Advyzon Investment Management's parent company and technology platform, Advyzon, was founded in 2012 by Hailin Li – former Senior Vice president, Advisor Solutions at Morningstar. Hailin was the chief architect behind Morningstar Office from 2003 to 2010 when he left to branch out on his own and start Advyzon. Advyzon's purpose is to provide an intuitive, comprehensive technology for financial advisory firms.
In 2022, Advyzon expanded with the creation of a new subsidiary, Advyzon Investment Management (AIM). AIM is a turnkey asset management program (TAMP) providing disciplined investment management solutions integrated within Advyzon's single-source code platform. Through AIM, advisors are able to streamline and outsource a variety of investment and operational functions, freeing up capacity to help scale their business.
Our co-founders and leadership team are entrepreneurs with decades of experience in the financial services and fintech industries. They have consistently been advocates in the marketplace and on behalf of financial advisors. With a continuous focus on innovation and providing superior service, we strive to be the best partner for investment management and operations outsourcing.
We see advisors as champions for their clients and communities. They are philanthropic supporters and financial mentors who take the time to educate and serve a critical role in our society. They solve issues related to retirement and education planning, and guide clients through challenging decisions around divorce, incapacitation, and death. Our mission at AIM is to help financial advisors better perform in this capacity.
Co-Founder, AIM
Meghan has spent the last 15 years in the financial services industry focused on the registered independent advisor space. She started her career as an advisor in training with Minneapolis based, independent financial services firm, North Star Resource Group.
In 2008, Meghan joined Charles Schwab & Co., devoting the next 14 years to the RIA custody space working in service, transition, sales, and relationship management capacities. Most recently Meghan supported advisors affiliated with Schwab Advisor Services' largest enterprise clients and specialized in working with multi-family offices and advisors dedicated to the UHNW space. Meghan brings great insight to AIM having worked with RIAs in sales and operational roles across all segments of advisor businesses, from newly emerging firms to the largest national and strategic acquirers in the industry.
Bachelor’s in Retailing and Consumer Science from The University of Arizona.
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise from Louisiana State University Shreveport
Series 7, 66, 9, and 10 securities designation.
Co-Founder, AIM
Brian Huckstep has been in the investment industry for 30 years. He began his career in commercial lending at Bank One for two years. He spent the next nine years doing retirement plan auditing and investment software development at Northern Trust.
He spent a majority of his career at Morningstar, where he spent two years as Director in their Mutual Fund Data Team and then fifteen years as a Portfolio Manager and Head of US Asset Allocation, managing over $13 billion of diversified fund-of-fund strategies for large broker/dealers, mutual fund companies, insurance companies and strategist platforms.
Bachelors in Economics from The University of Michigan.
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from The University of Chicago.
CFA Charter Holder.
CFP Designation.
Alex Riedel is Managing Director, Head of Client Portfolio Management with Advyzon Investment Management (AIM) starting November 28, 2022. Alex’s key role is to be the liaison between portfolio management and AIM’s advisors. Alex provides expert investment and portfolio construction consultation to advisors to help them build portfolios that meet their client’s goals.
Alex brings over 25 years of investment experience to the role. Before joining AIM, he began his career as a representative with Olde Discount Stockbrokers. Next, he joined Mercer Investment Consulting as an analyst where he helped consult institutional defined benefits plans on asset allocation policy and manager selection. Next, Alex joined Ibbotson Associates where he was a featured asset allocation speaker and was the lead client service manager in configuring a web-based asset allocation tool for institutional clients. Following Morningstar’s acquisition of Ibbotson Associates, Alex built up and led Morningstar Investment Management’s portfolio specialist team which served as the liaison between the investment team and advisors.
Alex earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance with a concentration in Investments from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Alex is a lifelong student and enthusiast of investment finance, 18th Century American History, and baseball.
Prior to founding Advyzon, Inc. and Advyzon, Hailin was Senior Vice President, Advisor Solutions at Morningstar, responsible for Morningstar's global advisor market. He joined Morningstar in 1996. He first served as Technical Lead for Principia, then Morningstar ClearFuture in 1999. In 2000, he led the team to launch Morningstar Advisor Workstation. In 2003, he served as Product Manager for Morningstar Office until 2010. Hailin then founded Advyzon, Inc., Advyzon’s parent company, in 2012 to pursue a true all-in-one platform for advisors.
Hailin holds an MBA degree from Northwestern University-Kellogg School of Management and Ph.D. in Physics from State University of New York at Stony Brook. He holds a BS degree in Physics from Peking University, China.
Outside of the office, Hailin enjoys reading history and business books, listening to light or folk music, hiking and playing ping pong.
Co-Founder, AIM
Lee has been involved in the Financial Services industry for over the past 23 years. He began his career with Merrill Lynch as a Financial Advisor and has spent a majority of his career within the custodial, financial software, data and research space.
