PIM® Portfolio Manager

As a Portfolio Manager, I create and manage customized investment portfolios for my clients. I utilize Wells Fargo Investment Institute’s guidance and insight in this process***. I am committed to delivering a high-quality investment solution that is designed to preserve and grow client assets through various market cycles and economic conditions.

Purpose

My purpose is building lasting connections with people and my passion is investments and financial strategies. Having the privilege to be a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors is a dream career for me. My personal mission as an advisor is to use my extensive background to optimize my clients’ financial lives which includes avoiding unnecessary financial risk.

Professional

Prior to joining Wells Fargo Advisors in 2016, I worked for five years as a Senior Private Banker with Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A. My experience also includes positions with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Bank of America. I hold a Master’s degree in finance from Texas A&M University – Commerce. In continuing my education, I subsequently earned a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® practitioner designation from the University of Texas at Austin. This prestigious board certification means that I have met stringent knowledge and experience requirements in a broad array of disciplines including investment management, estate planning, insurance, retirement planning and income tax. In addition, the CFP® moniker requires a commitment to a strict ethical code and fiduciary standard.

Personal

Personally, I am a voracious learner and enjoy working with my hands. My family’s volunteer efforts focus on organizations that we hold very dear to our hearts including the Central Texas Food Bank and Head for the Cure brain cancer research. Most importantly, I’m an exuberantly proud family man living in South Austin with my wife Jennifer and our twins, Collin and Camille.

***Wells Fargo Investment Institute, Inc. is a registered investment adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

A Personal Approach to Investing

As a Financial Advisor, I am dedicated to providing holistic financial advice and investment management. Through a customized investment approach, I help clients develop and implement strategies for building and preserving wealth and realizing their goals. As a Wells Fargo Advisors client, you have access to Wells Fargo affiliate products and services such as Wealth Planning, Private Banking, Trust Services, Insurance, as well as various customized and more traditional lending products. I hold a Master’s degree in Business Administration from St. Edward’s University. I have also earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, or CFP®, professional designation from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board). For this prestigious designation, I studied five core competencies: investments, retirement, estate, income tax, and insurance. The CFP® certification requires a commitment to a strict ethical framework, and I am held to a fiduciary standard when providing financial advice. I keep my professional acumen sharp through my engagement in the Financial Planning Association®. My wife, Erin, and I are experiencing the joys of parenthood with our children, Emma and Maddie. We also enjoy incorporating our two dogs, Orly and Sadie, into our personal lives, as we experience all Austin has to offer.

Senior Fundamental Choice® Portfolio Manager**

As a Portfolio Manager, I create and manage customized investment portfolios for my clients. I utilize Wells Fargo Investment Institute’s guidance and insight in this process***. I am committed to delivering a high-quality investment solution that is designed to preserve and grow client assets through various market cycles and economic conditions.

*Wells Fargo Advisors is not a legal or tax advisor. However, we will be glad to work with you, your accountant, tax advisor and or lawyer to help you meet your financial goals.

**The Fundamental Choice program is not designed for excessively traded or inactive accounts and is not appropriate for all investors. Please carefully review the Wells Fargo Advisors advisory disclosure document for a full description of our services. The minimum account size for this program is $50,000.00

***Wells Fargo Investment Institute, Inc. is a registered investment advisor and wholly-owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

Purpose

My purpose is to help clients win. Winning looks different for most people but the process for goal achievement can be transmuted from one family to another with care and deliberation. I love taking a client through the planning process and mutually discovering and defining what success and winning look like for them and then helping them get going down their path.

Professional

I began my career at Merrill Lynch in 2014 then moved to JP Morgan in 2019 and finally I chose Wells Fargo Advisors as my home in 2024 as it gives me the greatest tool set to help my clients. Originally, I’d intended to go to school to learn animation, but got a taste for business when, in college, I started a door-to-door mural painting business. I immediately developed a passion for finance, and upon graduation started working in investment real estate. After becoming a financial advisor, I worked to earn the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation through the University of Texas at Austin. The CFP® designation gave me deeper context and understanding of true wealth creation and preservation strategies; investment and asset selection, estate and gifting planning strategies, insurance and risk management, retirement planning, and income-tax integration. Carrying the CFP® mark requires an additional commitment to a stricter ethical code and standard of care.

Personal

Outside of work, I have the joy of being a husband and father. My family loves to travel, especially when nature is involved. Additionally, I am a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and serve on the Board for the Austin Zilker Neighborhood Association.

Purpose

As a Senior Registered Client Associate, I am dedicated to helping my clients meet their financial needs. Whether you are planning your retirement, saving for your children's or grandchildren's education, or looking to preserve your wealth, I can help.

Professional

Before entering Wells Fargo Advisors, I most recently worked as a Relationship Banker for four years with a total of sixteen years combined with Wells Fargo Bank. Now a Senior Registered Client Associate with the Austin office of Wells Fargo Advisors, I take pride in working for a firm that puts you first. My mission is to help each one of my clients plan for a financial future in a way that best meets his or her goals.

