunct professor and board member of The Ballard Center for Economic Self Reliance.
TownSquare Capital
- The TownSquare investment platform is a flexible chassis designed to augment our client’s current investment program.
Kurt Brown
Chief Investment Officer / Managing Director
Chris Hedquist CFA
Senior Portfolio Strategist
As Senior Portfolio Strategist at Townsquare Capital, Chris works directly with financial advisors and their clients in developing, implementing, and monitoring investment portfolios and financial planning strategies. Chris heads up the investment audit and proposal capabilities of the firm. He also sits on the Townsquare Capital investment committee and is responsible for helping to develop the firm’s investment policies for conducting due diligence on the investment offerings available through the firm, including alternative investments.
Chris has been a registered representative and investment adviser since 1992 and has been a General Securities Principal since 2003. Chris also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and CFP® designations. After graduating from Brigham Young University in Business Management & Finance, Chris began his career as a financial advisor working for Shearson Lehman Brothers, then Merrill Lynch. During the past 25 years, Chris has also worked for other independent wealth management firms where he focused on advising financial advisors and their clients on portfolio construction, investment selection, and retirement planning.
Monica Sonnier CFA
Director of Fixed Income Strategies
Monica specializes in fixed income analysis and management and has over 20 years’ experience in institutional portfolio management. Monica was most recently the head of portfolio strategies for a regional broker/dealer, serving their institutional fixed income clients with portfolio strategy development as well as development of the firm’s platform, including an online portfolio management system. Prior to that, she was the Chief Investment Officer for a banker’s bank and managed the Investment Division for the bank. She managed investment portfolios for banks, provided consulting services in investments and ALM, ran the bank’s ALM reporting service bureau and managed the operational area supporting safekeeping, trading and portfolio accounting services. Monica also spent eight years as the portfolio manager and funding manager at a large regional bank, managing a portfolio of over $2 billion in Government, Agency, Municipal, Corporate, Mortgage-Backed and Money Market securities.
She began her career in public accounting with a CPA firm, specializing in audits of financial institutions. Monica is currently on the AICPA’s National Financial Literacy Commission, was recently on the Board of Directors of the AICPA, and has chaired the Investment Committee of the Institute. Monica studied Accounting at Louisiana State University and later obtained her CPA and CFA certifications. She is also licensed in series 7, 24, 28, 63, and 65.
Michael Folker
Head of Advisor Development
As one of the founding partners of TownSquare Capital, Michael’s primary role as Head of Advisor Development is helping financial advisory firms maximize their efficiency and grow their practice. He is responsible for developing new client relationships with RIAs and independent advisors and integrating them into TownSquare’s investment approach.
Michael has extensive experience in the formation, development, and oversight of advisory practices. During his career, he has built out the operational teams of 2 SEC registered advisory firms and consulted with several others. He has directly overseen the onboarding of over 12,000 accounts and over $2 billion in assets under management. He has also worked directly with several retail advisory firms in order to help them acquire new client assets, refine their systems and processes, and develop a framework to invest and allocate client accounts. Michael holds a B.S. in accounting from Brigham Young University.
Jordan Miller
Head of Case Design
As an analyst with TownSquare, Jordan assists advisors in analyzing, designing, and implementing client investment portfolios. He is also a member of the investment committee and is responsible for managing and conducting research for the firm’s investment strategies. Prior to joining TownSquare, he spent two years as a Portfolio Analyst for Allegis Investment Advisors. He began his career as an Associate with PwC’s management consulting group where he consulted on finance and M&A projects for several Fortune 500 companies. Jordan is a graduate of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management where he received a B.S. in Finance.
Joshua Flade CFA
Associate Portfolio Manager
Joshua specializes in fixed income analysis and management with over 7 years of experience in credit analysis. He is also a member of the investment committee. Prior to joining, Joshua worked at Ensign Peak Advisors as a credit research analyst with global coverage of Financial Institutions, REITs, and Healthcare industries, and as a portfolio manager.
