Meet Our Team
Marc A. Ackerman
Private Wealth Financial Advisor
Managing Director - Investments
Marc Ackerman is dedicated to helping ultra-high-net-worth families integrate their unique values into their wealth plans and portfolios. He is passionate about serving others and making a purposeful impact on families and communities.
Helping clients achieve personal fulfillment and prepare for critical financial events is at the core of Marc’s wealth management practice. He advises clients on all aspects of estate planning strategies, wealth transfers, and philanthropic pursuits. Marc examines global macroeconomics, current market conditions and valuations, as well as each client’s individual circumstances when constructing a portfolio. Marc was named to Forbes’ Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list in 2019, 2020 and 2021.*
Prior to joining Wells Fargo Advisors, Marc served as Senior Vice President and Senior Investment Management Consultant at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. He is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara and serves on the school’s Department of Economics Board of Advisors.
Marc also serves on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the Gospel Music Association (GMA) Foundation, and Hope Heals in Atlanta. Marc regularly speaks about investment planning and stewardship at churches, conferences, and universities.
CA Insurance License #0D15273. Resident State: CA.
Jules Ahmar
Financial Advisor
Jules Ahmar is a Financial Advisor and an investment research associate with a unique background in computer science and electrical engineering. He works closely with the other IFC Financial Advisors to solve complex client needs by lending his rare technical lens. He holds his FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations, as well as his California Insurance license.
Prior to joining the team, Jules was a solutions engineering associate at Deloitte Consulting, where he worked directly with financial institutions in a client facing role. Jules has his M.S. and B.S. degrees in computer science from UCLA and UC Berkeley, respectively
Outside of the office, Jules loves to stay active, spending most of his free time playing tennis, basketball, golf, and surfing. Jules also enjoys giving his time to furthering the efforts of local philanthropic causes he is passionate about, such as promoting education and health in children.
Mario Colace
Client Associate
Mario Colace supports IFC’s internal business management, which includes coordinating internal team meetings. He improves workflow by ensuring IFC advisors and client associates work in concert.
Mario previously served as the Business Development Associate for The Law Offices of Patrick J. Burns and Advanced Regulatory Compliance. He leverages his prior experience in project coordination, technology demonstrations, and back office operations to enhance IFC’s internal processes.
Mario earned his B.A. from Loyola Marymount University in 2019. He is a Massachusetts native and thus enjoys watching any of the Boston sports teams in his free time. He is also an avid reader and writer, and enjoys practicing guitar and watching movies.
Stephanie Hunter
Wealth Management Senior Registered Client Relationship Associate
Stephanie Hunter cares deeply about each client’s unique needs and is focused on building strong relationships with clients and their families. She is responsible for day-to-day client account management, with a focus on operations and issue resolution.
With more than three decades of financial services experience, Stephanie oversees all aspects of account administration. She assists clients by providing a wide range of services with expertise and care. Stephanie joined IFC in 2016 after working at RBC, Citigroup, and Bank of America.
Stephanie has three children and three grandchildren, Ernesto, Navaeh, and Kai. Away from the office, she enjoys going for walks, watching movies, reading, tending to home projects, and spending time with her grandkids.
Rex Jones
Private Wealth Financial Advisor
Managing Director - Investments
Rex Jones brings his 30 years of experience in the financial services industry to advise multi-generational families. Rex has built a diverse network of internal resources to partner with when addressing the complex needs of IFC clients. He leverages his banking background.
Prior to joining Wells Fargo Private Bank in 2004, Rex was at Bank of America’s Private Bank. He received his B.A. from UCLA and completed Graduate School of Banking at the University of Virginia.
Rex has resided in the South Bay area for over 20 years with his wife Tracy and his two children. He is very involved in his community and spends a significant amount of time coaching his children’s sports teams and supporting them in their various endeavors.
CA Insurance License #0F03009. Resident State: CA.
Courtney Kwan
Private Wealth Senior Client Associate
Courtney Kwan specializes in assisting family office and ultra-high-net-worth clients. Through her attention to detail and keen ability to anticipate client needs, Courtney plays a key role in ensuring seamless client experiences. Courtney leverages her tenure and unique skillset to assist with all aspects of account openings and money movements.
Courtney has been with Wells Fargo for over 14 years and has been working exclusively with family office and ultra-high-net-worth clients for over 10 years. Prior to joining the team, Courtney was with Wells Fargo’s legacy Abbot Downing organization, where she also solely worked with ultra-high-net-worth families. She earned her B.A. in economics from the University of California, Riverside. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her husband and son.
Marco Mendoza
Private Wealth Financial Advisor
Managing Director - Investments
Marco Mendoza is passionate about assisting clients in navigating the complexities of their wealth. He creates, implements, and reviews comprehensive wealth and investment plans for clients. Marco also focuses on risk management, including solving for long-term care and utilizing insurance strategies. In 2020 and 2021, Marco was named to Forbes’ Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list.
Prior to joining Wells Fargo Advisors, Marco was previously with Accenture and the Risk Management Group at Barclays Global Investors. Marco earned his B.A. in Business Economics from UCLA and his M.B.A. from U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He previously served as an officer of the Los Angeles Alumni Chapter of the Berkeley-Haas School of Business.
Marco serves as a Board Member for the Fulfillment Fund in Los Angeles and is also actively involved in the Peninsula Education Foundation, which raises funds for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. Marco currently resides in the South Bay area of Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
CA Insurance License #oC55711. Resident State CA.
