Todd joined Certis as the firm’s Portfolio Director in August 2014. Todd leads the investment committee, oversees the implementation of the firm's due diligence process as well as directly sourcing and monitoring investments. Prior, Todd was a Senior Partner at Persimmon Capital Management, a multi-family office in suburban Philadelphia. While at Persimmon, Todd headed the firm's Investment Committee and was a Co-Portfolio Manager for their fund of funds investment products and separate account platform. Before joining Persimmon, Todd was Director of Research at Advisorport, Inc., a Turnkey Asset Management Provider serving the registered investment advisor industry. Todd holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Wayne State University, and an MBA in Investment Finance from the University of Notre Dame Mendoza School of Business.

Kelly founded Certis Capital Management in 2005 and is a member of the investment committee. Prior to starting Certis, Kelly was with Pacificor, a top percentile performing hedge fund focused on high yield bonds and other distressed securities. Kelly served on the investment committee and established Pacificor’s Insurance Dedicated Fund. Prior to Pacificor Kelly was a Vice President with Credit Suisse where he led one of the Private Client teams in the firm's Los Angeles office. Prior to Credit Suisse Kelly was an Associate in the Private Client Services division at Lehman Brothers in New York City. Before earning his Masters degree he worked for private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners in Beverly Hills, California. Kelly holds a degree in Economics and East Asian Studies from UCLA, as well as an MBA in Finance from the Anderson School at UCLA.

David joined Certis in 2005 and is the Senior Analyst at the firm. He is a member of the investment committee and works in tandem with the Portfolio Director to manage and execute the analytical work performed at Certis. David holds direct responsibility for sourcing and monitoring investments. He received his CFA charter in 2016 and is a member of the CFA Institute. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Business Economics and Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Rob joined Merus Advisors in 2022 to assist with building awareness of the firm’s alternative investment advisory services for high-net-worth clients as well as sourcing new investment opportunities. He has nearly 40 years of experience in multiple segments of the financial industry. In addition to working with Merus, he is a Managing Director with Capital Growth Advisors, a New York based Broker Dealer that provides investment solutions to institutional investors. Previously, he was in a similar role with Asset Alliance, one of the first hedge fund seeding firms. He was the Director of Marketing for Northfield Trading and Tactical Investment Management, both alternative investment managers. He was the president of a futures brokerage company and a branch manager of a regional securities firm. Prior to this Rob was an Associate Trader at Commodities Corporation (later acquired by Goldman Sachs) and managed money as a Commodity Trading Advisor. He began his career in brokerage at Merrill Lynch and Shearson Lehman Brothers. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a dual degree in Economics & International Relations and holds the Series 3, 7, 30, 63, & 65 Securities Licenses. He is an active futures, equities, and crypto trader in addition to being a personal investor in a variety of alternative investment funds.

Margaret oversees all aspects of operations and provides support to Certis’ Investment Research and Client Service functions. Margaret’s primary responsibilities are comprehensive financial tracking and reporting, and in service of this, she creatively restructured the firm’s financial tracking and reporting systems. Margaret directs efforts to continually improve and customize Certis’ capabilities to best serve clients’ needs.

Ms. Loncki oversees and supports all aspects of Operations as well as serves in a support role for Investment Research and Client Services. Margaret graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 2018 earning duel degrees in Organismal Biology and Economics. During her four years at Claremont, Margaret played varsity soccer and golf. She was a member of four SCIAC championship teams and earned both the individual and team NCAA DIII National Championship in golf. Margaret is an avid diver and is certified as an Emergency Oxygen Provider as well as an Emergency First Response Instructor.

Tawnie joined Certis in 2018 as the Client Services and Office Manager. She works with each of our families, seeing to all areas of customer service and communication. Other aspects of her responsibilities include helping manage client accounts and working closely with many of our partners. The Office Manager portion of her job includes making sure that the professional environment is organized.

Prior to joining Certis, Tawnie worked at Paul Mitchell the School as the Financial Aid & Admissions Advisor.

Ms. Clark oversees accounting, budgeting, payroll services in addition to other accounting based management functions for Merus Advisors and Certis Capital. Marcella has been with the organization since 2015. Ms. Clark holds degrees from California State University - Channel Islands as well as from Universidade Federal De Santa Catarina in Florianopolis, Brazil. She holds the Certified Public Accountant license.

Stephanie joined Certis in 2008 and works directly with each of the firm’s families, seeing to all areas of customer service, and communicating regular updates. Prior to joining Certis, Stephanie worked at the El Montecito School. She is a graduate of Westmont College where she was a Provost Scholar and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Business.
 

Tom primarily supports our reporting and operations departments. With his background in computer science and data security, Tom works to maintain and improve efficiency, security, and accuracy throughout all aspects of Certis operations.

Tom earned a BA in History at the University of Mary Washington in 2014, and is currently pursuing degrees in Computer Information Systems and Computer Network Engineering at Santa Barbara City College. Tom's college career is distinguished by his thesis work doing research at the Princeton Rare Books Archive on the career of British Naval Admiral John Elphinstone. Before coming to Certis, Tom worked in a role supporting the American Heart Association.