Our Team
Kurt Brouwer, Chairman
Together with Steve Janachowski, he pioneered the firm's investment strategy of investing in a portfolio of superior mutual funds. Kurt is the firm's Chairman. He is a member of the firm's Board of Directors and its Investment Committee. Prior to forming Brouwer & Janachowski, Brouwer was an officer in two New York Stock Exchange member firms. He began his career with Merrill Lynch in San Francisco.
Kurt is the editor of the Marketwatch Fundmastery Blog, which can be accessed at http://blogs.marketwatch.com/fundmastery. He is the author or co-author of three books on investing, the most recent of which is Mutual Fund Mastery (Times Business 1997). He has written for Forbes, Barron's, The San Francisco Chronicle, Pension World and other publications. He has a Bachelor's degree in Applied Economics from the University of San Francisco.
Stephen Janachowski, President & Chief Executive Officer
Together with Kurt Brouwer, he pioneered the firm's investment strategy of investing in a portfolio of superior no-load mutual funds. Steve is the firm's Chief Investment Officer and, in that role, he oversees the firm's investment research process. He concentrates on working with clients, researching investments and managing portfolios. He is a member of the firm's Board of Directors and its Investment Committee. Prior to forming Brouwer & Janachowski, Steve was an officer in two New York Stock Exchange member firms and he began his career with Holt & Collins and later moved to Merrill Lynch, both in San Francisco.
Steve is the co-author of Mutual Fund Mastery and has written for The San Francisco Examiner and other publications. He has a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Chicago.
Robert D. Smoke, Vice Chairman
Bob is a member of Brouwer & Janachowski’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Brouwer & Janachowski in 2008, Bob was the President and sole shareholder of Seton Smoke Capital Management, the successor to his own investment advisory business that started in 1983. Prior to starting his own firm, he was a Vice President in Bank of America’s Private Banking Group. Bob began his career with the Big Eight CPA firm of Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young) where he practiced as a CPA specializing on individual and corporate income taxes. Bob is a graduate of Adrian College in Michigan and Eastern Michigan University. He has spoken before professional groups including the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and the California Society of CPAs.
Suzanne Williamson, Vice President of Operations & Administration
Suzanne is responsible for overseeing our entire operations and administrative effort. She works with each of our team members to make sure our client's needs are being met. Prior to joining Brouwer & Janachowski, Suzanne was Manager/Fund Relations at Charles Schwab & Co. In total, she spent nine years in increasingly responsible positions within the mutual fund group at Schwab. Before joining Schwab, she spent four years in mutual fund operations at Jack White & Co., which became part of the TD Waterhouse firm. Suzanne graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor's degree in Social Science.
Rita Lee, Vice President
Rita works with our Chief Investment Officer in research and portfolio development. She oversees the execution of investment decisions and directs the delivery of complex financial analyses, presentations and reports.
Prior to joining Brouwer & Janachowski, Rita was an officer with Northern Trust Company in Chicago, where she oversaw a group specializing in strategic planning, budgeting, financial reporting and administration for mutual funds. Prior to that, Rita did analytical and fund administration work for Sunstone Financial Group, a third party mutual fund service provider. Rita began her career with WFA Asset Management in Milwaukee where she assisted the portfolio manager with equity research and financial planning. Rita has a Master's degree in Financial Analysis & Investment Management from St. Mary's College of California (summa cum laude) and a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Accounting from University of Wisconsin (magna cum laude). She holds the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification and is a member of the AICPA. Rita is currently enrolled in the CFA program and is a member of CFA Society of San Francisco.
Jack H. Scaff III, MSBA, Vice President
Jack is a member of Brouwer & Janachowski’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Brouwer & Janachowski in 2008, Jack was a Vice President and a portfolio manager with Seton Smoke Capital Management. He previously worked for Anderson Capital Management, Enright Financial Consultants and Wells Fargo Bank. Jack has his MSBA, Finance from San Francisco State University where he was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, and his BBA, Finance and Marketing, from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. He is a former Instructor of Finance with the University of Phoenix, and has completed coursework towards the Certified Financial Planner designation.