Mick Meylor
Registered Client Associate
Mick Meylor is passionate about helping people advance their financial goals. Mick coordinates IFC portfolio reports and client strategy reviews. Additionally, he supports IFC’s alternative investments relations and administration. Mick holds his FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations, as well as his California Insurance license.
Mick earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was actively involved on campus, serving as a peer advisor for the UCSB Economics Department and on the Executive Board of the student-led Investment Advisory Committee.
Mick prides himself on active leadership and philanthropy. While at UCSB, he was the Vice President of Programming for Sigma Phi Epsilon, where he spearheaded the chapter’s philanthropic activities and events. In his spare time, Mick enjoys traveling, surfing, golfing, photography, and attending concerts.
Liberty Padilla
Client Associate
Liberty Padilla is enthusiastic about serving and caring for others. She manages IFC’s client strategy review process. Liberty supports IFC’s client relations, which includes coordinating client meetings and updating client profiles.
Liberty has had an extensive tenure at Wells Fargo, holding various roles. She began her career at Wells Fargo as a bank teller and worked her way to becoming a service manager. She later transitioned to Wells Fargo Private Wealth in 2015, then joined IFC in 2020.
Liberty enjoys traveling, home projects, music, trying new cuisines, cooking and spending time with family and friends. Liberty was raised in the Bay Area and has been residing in Los Angeles for over fourteen years.
Nhaman Pelphrey
Managing Director
Nhaman Pelphrey is a trusted advisor to ultra-high-net-worth individuals, private foundations, and family offices. She helps her clients preserve their wealth, discover their purpose, and connect the two to establish a meaningful legacy.
By developing personal relationships with her clients, Nhaman helps each individual find their role within the family enterprise. Her team serves as an outsourced family office for multigenerational families. Nhaman provides customized solutions to complement the services of established family offices. For many years, Nhaman has helped families create private foundations and donor-advised funds to fulfill their philanthropic vision.
Prior to Wells Fargo, Nhaman was an estate planning attorney advising ultra-high-net-worth individuals on sophisticated estate and gift tax strategies, multigenerational wealth transfers, business succession planning, charitable giving, and post-death trust administration.
Nhaman is a member of the State Bar of California. She also taught estate planning through the UCLA Extension CFP® program. She serves as an advisor to the Women in Business Group at UCSB. Previously, Nhaman served on the Executive Committee and was the chair of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association and the Taxation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Kennedy Reardon
Registered Client Associate
Kennedy Reardon takes time to listen and learn in order to build trust with each client. He takes great care in researching and presenting the best internal solutions to effectuate clients’ needs. Kennedy conducts new client onboarding and oversees the administration of ultra-high-net-worth client accounts. His day-to-day responsibilities include interfacing with clients, facilitating money movements, and maintaining client accounts.
Kennedy joined the team after spending two years in the Financial Advisory Development Program at Merrill Lynch. He holds his FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations, a California Insurance license and earned a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Kennedy has long loved the ocean and has donated much of his time to organizations such as the Las Olas Foundation and Project Save Our Surf. Away from the office, Kennedy enjoys surfing, golfing, reading and spending time with friends and family.
Craig W. Thomas
Financial Advisor
Craig is a professional investor with more than twenty-five years of investing experience; including as Director of Research for the Cohen Account at S.A.C. Capital Advisors, Portfolio Manager at S.A.C. Capital Advisors, and Analyst at Goff Moore Strategic Partners and Rainwater, Inc. Prior to becoming a professional investor, Craig was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. He has previously served as a director for five public companies including Laureate Education and Full House Resorts. Craig earned an A.B. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
Francois D. Viljoen, CFA
Senior Financial Advisor
Senior Vice President - Investment Officer
Francois Viljoen oversees the team’s asset allocation and investment process. His expertise lies in customizing wealth plans with a focus on strategic and tactical portfolio asset allocation and tax efficient strategies. With a careful eye on risk management, Francois offers extensive knowledge of public and private markets.
Francois believes that meeting with managers as well as conducting quantitative analysis are both crucial in the manager research and selection process. He also hosts IFC’s quarterly client symposium, where he engages market leaders in discussion of current global economics.
Francois holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designation and is a member of the CFA Society of Los Angeles. In 2018, 2019 & 2020 he was named to Forbes’ Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors list.* Prior to joining IFC in 2007, Francois was with The Capital Group Companies.
Francois was the captain of the USA National Rugby team and served on the Board of Directors of USA Rugby. He enjoys cycling and running and has completed a few marathons. Francois coached AYSO soccer and is involved at his church. He resides in Palos Verdes with his wife and two children.
CA Insurance License #0I76530. Resident State: CA.
Eric Zurbrugg, CFP
Financial Advisor
Vice President - Investments
Eric Zurbrugg believes that understanding the “why” will best inform the “how” when building investment plans for clients. He helps clients explore their underlying motivators as part of his qualitative approach. Eric provides customized investment and life plans for clients to ensure that their wealth is managed, protected, and transitioned with care.
Eric began his career in financial services at Wells Fargo Bank as a personal banker. After managing branch locations in Santa Monica and Marina Del Rey, he became a private banker and later transitioned to Wells Fargo Advisors in 2017 as a financial advisor. Eric completed his B.A. in Business at the University of Southern California and earned his Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) from UCLA.
Eric serves as Co-Chair of the USC Economics Leadership Council, which provides career guidance to students and alumnae, as well as hosts networking events with thought leaders in the economics industry. Eric resides in Playa del Rey with his wife, son, and daughter. Away from the office, he enjoys hiking, golfing, skiing, and coaching AYSO soccer.
CA Insurance License #0E87748. Resident State: CA.