Personal

Away from the office, I enjoy hiking, playing music and spending time with my friends and family. My wife Christine and I live in south Austin with our two dogs Suri and Sandy.

With over 20 years of financial advisory experience, Mahesh Rao is a business owner advisory strategist with Wells Fargo. Mahesh is part of a national Business Owner Advisory team dedicated to advising and preparing business owners for a successful ownership transition through comprehensive evaluation of their available options. Mahesh offers in-depth insight and advice based on his 13 years of investment banking experience.

Mahesh spent 4 years in business valuation and management of closely-held business interests in trusts and estates. He then spent time in Wells Fargo’s Corporate and Investment Bank, and later in Business Sales & Advisory, where he was a managing director responsible for helping business owners sell their privately held companies.

Mahesh earned a Master of Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees in Aerospace Engineering from N.C. State University. Mahesh has been awarded the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation, the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of North Carolina.

Lorilee Mills is a Senior Family Dynamics Consultant for Family Wealth and Culture Services. As part of Advice and Planning, Family Wealth and Culture Services she works with individuals, couples and families to provide wealth education to help clients with their goals around transitioning wealth across generations, providing specialized advisory services in Family Dynamics, Education and Governance and Family and Business History. With more than 25 years of experience and training in family wealth and family business advising, Lorilee advises clients on effective communication and decision- making strategies, educating and engaging the rising generation for wealth stewardship, preparing for family business transitions and supporting the evolution of the family business.

Prior to assuming her current role, Lorilee served as an executive coach providing consultation and customized strategies to senior leaders and their teams which lead to increased effectiveness and transformational growth. With the use of tools like DISC® and Motivators and Clifton StrengthsFinders™, her work helped to support effective leadership transitions, organizational and culture change and diversity and inclusion integration. She also led a team of Human Resources professionals who provided consultation concerning complex employee relations issues and business strategies.

Lorilee holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Iowa State University. She completed an executive coaching certification at Columbia University Business School and Teachers College. Lorilee holds a dual certificate in Family Business Advising and Family Wealth Advising from the Family Firm Institute in Boston, MA.

Lorilee is an active volunteer in her community and is a member of the Women’s and Generation Connections. She also volunteers for Dress for Success where she helps to empower women to achieve economic independence. She and her husband have two sons and reside in Des Moines, Iowa.

Erik Solis is a senior custom credit banker and executive director with Wells Fargo Bank within the Wealth & Investment Management division located in Frisco/The Star and serving the North Texas-Oklahoma & Greater Texas – New Mexico markets with more than 25 years of experience in financial services. 

Experience includes custom credit, commercial real estate, securities-based lending as well as investment management. Erik works as part of a team to help meet the comprehensive wealth management goals of high‑net‑worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. 

As a custom credit banker, he specializes in providing deep custom credit knowledge and experience to deliver tailored lending solutions that support clients’ complex borrowing needs.

Dana Van Brunt is a senior philanthropic advisor and executive director with Wells Fargo Bank Wealth & Investment Management. Dana serves the following areas in the Central division: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Wells Fargo Bank’s Philanthropic Services helps charitable individuals, families, and nonprofit organizations work toward their unique goals by providing specialized advisory services.

Dana works with individuals and families to define and help achieve their charitable objectives as part of their overall wealth plans. This may include gift and tax planning, multi-generational planning, reviewing estate plans, and the creation and management of donor advised funds, private foundations, charitable trusts, and other charitable planning strategies. She also works extensively with nonprofit organizations, where she advises in the areas of gift planning, endowment management, board governance, and other management issues. Dana collaborates with clients and their other advisors to leverage their resources to help maximize the impact of their philanthropy.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo Bank, Dana served as Director of Donor Relations at DePelchin Children’s Center and Director of Leadership Giving and Advancement at Plan International USA, where she worked closely with individuals and families to align their philanthropic goals with high-impact initiatives. Before working in the philanthropic sector, Dana was an Ultra High Net Worth Banker at Citi Private Bank in New York focusing on helping clients navigate complex wealth scenarios.

Dana earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Psychology from Vassar College and has received education from the 21/64 program in multigenerational philanthropic advising, facilitation, and next generation management. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, scuba diving, cooking, and spending time with family. A New Jersey native, Dana now lives in Cypress, TX with her husband and two young children.

Grady West is a private wealth strategist with Wealth & Investment Management located in Houston, Texas. With more than 25 years of experience in financial services, Grady works as part of a national team supporting high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

He collaborates closely with advisors and their clients to review, design, and consult on comprehensive wealth transfer strategies, including legacy planning, philanthropy, business succession, and estate planning. Grady’s work focuses on understanding each client’s goals and objectives, evaluating existing plans, and identifying strategies or enhancements that can help improve the likelihood of achieving desired outcomes.

His objective is to help clients clearly define their estate and legacy goals for family members and charitable interests, educate them on the strategies available to accomplish those goals, and coordinate with outside counsel to support implementation.

Grady earned both his Juris Doctor (currently not practicing) and bachelor’s degrees from Baylor University.