Smartleaf
& SAM

Nick Bertozzi is a Managing Director at Choreo, where he oversees investment management operations and firmwide platform execution. With 18+ years in investment operations, wealth management, and executive leadership, he specializes in building scalable infrastructure and supporting advisor-led growth.

Before Choreo, Nick was COO of Cherry Bekaert Wealth Management, leading operations and technology strategy through the firm's growth and eventual acquisition by Choreo in January 2023. Earlier, he held senior operational roles, including Investment Operations Manager, within CPA-affiliated investment firms.

Bill Martin, CFA is Chief Wealth Officer at Earned Wealth, a founding member of its leadership team, and a fintech-enabled financial services firm serving healthcare professionals and their practices exclusively. Bill oversees Earned's advisory approach spanning financial planning, investing, tax, insurance, trust and estate, and retirement solutions for doctors and their practices. He brings over 10 years of experience as Chief Investment Officer at INTRUST Bank.

Dr. Mark Nitzberg is a computer scientist and entrepreneur focused on the effects of AI and related technologies on our society, economy and democracy. In addition to serving as Director of Technology Research at BRIE, he also serves as Executive Director of UC Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI and Head of Strategic Outreach for Berkeley AI Research. Mark works on understanding and anticipating the societal and economic impacts of technology, and its corresponding benefits, risks and governance. He is co-author of Solomon’s Code — an examination of AI and how it reshapes human values, trust, and power around the world — and has published a number of pieces on AI impacts and governance.

In industry, Mark’s experience is diverse, having built technology ventures applying AI in health care, finance, education and data analytics for developing regions. Among these, he was founding CTO of Smartleaf, which automates the management of investment portfolios at scale.  He brings a first-hand perspective to the future of technology, platforms, fintech, and more. An underlying theme of much of his work has been the practical application of technology to address market needs in human-centered and sustainable ways, or the use of technology for beneficial social impact and quality-of-life improvements.

Steve Harper is a recognized leader in tax-managed investing, specializing in direct indexing, tax overlay strategies, and personalized portfolio implementation. With more than a decade of experience spanning portfolio management, investment technology, and advisor solutions, he has played a key role in developing and scaling tax-efficient investment programs serving thousands of client portfolios. Steve's expertise lies at the intersection of optimization technology, operational execution, and investment strategy, helping advisors deliver customized after-tax outcomes while maintaining alignment with client objectives. His work has focused on translating complex tax and portfolio management challenges into scalable solutions, making him a trusted voice on the future of personalized investing.

Gil Cotto, CFP®, is Director of RIA Operations at Earned Wealth, where he leads operational strategy, technology implementation, and process improvement across the firm’s wealth management platform. With more than 25 years of financial services experience—including leadership roles at BNY Pershing, Stratos Wealth Partners, and Charles Schwab—Gil brings deep expertise in RIA operations, advisor technology, and organizational transitions. At the conference, he will share Earned Wealth’s experience transitioning to Smartleaf, including key lessons from implementation, adoption, and integrating the platform into the firm’s investment and operational workflows.

Freddy Garza delivers valuable and actionable wealth-planning advice that helps successful families and family offices grow and preserve wealth over multiple generations. His professional expertise includes holistic financial planning, goal-based investment management across all asset classes, income tax efficiency, cash flow modeling, executive compensation and retirement strategies, philanthropy objectives, risk management analysis, and lifetime gift and estate planning.
 
With nearly 20 years of planning and client service experience, Freddy has an intimate understanding of the wealth accumulation, preservation, and distribution life cycle and how to position his clients for long-term financial success. Before joining Endeavor, Freddy was a Senior Wealth Advisor at Northern Trust Wealth Management for over 15 years, where he advised successful families on all significant matters of their financial lives. He started his career in public accounting at Deloitte.

As President of Smartleaf, Inc., Jerry is focused on bringing portfolio rebalancing automation to a new level, one that supports ultra high levels of personalization and tax optimization at scale.

