Richard Romano has acted as General Partner and President of Romano Brothers since 1964 and is currently Chairman. He oversees all aspects of the investment management and securities brokerage business. Richard served on the NASD Board of Governors, the self-regulating arm of the securities industry, from 1985-88 (Vice Chairman 1986-87) and again from 1999 to 2003. He is also a past member of the Board of Directors of the NASDAQ Stock Market. Richard earned his B.S. degree from the University of Illinois and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University
of Delaware.

jromano@romanobrothers.org

Joseph R.V. Romano, CFP®, President

Joseph Romano joined the firm in 1995. Joe is engaged in general securities and portfolio management and works in partnership with his father, Richard Romano. Together they manage nearly $500 million in client assets. Joe directly oversees all day-to-day operations of the firm, and regularly teaches courses on the principles of investment management. He earned his B.A. in Economics with Honors from Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP) designation. Joe also serves as President of the Illinois Securities Industry Association (ISIA).*

dgeisser@romanobrothers.org

Douglas Geisser has more than 25 years of industry experience and has served as Vice President of the firm since 1990. Doug oversees the fixed-income department, including bond research, underwriting and trading operations. He is a registered investment advisor and manages $175 million of equity and fixed-income portfolios. In addition, Doug acts as a fixed-income advisor to bank trust departments and other investment professionals. He earned his B.A. in Economics and Business from Lake Forest College.

Michael J. Marek, CPA, Chief Financial Officer

Mike Marek joined the firm as Chief Financial Officer in 2006 with 10 years of experience in the financial services industry. He was previously employed as the Chief Financial Officer at Duff & Phelps, an international financial advisory and investment banking firm. He received his MBA in Finance and BS in Accounting from DePaul University and holds FINRA Series 24, 27, 62, and Series 63 securities licenses.

Grace Garby, Chief Administrative Officer

Grace Garby joined the firm in 2005 with 20 years of investment industry management experience in Operations, Compliance and Administration. As Chief Administrative Officer, Grace oversees all Administrative and Human Resource functions of Romano Brothers & Co. Previously, as a partner at Lincoln Capital Management, Grace managed the Operations and Client Service departments for the company’s 69 pension fund portfolios with $43 billion in assets under management. She is a member of the Chicago Chapter of Women Investment Professionals and earned her B.S. from Illinois State University.

Richard Hemwall joined the firm in 1996 after eight years as an account executive with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith. He is engaged in general securities and investment management. Richard earned his B.S. in Communication from Illinois State University.

David Davenport joined the firm in 1997 after seven years as an account executive with First National Bank of Chicago. He is actively engaged in general securities and investment management and oversees $140 million in client assets. He earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of Arizona and is completing an educational course of study that meets the education components of the CFP® process. Dave is licensed to sell insurance related investment products.

Natalie A. Romano, Portfolio Manager

Natalie Romano joined the firm in 1999 while attending Northwestern University. Previously, Natalie worked for Merrill Lynch where she served on a fixed-income team for almost five years. She continued on to Salomon Smith Barney where she was a trader for an equity portfolio manager and received her Financial Advisor designation. Natalie serves on Richard and Joseph's investment management team, and is completing an educational course of study that meets the education components of the CFP® process.

Jac A. Cerney, CFA, CFP®, Financial Consultant

Jac Cerney joined the firm in 2003 with more than 25 years of experience in investment management. Jac was a Senior Vice President at ABN AMRO Asset Management where he was lead portfolio manager for mutual funds and separate accounts totaling over $1 billion. Prior to that, he was Assistant Manager of Investments for Commonwealth Edison’s pension fund where he managed over $1 billion in equity investments. Jac earned an A.B. in Chemistry from Oberlin College, an M.S. in Chemistry and an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification.* He is an adjunct professor of business at DeVry University.

Deborah L. Cross, Financial Consultant

Deborah Cross joined the firm in 2003 after serving as an investment executive for National Securities Corp. Her background also includes over 20 years business and management experience as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Circle K Ind., Inc. and territory Manager, National Steel Services Center, Inc. Deborah holds a B.A. degree from Allegheny College, certificate with honors in Financial Services/Investment Analysis.