Our Mastermind Group

"Dedicated to the relentless pursuit of innovation within the financial services and non-profit communities"

Kyle C. Gregory, ChCCA — President of Give Back Nation, a non-profit organization
Kyle and several other entrepreneurial philanthropists developed Give Back Nation as a national community foundation serving hundreds of non-profits on a concierge services basis as well as thousands of giving Americans and their causes. Kyle Gregory has held management positions with UPS, Lowes and The Bank of New York Mellon. Using his vast array of management experience and dedication to “giving back”, Kyle helps great causes expand their fight while creating a “circle of winning” within communities across the nation. Kyle received his bachelors degree in Business Management from the University of Central Florida. He is a member of The Charitable Capital Institute.

Jeff Bae, JD, CVA — Managing Director of Valuation Services
Jeff provides valuation consulting services for business owners, attorneys, accountants, and other professional services providers, for gift and estate tax reporting, income tax reporting, reorganizations, buy/sell agreements, marital dissolution, litigation support, IRC §409A (deferred compensation), financial reporting (i.e., ASC 805/350 and SFAS 123R), ESOPs, and financing purposes.

Jeff began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in their National Tax Office. As an international tax associate, he advised multinational companies on the tax implications of their international operations as well as coordinating U.S. tax laws with foreign tax laws to develop optimal tax strategies. Jeff’s main expertise is in the valuation of ownership interests in operating businesses and closely-held, private entities that own real properties, marketable securities, and other income-producing assets. He is an active member of national and local professional organizations and frequently travels to Florida to manage VSI’s Miami office. Jeff has been involved in over 6,000 valuation engagements.

Brad West — Chief Operating Officer at Alternative Investment Exchange (AIX)
As COO of AIX, Brad arbitrates possibility and change across the alternative investments arena. His role is to help firms and advisors see the benefits of authentic data and process connectivity, understand why it matters and realize their true potential for growth. The reward is helping every AIX partner become stronger, and more vital by creating a connected ecosystem for alternatives, for the first time in history. With stints as Chief Information Officer at FS Investments and President and CEO of BankersEdge, he has made a career of leveraging technology to re-engineer and restructure businesses to enable commercial product strategies, streamline operations, and drive scale and profitability.

Robert Merl — National Business Resource Network Director at BDO USA
Rob leads the Business Resource Network practice of the BDO Alliance USA which provides consulting and business services to the Clients of BDO USA and its 260+ alliance firms across the country. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics Ursinus College and an MBA from the University of Maryland.

James Sekel — Senior Vice President of Private Banking at Tristate Capital Bank
In this capacity, Jim works in developing deposit and loan relationships with family offices, trust companies, investment firms, financial advisors and their clients, as well as business owners and company executives. Jim has nearly 40 years of experience in the banking industry. He has expertise in Private Banking, along with retail and commercial banking. Jim is currently responsible for a $700 million loan and deposit portfolio. Jim is a graduate of Edinboro University with a B.A. in Accounting. Additionally, he earned his MBA from Robert Morris University. He also completed the Graduate School of Retail Bank Management at the University of Virginia and the Central Atlantic School of Commercial Lending at Bucknell University.

Matt Morris — CEO at EncorEstate Plans
Matt’s career has been a series of entrepreneurial endeavors. A few years after the financial crisis, Matt pivoted into a role as a financial advisor and discovered a brand new fintech tool called Riskalyze. That discovery launched a transition into becoming the first sales hire at the startup technology firm and as Vice President of Sales, Matt built the process, strategy and sales organization from a start-up into a dominant industry leader. Ready for a new early-stage endeavor, Matt saw the desire advisors had to expand their holistic planning capabilities and the need for a high-quality estate planning partner. He joined Helios Integrated Planning and began building again a game-changing fintech solution for advisors. At the end of 2021, EncorEstate Plans was launched from Helios with its team intact where Matt took on the CEO role to lead the firm in its next phase of development and growth.