Hi! I’m Neal Shikes. Thanks for stopping by.

Here’s a bit about my background:

B.S. Economics (Money, Banking, and Finance Concentration)
FINRA Series 7 (formerly Series 31, 63, 65)
Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC)

Subject Manner Expertise:

Fiduciary Responsibility
. DOL Fiduciary Duty clarifications
. Financial Technology consulting
. Fiduciary Duty enabling financial technology consulting
. Litigation/Breaches of Fiduciary Duty Targeting: Employer Sponsor Retirement Plans
. Expert Testimony/Witness: Trust; Trust forensics
. Retirement Plan Forensics
. Incorporating and Fulfilling Fiduciary duties in Defined Contribution Plans

Operation SME
. All clearing functions, collaborations, P&P, communications, and improving efficiencies
. HF start-ups/relationships (prime broker, governance, administrator, custody)
. US/non-US hard asset monetization structuring

Wealth Management SME
. Business Development
. Relationship Management
. Portfolio construction incl. alt structures, tools, data and analytic services, security
. Retirement Plan design

List of Consultation Engagements
. Alternative Investments: trends, strategies, segments
. Choosing distribution channels for Wealth Management Products
. Integration and cross selling
. Trends
. Robo-Advisors
. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Duty proposal and how it impacts Broker Dealers, Registered Investment Advisors, and Robo Advisors
. The DOL and Retirement Plans
. The Impact of Robo Advisors
. Bank Money/Wealth Management Platforms; various business segments
. BASEL III and Dodd Frank basics
. Benchmarking Software: Trading Software comp/cont
. Retirement Plans and IRAs
. Performance and Compensation comparisons
. Portfolio Optimization/Risk Modeling
. Pricing and Data Service Providers: comparing and contrasting
. Revenue Sharing at specific financial services firm; ETFs, 401(k)s, regulatory issues, revenue sharing and the DOL, mark-ups (third-parties & ticket charges)
. The 401(k) provider selection process: A Fiduciary Guide (philosophy, product fit, and process selection milestones)
. Discussing specific characteristics of wealth management companies and trading companies with various Private Equity and Hedge Fund analysts.
. Passive vs Active investments
. Developing a Target Marketing Plan and Strategy for a start-up ETF/Research Firm
. Lead consultant and project manager for a start-up hedge fund