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Robert W. Doede, PhD

Chairman of the Board
United Capital Financial Partners, Inc.


Mr. Doede is retired and a private investor. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Board for United Capital Financial Partners, Inc., and also serves as a member of the board of directors of its two investment advisory subsidiaries, United Capital Investment Advisers, Inc. and United Capital Financial Advisers, Inc.

Mr. Doede has more than 25 years experience in the investment business. Most recently, he was majority stockholder, Chairman of the Board, and President of Centurion Capital Group Inc., a California based asset management organization that manufactured and distributed a broad range of investment products including separate account, mutual fund, and variable annuity wrap programs. Centurion had two major wholly owned operating subsidiaries: Centurion Capital Management Corp. based in Los Angeles and Centurion Trust Company based in Phoenix. The firm also acquired other investment advisory firms and fully integrated them into the Centurion subsidiaries over the course of its history. Centurion Trust Company also provided the seed money and served as investment manager to the Centurion Funds, Inc. Centurion Capital Group Inc. was sold to GE Financial Assurance Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of GE (General Electric) Capital in December 2001, at which time the subsidiaries were renamed GE Private Asset Management, Inc. and GE Financial Trust Company. Mr. Doede remained an adviser to them following the sale until December 2003.

Mr. Doede is a current member of the Board of Trustees of the Bishop’s School, La Jolla, CA, serving as Chairman of their Finance Committee. He is also a past member of the Board of Directors/Trustees of California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA, University of California San Diego Cancer Center, San Diego Symphony, and the La Jolla Chamber Music Society.
Prior to Centurion, Mr. Doede co-founded Catallactics Corporation, a specialty service firm for trust departments at major banks. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Catco, Inc., parent company of Catallactics. He also ran his own investment fund, and served on the Boards of Directors of Concentric Network Corporation, Glenwood Trust company, Quantum, Inc. and Jefferies & Company.

Mr. Doede holds a PhD and MA, both in Economics, from the University of Chicago and a BA from Yale University, with a major in Economics. Mr. Doede also taught economics at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.

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Joseph J. Duran, CFA®

Chief Executive Officer

Joseph J. Duran, CFA®, is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founding Partner of United Capital Financial Partners, Inc. and is a recognized expert in the field of entrepreneurship. United Capital is one of the fastest growing financial advisory firms in the country and is a Transformational Acquirer of financial advisory firms. United Capital currently oversees 8 billion dollars in total assets. Since its founding in 2005, the firm has grown to over 100 employees with 13 offices around the country and thousands of clients.

Prior to starting UCFP, Joe was President of GE Private Asset Management, formerly Centurion Capital Management. He joined Centurion in 1992 when it was a small independent adviser and led the company to rapid growth with billions under management, culminating in the sale to GE Financial in 2001.

During his tenure as the business leader he created valuable firms with nationwide coverage, built unique investment solutions and consummated many multi-million dollar acquisitions. Joe actively raised capital from two private equity funds (Grail Partners, LLC and Putnam Lovell Partners) to invest in both firms, with over 15 million dollars of capital invested in each.

Joe holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and received MBA degrees from Columbia University in New York and the University of California at Berkeley. He did his undergraduate work at Saint Louis University earning a BS in Finance & Marketing.

Joe is the author of two nationally published books: Start It, Sell It and Make a Mint: 20 Wealth Creating Secrets for Business Owners (Wiley and Sons, 2004), and The First Time Investors Workbook (McGraw Hill, 2001). Joe is a frequent contributor to a wide variety of media outlets, including CNBC, Bloomberg TV and radio, CNNfn and dozens of radio shows. His articles have appeared in over a hundred magazines and he has been featured on numerous websites.

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Patrick M. Bommarito, CFP®

President

Patrick M. Bommarito, CFP, is the President and Co-Founding partner of United Capital Financial Partners, Inc. and is a recognized expert in the field Financial Services Industry. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of United Capital Financial Partners, Inc. and United Capital Investment Advisors, Inc.  Mr. Bommarito is integrally responsible for the overall architectural design and development of both the operating process and company protocols.

Mr. Bommarito is integrally involved and responsible for overall operations and development of processes at United Capital, in addition to providing strategic planning expertise at the holding company level and as a member of its Board of Directors.

Prior to United Capital Financial Partners, Inc. (“UCFP”), Mr. Bommarito was President and Chief Executive Officer of Bommarito & Associates, a comprehensive financial, estate, and investment advisory firm (a Financial Advisory Branch of American Express Financial Advisors, Inc.). His many accomplishments and awards at American Express Financial Advisors, Inc. include Senior Platinum Financial Advisor, Hall of Fame member, Diamond Ring member, Alex Alexander Award, and Harvey Golub Award. After 16 years as a Senior Platinum Financial Advisor, Mr. Bommarito has been recognized as one of the top 1% of Certified Financial Planners in the adviser field force of American Express Financial Advisors, Inc.
Mr. Bommarito was conferred as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) in 1987 with concentrations in Comprehensive Financial Planning, Business Planning, Taxation, Risk Management, Investment Management, Retirement Planning and Estate Planning. He is qualified by exam to serve as an investment adviser representative having passed the Series 7 and 63 exams, and holds certain life and health insurance licenses. He also earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Central Michigan University, a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Walsh College of Accountancy and Business Administration, and attended the Harvard Business School for Executive Development.

