For more than 25 years, Keri has dedicated her career to helping people by working to make a meaningful impact on their lives through their finances. She believes financial confidence is the foundation of helping to empower people to live their best lives and helping to give them the ability to focus on what’s most important to them. Keri takes pride in nurturing strong relationships with clients, working side by side with them to plan for their future, offering guidance through challenging times, and joining them to celebrate life’s milestones and the achievement of their goals and dreams.

Throughout her career Keri has worked with families and small business owners to help them build, manage and preserve their wealth and create a legacy for the future. As an advisor, she’s learned the importance of planning for life’s ups and downs. Keri’s client-centric, holistic approach prioritizes each client’s unique needs, responsibilities and aspirations. She considers her clients’ total picture, including assets and liabilities, and includes life insurance as a key pillar of helping prepare her clients and their families for the future. Because of the close connection Keri shares with them, clients value being able to discuss personal topics like their family dynamics, fears, hopes and histories. These candid revelations help Keri design investment plans for her clients they can feel good about.

Keri is a highly engaged, hands-on advisor who goes above and beyond to ensure her clients are taken care of. Keri cares for her clients like family — and you do whatever you need to do to take care of family. It’s a responsibility Keri truly takes to heart. In fact, for many clients Keri becomes more than an advisor, she becomes a trusted life and financial coach, someone clients consult to share sound advice and valuable insight on life’s opportunities and everyday challenges.

Keri is passionate about learning and always strives to be her best in both her personal and professional lives. A 2025 Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State1 honoree, Keri has earned multiple advanced designations to continue building her knowledge and help enhance her ability to create innovative financial strategies across a broad spectrum of specialty areas.

A proud yonsei — 4th generation Japanese/Okinawan in Hawaii — Keri celebrates her heritage and culture. She gives back to her community by serving as a board member for Goodwill Hawaii. She spends her free time with her husband, Derek, and adult daughter. They like to travel internationally and discover good places to eat together. Keri enjoys strength training and yoga, and she can often be found in, on or near the water.

 

12025 Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State: Awarded February 2025; Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based on the time period from 9/30/23 - 9/30/24 (Source: Forbes.com) The Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State rating algorithm is based on the previous year's industry experience, interviews, compliance records, assets under management, revenue and other criteria by SHOOK Research, LLC. Investment performance is not a criterion. Self-completed survey was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria.

*Insurance products are offered through nonbank insurance agency affiliates of Wells Fargo & Company and are underwritten by unaffiliated insurance companies.

 

Education:
University of Hawaii at Manoa, B.B.A.
University of Phoenix, Honolulu, M.B.A.

Professional:
Central Pacific Bank 2000–2008
Wells Fargo Advisors 2008–present

Credentials:
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional
Certified Investment Management Analyst®
Accredited Domestic Partnership AdvisorSM
Series 7 & 66 registered
Hawaii Life and Health Insurance Licensed

Ian strives to make a positive, lasting impact on the clients he partners with. For nearly 30 years he has collaborated hand-in-hand with clients to help them change the trajectory of their futures as they strive to achieve financial stability and success. He takes pride in his client-centric approach focused on custom strategies and innovative concepts that aim to optimize returns while managing risk. For Ian, it’s all about helping others achieve their goals and dreams — some of which they may never have thought were possible.

Ian boasts an early entry to the world of finance. Fascinated with the markets, he started investing his own money as a teen. That interest grew into a passion equally fueled by the industry’s fast-paced dynamics and Ian’s own commitment to making a difference for others. He credits his mother with putting him on the path to finance. A neonatal nurse, she encouraged him to do as she did and choose a career that was also a passion — because it would be fulfilling and would never feel like work. Today Ian is just as enthusiastic about finance, and just as excited to pursue his passion and help others, as he was in the beginning.

Constantly on the lookout for new ideas and fresh insights that will help him help his clients, he is eager to try new things and isn’t afraid to ask questions to deepen his understanding. In fact, it’s common for Ian to ask questions — and listen with intention to the answers — more than he speaks, especially when it comes to interacting with clients. A news junkie, he is perpetually cued into the latest news and events, seeking to discover and analyze emerging trends and developments. Ian translates his curiosity for finance into outcomes for his clients, taking the time to educate them about investments, money management and the ins and outs of their own plans. It’s his goal to not only boost their financial literacy but to empower them to up-level their financial decision-making abilities.