Chris Akamine, CFP®, Financial Advisor Associate
Before joining Brouwer & Janachowski, Chris served as a Financial Advisor & Associate Investment Consultant at Morgan Stanley in his home town of Honolulu, Hawai'i. At Morgan Stanley, he co-managed approximately $50 million in assets for individuals and families, small businesses and non-profit groups. Chris was a member of the Morgan Stanley Pacesetter's Club for 2006 and 2007.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Chris spent nearly two years at Brouwer & Janachowski as a Performance Analyst. In that role, he helped prepare client reports and he tracked overall portfolio and mutual fund performance results. Chris began his career at Spectrum Pension Consultants, a third party pension administrator in Tacoma, Washington, where he worked as a Trust Accountant. He graduated with honors from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, majoring in Mathematics and Business. While in school, Chris co-authored a group paper, "Efficiencies of the Markets Post 9/11," which was presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Business. Chris currently holds a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP) designation.
Shawn Southerd, CFP®, Financial Advisor Associate
Shawn works closely with Kurt and Steve to service our clients. He attends client meetings and gathers information to help clients establish and identify ways to achieve their financial goals. Shawn graduated from the University of California at Davis with high honors in Economics and International Relations. While at U.C. Davis, he worked as a Research Assistant in the Political Science Department assisting in research on Japanese politics. Shawn holds a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP) designation and has received the Personal Financial Planning Certificate from UC Berkeley.
Joe Strauss, Performance Analyst
Joe is a member of the Performance Analysis team. He helps prepare client reports, tracks overall portfolio and component mutual fund performance results and assists with trading and portfolio management, in addition to other research projects. Joe works closely with custodian firms, mutual fund companies and outside research providers to gather data for our investment process. Joe graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with Bachelors' degrees in Economics and History and an emphasis on taxation and applied welfare economics. While at UCLA, Joe spent summers working for La Jolla Bank FSB in a research position.
Chris Eagles-Smith, Performance Analyst
Chris is a member of the Performance Analysis team. In that role, he helps prepare client reports and assists with trading and portfolio management, in addition to other research projects. He also works closely with custodian firms, mutual fund companies and outside research providers to gather data for our investment process. Chris attended the University of California, Irvine and he graduated with a Bachelors' degree in Sociology. Prior to joining Brouwer & Janachowski, Chris taught Tae Kwon Do, in which he holds a Third Degree Black Belt.
Shane Holt, Performace Analyst
Shane is a member of the Performance Analysis team. He helps prepare client reports, tracks overall portfolio and component mutual fund performance results and assists with trading and portfolio management, in addition to other research projects. Shane works closely with custodian firms, mutual fund companies and outside research providers to gather data for our investment process.
Shane graduated with Distinction from California State University, Sonoma with a Bachelors' degree in Economics. While at Sonoma, he did empirical econometric research in labor economics, literature research in financial economics and was a department tutor.
Susan Berryessa, Client Relations Specialist
Susan works directly with the firm's clients with any questions or requests they might have regarding any issues relating to their account. Susan works with both new and existing clients to set up accounts, handle daily inquiries and help take care of any administrative issues or questions. She also helps gather information from clients to facilitate the financial planning process. Prior to joining Brouwer & Janachowski, she spent three years at Hovan Capital Management in Belevedere, California. Previously, she was an entrepreneur and business owner. For over 15 years, Susan owned and operated a successful catering company in Marin County. In addition to the main catering service, her firm provided all food services exclusively for their companies. Susan's philosophy has always been to offer the best in client service by being attentive to client needs, as she sees this as the basis of any successful operation. Susan attended City College of San Francisco, California.
Margaret (Peggy) Hodel, CPA, Controller
Peggy is responsible for the firm's internal accounting and financial operations. Her duties include the preparation of financial statements, budgets, cash management, audits and client billings. Prior to joining Brouwer and Janachowski, LLC, Peggy was a Senior Manager with The Siegfried Group, a nationwide accounting consulting company and a Senior Auditor with Deloitte & Touche LLP in San Francisco. Peggy graduated with a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from Dominican University and studied accounting at Sonoma State University. She is a Certified Public Accountant, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the California Society of CPA's. In her spare time, Peggy is an avid tennis player and a member of Marin Tennis Club.