Joshua began his career at Goldman Sachs as a credit research analyst with coverage of Central Counterparties (CCPs), Financial Institutions, and Oil and Gas industries in Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He currently serves as the President of the CFA Society Salt Lake and Vice President of the Salt Lake Chapter of the BYU Management Society. Joshua is a CFA charterholder and graduated from Brigham Young University with a double major in Finance and Russian.
Stanford McCullough
Junior Analyst
Stanford originally started in this industry working with a boutique wealth management firm (Knox Capital Group) that specialized in income tax planning, wealth transfer and estate planning, philanthropic planning and asset management for high-net-worth families and entrepreneurs. Stanford worked on the business development side of the firm and assisted the partners of the firm in the planning that was performed for clients. In 2017 Knox Capital Group was acquired by Captrust, the largest independent RIA in the country. After working with Captrust for a short time, Stanford left and joined TownSquare Capital where he became their portfolio analyst and assists in preparing investment audits for clients.
This coming fall, Stanford will attend law school to further his education studying tax and estate planning which he will use to supplement his financial planning background. Stanford graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in Personal Financial Planning and a minor in Business Management.
Stanford is extremely entrepreneurial oriented and has started several part-time businesses while working and attending school. Stanford is an avid sports fan and loves skiing, mountain biking, canyoneering, and climbing mountains in his free time.
Jeremy Thompson
Junior Analyst
Jeremy grew up in Boise, ID where he spent his time backpacking, fly fishing, skiing, and running his landscaping and snow cone businesses with his brothers. In high school, he found a drive for serving others through numerous service projects while leading his school’s chapter of the National Honors Society. Jeremy is currently seeking a Bachelors in Finance with a minor in Math at BYU. Starting with TownSquare in May, Jeremy works on an array of projects including analyzing portfolios and working directly with advisors to see transitions through.
Erica West
Chief Operations Officer
As the Chief Operations Officer, Erica is the main point of contact for advisors. Her primary focus is to assist advisors in executing business as proficiently as possible while instilling a strong sense of confidence in our team that can resonate from the Financial Advisors within TownSquare to their clients. Erica is responsible for ensuring various departments work seamlessly together. She oversees the daily operations of the company and employees to encourage maximum performance and dedication. She works diligently to design and implement procedures that are as easy as possible for everyone involved. Erica has overseen several transitions to TownSquare and has extensive experience with a variety of custodians. She comes to TownSquare with years of experience in the financial industry along with administrative and customer service experience. During her years at Fidelity Investments she obtained her series 7, and series 63. She graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelors in Behavioral Health & Science.
Shirley Harris
Advisor Relations
Shirley Harris joins TownSquare with more than 25 years of industry experience. Most recently she spent 14 years with Fidelity Investments as an Implementation Specialist in Learning and Development as well as several years in trading. Prior to Fidelity, Shirley held positions at Prudential, MGM Grand and JC Penney. Shirley graduated from Brigham Young University. She currently holds her Series 7 and 63 licenses – and previously held Life, Health and Annuity licenses.
Julie Hamula
Relationship Manager
As a Relationship Manager, Julie is responsible for ensuring that financial advisors operate seamlessly with the Company’s back office by quickly processing advisors’ new business, responding promptly to advisors’ questions or concerns, and facilitating a smooth transition for clients in the onboarding process. Julie is detail oriented with years of experience in customer service and administrative roles. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University-Idaho and was employed by the 4th District Court-Provo prior to joining TownSquare Capital.
Emily Grant
Administrative Assistant
Emily Grant graduated from BYU in December 2017 with a B.S in Public Health and a minor in International Development. Shortly after earning her degree she joined TownSquare Capital, where she now works as an administrative assistant. Her role includes ensuring quality customer experience for both clients and financial advisors, managing customer relationship databases, and assisting financial advisors with their onboarding process. Before joining the team here at TownSquare, Emily had attained skills in accounting and statistical research. These skills, in combination with her passion for international health, led her to conduct a three month long program evaluation on a non-profit organization in the Philippines. Overall, she hopes to draw upon her experience in the finance industry to help non-profit health organizations utilize their money to run more efficient and efficacious programs.