Ian works primarily with pre-retirees and retirees to help them build, manage, preserve and transfer their wealth. He has a knack for making clients feel comfortable and heard as he learns about them, exploring their goals, family dynamics, priorities, obstacles and their past financial experiences — all of which help him create personalized strategies aligned with what’s most important to them. For Ian, maintaining long-term close client connections is also essential to understanding how best to adjust strategies as they and their families grow and change over time.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Ian lived in Taipei, Taiwan, and the San Francisco Bay area before returning home in 1995. He and his wife, Dina, have three adult daughters. He enjoys getting creative in the kitchen, playing golf and traveling with friends and family — anywhere he can make new discoveries.

 

Education:
University of Hawaii, Manoa, B.A.
San Francisco State University, M.B.A.

Professional:
Bank of Hawaii 1997–1999
Wells Fargo Advisors 1999–present

In a career spanning more than 55 years, Mel has learned a thing or two about helping clients with their finances. From trends and market conditions to diverse, complex financial scenarios, the depth and breadth of Mel’s experience covers an impressive range. But financial wisdom is not all Mel shares with clients, because he has learned so much more throughout the decades. More than a financial advisor, Mel considers himself an advisor who helps clients assess and maximize a more expansive equation: life.

Mel describes himself as a financial shepherd, assisting in guiding — and truly shepherding — his clients’ lives beyond the financial, uplifting them toward achieving a total return on their investment in essential areas like their health and family. In fact, Mel believes these areas supersede money in importance, viewing financial security and success as the foundation from which to live a full life. He advocates for financial health and accumulation of wealth not exclusively as an end but as a means for deeper fulfillment, encouraging his clients to value and enjoy what it can provide.

With aloha from the heart, Mel gets to know his clients on a personal level and builds meaningful relationships based on mutual trust and respect. He takes pride in knowing and approaching his clients much like his pastor knows and approaches him, helping them manage the ups and downs in their lives as well as ups and downs in the market. Whether navigating a concern about their portfolios or their personal lives, Mel’s sage advice reassures clients with confidence. And when there’s cause for celebration, he’s also there to enthusiastically join in the joy. For Mel, clients are not clients — they genuinely become friends.

Mel works closely with clients to help them build, manage, preserve and transfer their wealth, with a customized approach that considers their unique goals, responsibilities and aspirations. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration and awareness, helping ensure each client fully understands what’s in their plan and why. This gives clients confidence in the direction of their plans while empowering them to make informed decisions about their futures. Mel is highly respected for living by his word. For clients and colleagues alike, he aspires to be the friend who always comes through — the friend running toward you when others are running away.

Born and raised in Hilo on the Big Island, Mel lived in Hawaii until relocating to Vancouver, Washington, in 2013. He and his wife, Evelyn, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2024. They have an adult daughter. Mel is involved with the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington, which provides medical services to vulnerable populations, and is active in his church where he serves as a greeter, works with young adults, and leads a weekly men’s group. In his spare time Mel enjoys tennis, squash, sailing and cooking, especially his signature dish: chili.

Education:
University of Hawaii, B.B.A. Finance

Professional:
Banking 1969–1992
Morgan Stanley 1992– 2009
Wells Fargo Advisors  2009 - Present

As an Air Force officer, one of Wes’s biggest lessons was understanding that luck is where preparation meets opportunity. Nearly 30 years after retiring from the military, he still applies that lesson directly toward helping his clients as they strive to achieve financial security and success. Wes’s 22-year military career taught him the value of planning, discipline and preparing for the unexpected — all of which became the guideposts of his strategic approach in the financial theater of his second career. Today he continues to apply the insight, knowledge and experience he gained throughout both careers, bringing to the table a unique perspective that’s highly valued by clients as well his team.

Because the future is inherently unknowable, Wes advocates for two types of planning: planning for what you know and for what you don’t know. It’s another foundational concept carried forward from his military background. Wes works with his clients to help ensure their most basic financial affairs are considered and in good order, including things like a house, children, college, retirement and long-term care. This establishes a solid foundation for progression as clients and their families grow and change over time. From there, he helps clients prepare to adapt to future opportunities and obstacles by developing proactive strategies so they don’t have to rely on reactive responses down the road. For Wes, it’s all a part of giving his clients the power of smart, informed decision-making and the confidence that their financial roadmaps reflect not only their present needs and goals but also provide for future options and possibilities.

Wes takes pride in connecting with his clients on a personal level to understand all the variables that impact their lives, families and finances, with the goal of creating customized strategies and solutions. A strong leader and eager listener, he’s adept at combining both skills to dig deep into a client’s views and vision for their future, then delivering feedback and guidance with a distinctive blend of candor and compassion. Wes is known for his forward-thinking abilities, his straightforward, balanced nature, and his traditional core values as a professional, which include integrity, reliability, responsiveness and respect.