Bob joined Smartleaf in 2020 to lead the go-to-market efforts. Bob has more than 30 years of experience delivering sales and marketing results for FinTech SaaS and services businesses, ranging from working at/consulting for 20+ start-ups, to leadership roles at large firms such as BNY Mellon’s Eagle Investment Systems.

Stanford GSB Executive Program. B.A., Drew University. Series-65.

Mohammad joined Smartleaf in 2017 and leads the Financial Engineering team, driving the design, implementation, efficiency and scalability of Smartleaf's core technology. His team is responsible for the Analytics Engine, Household Optimizer, and Backtesting Capabilities, as well as the development of Risk Models and Direct Index models used across the platform. Mohammad also oversees the data pipeline and corporate actions infrastructure that underpins Smartleaf's portfolio management capabilities.

Mohammad has designed and deployed highly scalable systems that apply machine learning and neural networks to large-scale data sets, enabling faster insights and more robust product development at Smartleaf. Prior to Smartleaf, he was co-founder and CTO of Lighthouse Signal Systems, a technology company focused on indoor geo-location and location-based analytics, and previously worked as a senior systems engineer at Skyhook and as a staff member at the Center for Wireless Information Network Studies (CWINS) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Mohammad holds multiple patents and publications related to his earlier work in location-based technologies.

M.Sc. & Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Wireless Communication, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tyler joined Smartleaf in 2019 and has worked for over 6 years as a software developer, focusing primarily on the development of the Advisor Portal. During that time he worked as an individual contributor, a team lead, and, most recently, a manager. Prior to working at Smartleaf, Tyler earned a Master's in Theological Studies from Boston University and taught middle school for three years.

Amelia oversees Smartleaf's Client Services team which is responsible for all client onboarding and support. She joined Smartleaf in July 2021 and has since shepherded the team as they nearly tripled in size and scope.

She has a passion for entangling herself in a wide net of responsibilities, connecting the right internal and external parties to get everyone exactly what they need. Amelia began her career as a hedge fund accountant at State Street before moving through various roles in client operations and support at Brown Brothers Harriman

Melissa joined Smartleaf in 2024 as a product manager. Her work focuses on building the Advisor Portal. She has eight years of experience working across product management and user research. Prior to Smartleaf, Melissa worked as a strategy consultant at Deloitte Consulting, LLP.

John joined Smartleaf in 2022 as an Implementation Project Manager. He has led a diverse set of client implementations with an emphasis on complex client profiles and technical engagements & new interfaces. 

Outside of the office, he spends the winter months skiing with friends in Oregon & Utah, attending concerts with his wife and exploring the outdoors with his dog Ruby.

Ben joined Smartleaf Asset Management, LLC in 2014 and has over 13 years of market experience as a member of the Financial Engineering team at its parent company, Smartleaf, Inc. He is a CFA charterholder and belongs to CFA Society Boston. Prior to Smartleaf Asset Management, Ben spent two years teaching with Teach For China in Yunnan province.

Melissa Fitzgerald is a Senior Program Manager in Customer Success at Smartleaf, where she has worked for more than nine years. She began her tenure in product management before transitioning to client services, initially supporting Smartleaf’s software clients and later expanding her focus to subadvisory relationships.

Today, Melissa works primarily with large RIAs using Smartleaf’s shared-target householding capabilities. She specializes in complex integrations, client and internal documentation, and detailed account analysis, helping firms translate operational and investment requirements into scalable, effective solutions.

Wei joined Smartleaf's Financial Engineering team in 2013 and has also served as a Senior Financial Analyst with Smartleaf Asset Management since 2015. Prior to joining Smartleaf, Wei worked at Bloomberg L.P. in New York on the Credit Risk and Fundamental Evaluation team.

Wei holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and an M.S. in Economics from Brown University and is a CFA charterholder.

Anthony joined Smartleaf, Inc in 2024 as a member of the Financial Engineering team. His 
primary focus is on building, maintaining, and expanding the householding features offered by Smartleaf. 

Prior to joining Smartleaf, Anthony worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at the Brandeis University Department of Physics. 

Ph.D., Applied Mathematics, New York University.