You are at the center of everything we do.

The Schwab and Fidelity investment platforms, and other vast resources give us the tools to create successful solutions. Our custody, research and technology are activated to design a financial plan for what matters to you and your family. We offer a wide range of investment vehicles available on US exchanges and are not locked into any one fund family.

Our Team

Rick.jpg

Rick Mordesovich, CIMA, CWS
CEO + Founder

Rick brings 27+ years of investment experience and is responsible for providing customized wealth management advice and solutions to individuals, families and family businesses. He helped build two previous successful investment advisory firms since 2008.  Prior to that he worked for large institutions in leadership roles at Neuberger Berman, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch.  

Rick devotes much of his personal time to supporting environmental causes including Friends of the Urban Forest San Francisco, as well as human rights and equality through The San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Horizons Foundation. 

Education: MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a CIMA® credential from Wharton.  He earned his BA at DePaul University in Chicago. 

 

Sandra Bergsten
Multi-Generational Coach

Sandy first collaborated with Rick in 1992. They share a passion for cultivating human capital. Both see wealth as  a vehicle to leverage not only the mission of the family but also to simultaneously support each individual within to grow and thrive as their truest self.

Sandy’s has served as a curriculum designer, consultant and administrator in educational, business and non-profit settings. She is a Gestalt practitioner and generational coach specializing in on-boarding the next generation of the family. 

Education: BFA from the University of Michigan (Magna Cum Laude), MA in Curriculum Design from Teachers College Columbia University (Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society), Post-Graduate Degree in Organizational Development from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

Melissa Yu
Client Services Team

Melissa and Rick met in 2001.  Before coming to SPW, Melissa worked at Montgomery Securities as a Portfolio Analyst providing support to broker teams and heading up performance reporting.  After the merger of Montgomery and Bank of America Securities helped to develop the Consulting Services Group with Rick Mordesovich in 2001.   

Education: BA from Lehigh University.

Kathe Oster
Operations Manager

Kathe has a passion for planning, organization and compliance management and is a key member of the operations team. Her skills from her previous formal career as an elementary school teacher give her an edge at making the work fun. She also worked for many years mentoring beginning teachers and served as the Co-Chair of the Board of Friends of the Children, San Francisco. In addition to working with SPW, Kathe is also an experienced yoga and fitness instructor.  

Education: MA from Mills College. 

Cole Gleeson
Impact Investing Analyst

Cole builds, analyzes, and evolves SPW/HIP Investor’s ESG Strategies and Portfolios with the Chief Investment Officer. Cole led the strategy construction of HIP’s Science Based Targets for Climate Action, prioritizing greenhouse gas reductions (GHGs), launch in August 2019. In his spare time you will find Cole doing anything and everything involving sports, from basketball to golf.

Education: He graduated from Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in Finance.

 

The Impact Community

The personalized service of a boutique investment firm with the breadth of expertise of a large firm. Sonoma Private Wealth has partnered with HIP Investor, Nia Global Solutions, and Newday Impact Investing to create The Impact Community. Together we focus on achieving impact along with financial results for clients, communities and the world.

Paul 2.jpg

R. Paul Herman
CEO + Founder
HIP Investor

R. Paul Herman is a senior wealth advisor at SPW and a globally recognized leader in investing to pursue positive impact and profit.  HIP (Human Impact + Profit) Investor licenses 127,000 impact investment ratings of stocks, bonds, and funds to investors, investment advisors, wealth advisors, fund managers, hedge funds, fiduciaries, and retirement plans, including 401(k)s.  HIP’s Ratings have helped drive the Newsweek Green Rankings and the Peter Drucker Index. HIP’s Strategies focus on “great places to work,” sustainable real estate, global dividends, and sustainability leaders.  

Herman’s 2010 textbook, e-book, and audiobook The HIP Investor: Make Bigger Profits by Building a Better World  is published by John Wiley & Sons, and is included in 28 university, MBA and MPA curricula worldwide on finance, capital markets and impact investing. He advised Boards and executives while with McKinsey and Co., found and funded social entrepreneurs at Ashoka.org, and shaped and measured impact investments at eBay founder Pierre Omidyar’s Network.  Herman is an advisor to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Net Impact and Sustainable Brands. 

Education: Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. 


Kristin 2.jpg

Kristin Hull, Ph.D
CEO + Founder
Nia Global Solutions

Founder, CEO & CIO Nia Global Solutions. Kristin is a conscious investor empowering individuals, families and organizations to invest in alignment with their values, for the world they want to see. Kristin launched Nia Global Solutions in 2013 to bring activism and impact investing into the public markets. In doing so, she developed Nia’s six solutions-focused investment themes, weaving a gender-lens throughout the investment thesis.  Kristin founded Nia Community Investments in 2010, a 100% mission-aligned investment fund focused on social justice and environmental sustainability in Oakland. She lives in the Bay Area with her two sons, her puppy Stella and their three chickens. 

