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 FINRA 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™ certification*. Joe also served as President of the Illinois Securities Industry Association (ISIA) from 2005-2007. He currently serves as a member of the FINRA District 8 Committee (IL, IN, KY, MI, OH, WI).

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.

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.

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.

Deborah L. Cross, Portfolio Manager

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.

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.

Nick Paldrmic, CFA, CFP®, CTFA, Portfolio Manager

Nick joined the firm in 2009, and has over 13 years of investment management and financial planning experience. Previously, he was an Investment Advisor and Managing Director with the Northern Trust Company, working directly with clients and managing a team of portfolio managers with responsibility for $2 billion in client assets. Nick specializes in the area of retirement planning. He earned a B.S. in Management and Finance from Purdue University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™*, and Certified Trust and Financial Advisor.

Christopher Knorr, CFP, Associate Portfolio Manager

Christopher Knorr joined the firm in 2006.  Since joining Romano Brothers & Co. he has served as a member of Richard and Joseph’s investment management team.  His primary areas of responsibility include financial planning and portfolio management.  Chris earned his B.A. in Economics from Hamilton College, Clinton, NY and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification*.

Brett Larson, Associate Portfolio Manager

Brett Larson joined the firm in 2006 after two years as a Personal Banker at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. Brett serves on Dave’s management team. Brett received a BS in Finance with an emphasis in Accounting from the University of Iowa and holds the FINRA Series 6, 7 and 63 securities licenses.

Laura Daly, Associate Portfolio Manager

Laura Daly joined the firm in 2009 after eight years as an Operations Manager and Client Service Specialist at Charles Schwab. Laura serves on Richard and Joe’s investment management team. Laura received a BA in Journalism from Georgia State University and holds the FINRA Series 7, 9, 10, 63 and 65 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.

William J. Reilly, CPA, Chief Financial Officer

William Reilly joined the firm as Chief Financial Officer in 2009 with more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Previously, he was employed as the Controller for Advantage Futures LLC and Chief Financial Officer at Wayne Hummer Investments LLC. He received his BBA from the University of Notre Dame and a MBA from the University of Chicago (Booth) and holds FINRA Series 7, 63, 24 and 27 securities licenses.