Xavier Desforges
Head of Trade Desk
Xavier Desforges joined TownSquare Capital as the Head of Trading in September 2017 where he oversees the trading for almost $2 billion in AUM. His focus and attention to detail help him ensure that all of the models are managed accurately and efficiently as per the investment managers’ trade signals.
Currently, he oversees the administration of all the SMA portfolios which includes the allocation of new accounts, and block trading existing accounts as trade signals are received. In addition, he is responsible for managing and addressing cash in the accounts that are managed by TownSquare.
Prior to joining TownSquare Capital, Xavier oversaw the trade desk for 2 different firms, each with AUM over $1 billion.
He has served several years as an intelligence non-commissioned officer in the French Military, including two tours on the African continent. Xavier is an avid cyclist and enjoys spending time in the outdoors and with his family.
Brady Webb
Trading
Brady Webb joined TownSquare Capital’s Trading Desk in July 2018. As a member of the trade team, Brady is dedicated to providing the highest level of service and attention to detail for each client account, as well as timely and transparent communication with advisors and administrators, thus ensuring a premium level of account management.
Brady is a graduate of Utah Valley University’s School of Business where he majored in Business Management with an emphasis in Finance. After graduation, Brady spent 10 years in banking and lending, mostly for a regional bank where he helped to meet many varied financial needs of both individual and business clients. In 2015, he acquired his Series 65 license and joined an advisory firm where he initially functioned as the sole trader. There he helped to build a team that managed the firm’s assets as they grew from less than $200 million to over $800 million under management.
When he’s not in the office Brady mostly enjoys spending time with his wife, Debbie, and their three children. He loves music and traveling and one of his life goals is to see a baseball game in each Major League ballpark.
Trenton LaPorte
Trading
Trenton joined the TownSquare Trade Desk in May of 2018. He graduated in Business Finance from Brigham Young University – Idaho in December 2015. He, along with the rest of the desk, works to daily reconcile cash and make sure that accounts are managed efficiently and accurately. Trenton’s attention to detail allows him to function at the highest degree of accuracy.
Prior to his time at TownSquare Capital, Trenton brings two years of trading experience overseeing $800MM. In his previous experience, he also spent a significant amount of time doing software integration/management, and advanced excel manipulation. He has his Series 65.
Thomas Allgaier
Junior Analyst
Thomas started working with TownSquare in November of 2017 as an intern and now helps the investment team as a junior analyst. He is also a key contributor to keeping client accounts in order and helping everyone to stay on top of their work load. Prior to joining TownSquare, Thomas graduated from the Utah County Academy of Sciences in 2017, receiving both a high school diploma and an Associates Degree in General Applied Sciences. He then went on to continue, and currently still is studying for his B.S. in Accounting at Utah Valley University in Orem. In his spare time, Thomas likes to explore the mountainous terrains of Utah, and learn how to create new things.
Natalie Larsen
Office Manager
As the Office Manager, Natalie oversees the Human Resources and Accounting for TownSquare Capital. Her objective is to provide tools, information and support to the staff thus aiding in their efforts to provide excellent service to the financial advisors we serve. Natalie is passionate about details and the behind the scenes support that lends to the overall health and function of each organization she works for. Her experience in financial services comes from 7 years as an office manager for a successful financial advisory firm. Previous to that, she has 15 years of owning and managing three startup businesses that are still in business today.
Kimberly Johnson
Administrative Assistant
Kimberly grew up in Sandy Utah and is currently a student at Brigham Young University studying math. As one of our receptionists, she helps in the details of office procedures and welcoming and guiding clients to accommodating their needs.