Education: Ph.D. in Urban Education from the University of California at Berkeley in 2006, her MA in Research in Bilingual Education from Stanford University, her BA and teaching credentials at Tufts University. 

Zachary Worthington
EVP, Operations, Talent, and Finance - HIP

Zach leads operations, talent, and finance at HIP Investor.  Zach manages client reporting and is active in client development. Prior to starting at HIP, Zach was a food-related entrepreneur, from designing a commercial aquaponics system to opening a wine bar. When not fighting for increased transparency in capital markets, Zach can often be found in the kitchen or on a basketball court. 

Education: MBA from Presidio Graduate School. 

Nick Gower
SVP, Impact Investing Analytics, Client Relations + Comms - HIP

Over 8 years at HIP Investor, Nick has helped architect, build, and deploy HIP’s corporate, municipal, fund, and portfolio ratings of impact and profit potential. Nick has built custom ratings frameworks and toolkits for investors, foundations, international consortia, and sustainable development networks. Leveraging that experience, Nick develops clients and partnerships, as well as industry-wide awareness-building and storytelling. Nick also manages HIP’s outreach, communications, and marketing. 

Education: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Onindo Khan, M.Sci.
SVP, Impact Investing Analytics + Client Solutions - HIP

Onindo designs, improves, and deploys financial technologies and intelligence into HIP’s corporate, muni, fund, and portfolio ratings. Onindo ensures that the HIP Ratings continuously represent our latest analysis of corporate results relating to human impact and profit potential. Before joining HIP, Onindo worked as an analyst in the governance team at As You Sow, focusing on compensation issues, like overpaid CEOs. Out of the office, Onindo enjoys being outdoors while sailing, biking or hiking.

Education: M.Sci. in Logic from the University of Amsterdam and holds a B.Sci. in Mathematics from the Ruhr Universität Bochum. 

Anna Rautenberg, MPA
ESG Impact Investing Analyst - HIP

Anna graduated with a Master in Public Administration (MPA) degree from Columbia University with a concentration in internal finance and specialization in data analysis. She has lived in seven different countries for work and study, such as Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Belgium, and Germany. Her previous experience includes working in international development at the European Commission. More recently Anna has explored impact investing and sustainable finance while consulting on projects for an impact investing fund and the World Bank. She is interested in helping to engage the financial sector to tackle challengers around energy transition, biodiversity protection and climate change through a data driven approach. At HIP, Anna helps to prepare, analyze and display municipal bonds data, and builds ESG ratings.

Stella Yao, MPA
ESG Impact Investing Analyst - HIP

Stella Yao analyzes and visualizes impact data with the HIP muni team and contributes to the advancement and communication of HIP ratings. Prior to joining HIP, Stella worked and volunteered in the U.S., Asia, and Africa on various impact projects, including sustainable agriculture, health equity, and animal welfare. In her free time, Stella loves adventures, dancing, and fostering kittens, cats and dogs. Stella’s favorite quote is “Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help we shall all be saved.” from her role model Dr. Jane Goodall. Stella holds a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a Master of Public Administration with a focus on Impact Investing from New York University.

Amir Khalegui, M.A.
Impact Investment Ratings Analyst- HIP

Amir Khalegui analyzes, innovates and integrates impact data for HIP’s municipal bonds ratings.

Amir has received a Master of Arts in Economics and is a PhD candidate at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. He is deeply interested in the intersection of ESG and sociology to better understand how the transition to a greener economy can maximize societally beneficial outcomes. In his spare time you can find Amir on a mat practicing Jiu-Jitsu, or at home playing with his cats.

Srdana Pokrajac, MIB, MPA FPQP, CSRIC
Senior Advisor - HIP

Srdana graduated with a Master of International Business from HULT International Business School and a Master of Public Administration with a focus on sustainable practices at Presidio Graduate School. She recently completed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam and is interested in exploring how investors can generate impact and enable a more just and regenerative economy through their portfolios. While at Presidio Graduate School she researched how governments can be more transparent about their data and finances. At HIP Investor, Srdana leverages her knowledge by consulting on the HIP municipal bond products and services. Srdana is on a journey to becoming a financial planner and pursuing the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation.

 

FocusPoint Solutions

FocusPoint provides SPW with critical investment research, back-office support, trading, reporting and strategic planning.

 

 

Foreside Consulting

Experienced compliance experts and tailored to fulfill the ongoing compliance obligations of investment advisor for SPW, each level of support of Foreside’s compliance programs provides a dedicated consultant, supported by a team of compliance professionals, to deliver proactive services and continuous support to the firm. Foreside’s Partner Program for registered investment advisors provides various levels of comprehensive and customized support to SPW.

 

Mini Cooper - VP, Hospitality, Naps and Treats

In Memoriam
Horacio - 2007 - 2021