In 2007, Lee joined Morningstar, Inc. where he held various roles and consistently delivered superior results as an individual contributor on the Enterprise Team eventually being promoted to a Key Account Manager role where he represented Morningstar’s entire product suite. Since then, he’s effectively helped several firms, most recently Schwab in the custodial vertical, with their business development and strategic account management efforts. Lee brings a unique perspective to the Financial Services industry having been a front-line advisor selling financial products and services, as well as working at some of the best research and technology firms in the world today.
Bachelors in Finance from Buena Vista University.
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from The University of Notre Dame.
Series 7 and 63 securities designations.
Dave Goes is President of Enterprise Sales at Advyzon, and is instrumental in expanding the company’s reach into larger-scale wealth enterprises, including regional broker-dealers, banks, and insurance BDs. Dave’s expertise is pivotal to Advyzon's mission to provide exceptional technology and unmatched service in the financial advisory sector.
Dave is a seasoned executive with over 28 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Advyzon, Dave held several transformational senior leadership roles at Morningstar, where he significantly contributed to the growth of the firm’s large enterprise client base.
Dave earned a BS in Psychology from St Joseph’s. In his spare time, Dave enjoys spending time with his three teenage children, working out and traveling.
John is the Chief Revenue Officer at Advyzon, leading the sales & service effort and contributing to development of the Advyzon platform. Prior to working at Advyzon, John spent 12 years at Morningstar, most recently as Product Manager for Morningstar Office. He was the first sales person dedicated to Morningstar Office when it was launched in 2004. After five successful years selling Office and working to develop the system, John managed the growing Office sales team for four years.
John earned a BBA from the University of Iowa with a double major in finance and management information systems. In his spare time, John enjoys spending time with his wife, young family, and dog. He spends most mornings exercising, skis as much as possible each winter, and is an avid follower of Iowa Hawkeye athletics and Chicago professional sports teams.
Dirk is Chief Operating Officer at Advyzon, leading the execution of Advyzon’s platform development roadmap. With now over a decade in the Advisor Technology business, Dirk's expertise ranges across portfolio accounting, billing, integrations, rebalancing and CRM. Prior to Advyzon, He spent 3 years at Morningstar, most recently leading Quality Control of Portfolio Data Management for Office and Direct.
Dirk earned his BS in Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was also a scholarship athlete in soccer. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago-Booth School of Business. In his free time, Dirk enjoys traveling, golf and family time with his wife and son.
Samantha Schwimmer is the Chief Marketing Officer at Advyzon and brings an extensive expertise in brand positioning, strategy development, and multi-channel marketing to drive the company's growth and enhance its market presence. Samantha has served in various leadership positions, most recently at Northern Trust Asset Management, where she provided strategic direction for global thought leadership marketing programs, and ran the content and creative team.
Samantha earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Media Studies with a Marketing Minor from San Diego State University. Samantha resides in Evanston with her family, she is a pop culture fan and enjoys the Chicago food scene.
Scott Smith has over 20 years in Financial Services serving Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), he brings a wealth of expertise in Business Development, Relationship Management, and Leadership. Having held pivotal roles at esteemed firms such as Fidelity, BNY Mellon/Pershing, and Goldman Sachs, Scott has consistently delivered exceptional results, earning recognition as a top performer throughout his career.
Scott is committed to driving growth and fostering relationships within the financial services industry.
Scott holds a bachelors degree from York College of PA and holds Series 7 and 63 designations.
Kartik joined Advyzon in 2024 and serves as President of Advyzon Institutional where he is responsible for developing capabilities to serve the needs of wealth managers serving HNW and UHNW clients. Prior to joining Advyzon, Kartik spent seven years at Schwab where he served as Managing Director of 3rd Party Integrations and Partnerships. Kartik started his professional career at Morningstar, where he served for 12 years in a variety of roles in the advisor software business.
Kartik earned his BBA in Finance and Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and his MBA in Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Economics from the University of Chicago – Booth School of Business. Kartik enjoys traveling, skiing and hiking with his family in his spare time.
Joe joined the Advyzon team in 2014 with an inquisitive mind and passion for customer service. With a focus on scalability Joe has played a pivotal role in assisting the Advyzon team to build out the CRM, Integrations, Mobile App and Client Web Portal. Currently Joe manages the Chicago Office, overseeing a sales team and all aspects of customer service. Prior to joining Advyzon Joe has spent his entire professional career in Financial Services, including time at H&R Block and Morningstar.
Joe graduated from Central Michigan University with a B.S.B.A., double majoring in Finance and Investments. He lives in Chicago and is a sports fanatic. When not a work or a game Joe enjoys traveling working out and spending time with family and friends.
Shane is the Chief Financial Officer at Advyzon. Prior to joining Advyzon, Shane worked as Director of FP&A at Crownpeak, a fintech solution that powers seamless, accessible, and revenue generating digital experiences. He also previously served as an Associate at K1 Investment Management and ShoreView Industries, helping evaluate potential investments as well as working with existing portfolio companies.
Shane earned his BBA in Finance at Loyola Marymount University. He lives in the suburbs of Minneapolis with his fiancée, Bailey, his two dogs, Bossman and Mickey, and his cat, BK. Outside of work he is a huge sports fan and enjoys spending time outdoors with his dogs.