Wes works primarily with professionals who are mid-career and up to help them build, manage, preserve and transfer their wealth, creating a roadmap for what he calls “retirement without compromise” and contributing to a lasting legacy for their family or community. In addition, Wes specializes in working with condominium associations to help them organize and focus their investments relative to each board’s particular goals.

Born in Honolulu, Wes and his wife, Jane, have called Kakaako home since 2015. They have two adult children. In his spare time, Wes enjoys golfing, playing pickleball with Jane, and getting together with good friends.

 

Education:
University of Hawaii, B.S. Secondary Education
University of Hawaii, M.S. Education Curriculum & Instruction

Professional:
U.S. Air Force 1974-1996
Wells Fargo Advisors 1997–present

Credentials:
Retirement Income Certified Professional®

Jenn, who got her start in customer service nearly four decades ago, thrives on helping others. She spent 15 years honing her skills in two very different industries — chocolate and chemicals — before transitioning to financial services more than 20 years ago. Today she still swings her feet out of bed every morning knowing each new day brings new opportunities to make a meaningful difference for others.

Appreciated by clients and colleagues alike, Jenn’s can-do attitude and positive outlook make her a valuable and respected part of the team who plays a key role in keeping the office running smoothly. Whether preparing for meetings, organizing documents or responding to client requests, Jenn approaches each task with a keen eye for detail, sharp focus on operational excellence and a high level of personal accountability. The depth of Jenn’s professional experience is equally matched by the depth of her commitment to serving others with generosity and kindness. She easily establishes strong connections with clients and genuinely enjoys getting to know them on a personal level, talking with them about their families, work and everyday lives in addition to their finances.

A helper since she was young, Jenn credits her parents with modeling the importance of compassion, service and consideration of others, core values that have guided her throughout her career. She takes pride in being an organized, flexible and friendly professional who is known for her willingness to roll up her sleeves and do whatever needs to be done to make life easier for a client or someone on her team. Despite her long tenure in her field, Jenn is a lifelong learner who still strives to learn new ways of doing things.

Originally from Hilo on the Big Island, Jenn has called Honolulu home since 2011. She and her husband, Wayne, currently live in Moanalua Valley and have an adult daughter. A hula dancer since the age of 3, Jenn continues to celebrate the language of the heart. She is part of the hula ministry in her church and is proud to have competed twice in the Merrie Monarch Festival. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, playing cards, devotional journaling and getting together with close friends and family to share good food and good times.

 

Professional:
Big Island Candies 1991–2000
ABC Corporation 2000–2004
Wells Fargo Advisors 2004–present

Credentials:
Series 7 & 66 registered
Insurance/Annuity licensed

Multi-lingual and multi-talented, Ani is a dynamo who continuously strives to upgrade the status quo in how she serves clients and in the work she does behind the scenes. With a diverse background that includes both banking and investments, plus experience here in the U.S. and internationally, Ani has gained a wide range of knowledge and skills in her more than 15-year career in financial services.

Ani’s passion is analytics, which she applies with rigor to everything she does. She continuously examines, evaluates and explores, seeking to learn more and understand more in order to bring maximum value to the full range of her responsibilities. Never one to take something at face value, she excels at critical thinking and carefully considers multiple perspectives whether tackling a new challenge or managing everyday problem-solving. No matter how simple the task at hand, Ani is always looking for ways to level-up processes as well as outcomes. She asks questions, dives deep and challenges limitations in her pursuit of new approaches and strategies that help her and the team do things better, smarter, faster and more efficiently.

It’s simply not in Ani’s nature to give less than 100 percent. When she says she’ll find an answer or get something done, there’s no doubt she’ll deliver. Conscientious, diligent and committed to helping others succeed, she strives to give her best every day. Ani thrives in the fast-paced, service-focused team environment. She is quick to go above and beyond in order to exceed expectations, and is always eager to lend a helping hand. Despite her meticulous attention to productivity and performance, Ani’s keen sense of humor and easygoing nature make her a joy to be around. She is “all business” — with a smile. Clients and colleagues alike value her warmth and congeniality, which reveal the genuine care she has for everyone she interacts with.

A native of Armenia, Ani married an Armenian-American from Hawaii and came to the U.S. in 2019. She and her husband, Armen, live in the Hawaii Kai area of Oahu and stay busy as the parents of two young boys. Ani speaks four languages — English, Armenian, Russian and Italian — and uses all of them to tell everyone she can about the beauty of Hawaii. She enjoys reading, cooking, getting together with extended family for barbecues, and introducing people to Armenian foods, especially tolma.

 

Education:
Linguistic University, Armenia, B.A. Language Education
American University of Armenia, M.B.A. with Finance Concentration

Professional:
HSBC 2010–2018
Wells Fargo Advisors 2021–present