He is a sought after domestic and international speaker for his informative discussions regarding the current state of the financial services industry. He is known for his client centric innovations and solutions to the innovator’s dilemma.

Mr. Bommarito is a member of the Institute of Certified Financial Planners, the International Association for Financial Planning, and the International Board of Standards and Practices for Certified Financial Planners.

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Frank C. Meyer

Mr. Meyer is a private investor who most recently was chairman of Glenwood Capital Investments, LLC, an investment advisor specializing in hedge funds which he founded in January of 1988 and from which he resigned in January of 2004. Since October of 2000, Glenwood has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Man Group, plc, an investment advisor based in England specializing in alternative investment strategies.

From September 1986 through December 1987, Mr. Meyer was a general partner of Knightsbridge Partners, a firm that was engaged in the business of leveraged buyouts. Subsequent to his withdrawal from Knightsbridge, he remained involved as an investor and a board member in several of the Knightsbridge companies, including: Pheoll Manufacturing of Minnesota, Inc., a distributor of fasteners and adhesives; Tasty Frozen Products, Inc., a firm selling frozen bakery products to supermarkets; and, SuperCuts, a franchisor of hair salons.

From November of 1973 to September of 1986, his activities included acting as co-manager of Grosvenor Partners, a fund with an investment program in hedge funds similar to that of Glenwood. During this time period, he was also a managing partner of several investment entities and registered securities broker/dealers, including a dealer in options on government securities (Dorchester Partners) and a dealer in zero coupon bonds (Belvedere Securities).

Before 1973, he was employed at A.G. Becker & Company, where he helped redesign that firm’s performance measurement service for pension funds. Mr. Meyer received his B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and began his career at the university’s School of Business as an instructor of statistics.

During his career, Mr. Meyer has served as an outside director on a several companies, including Quality Systems, Inc. (a public company specializing in software for medical and dental professionals), Bernard Technologies, Inc. (a firm specializing in development of industrial processes using chlorine dioxide), and Centurion Trust Company of Arizona (where he served as a non-executive Chairman until its purchase by GE Financial). Currently, he is on the board of New World Restaurant Group, Inc., a firm operating in the quick casual segment of the restaurant industry.

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Michael L. Klowden

Michael Klowden is President and CEO of the Milken Institute. During his tenure, the Institute has increased its global outreach, working on projects as diverse as China's financial system to an economic road map to peace in the Middle East. He has overseen the expansion of the Institute's research into such areas as the life-sciences industry and global risk; the creation of its newest initiative, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions; and the transition of the Institute from a private foundation to a publicly supported charitable organization.

Klowden joined the Institute in 2001 from Jefferies Group Inc., a global investment bank and institutional securities firm. At Jefferies, he served as vice chairman, president and chief operating officer, and had direct responsibility for all of the firm's production units, including investment banking; asset management; research; and equity, convertible, high-yield and international securities trading. During his tenure, revenues rose 240 percent, net earnings 550 percent and share price 650 percent.

Prior to joining Jefferies, Klowden was a senior partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, an international law firm he helped expand to more than 1,000 attorneys. He served as one of the four members of that firm's Management Committee, was managing partner of the Los Angeles office and national vice chairman of the firm's Business and Finance practice. In addition to his management responsibilities, Klowden developed a large legal practice that emphasized financial institutions, securities, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and corporate counseling.
Before joining Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Klowden was a partner at the law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, where he practiced business law for a primarily entertainment-industry client base.

Klowden has been involved in at least 100 business combinations of various sizes and types, and in scores of public and private securities offerings. He has served on several corporate boards and is a trustee of the University of Chicago.

Klowden received his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1967, and his JD from Harvard Law School in 1970.

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Don H. Putnam

Don Putnam founded Grail Partners LLC in 2005 and leads the Company as Managing Partner. Prior to founding Grail, Don Putnam co-founded Putnam Lovell NBF in 1987. At Putnam Lovell NBF he served as Chief Executive Officer, Vice Chairman of the Board, and Managing Director in the firm's investment banking group. He left in February 2005. Don spearheaded a number of M&A transactions, including:

From 1980 to 1986, Don held senior positions at SEI Investments. He was an Executive Vice President and Division President of SEI, founder and President of SEI Financial Services Company, and founder and President of its various mutual funds with assets under management in excess of $15 billion.

Prior to joining SEI, Don was a Senior Consultant at Catallactics Corporation (a subsidiary of SunGard), where he devised new products and strategies for major banks, including JP Morgan, The Boston Company, and Northern Trust Company. From 1973 to 1978, he designed quantitative investment products and other trust services at Bankers Trust Company.

Don's board service includes:

Don has been a key speaker at dozens of industry conferences, all over the world.

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