About Us
CREATING RELATIONSHIPS.
NOT GATHERING ASSETS.
Unlike most financial advisory firms, we don’t measure our size by “Assets Under Management”. At Gates Pass, it’s all about personal, trusted relationships.
That’s why we don’t start off by requiring you to move all your assets over and lock them in with us. To us, that feels like proposing marriage on the first date!
A FEW KEY
DIFFERENCES
ABOUT
GATES PASS
We help the whole You.
Which means helping you with both sides of money – the Personal and the Technical – and all parts of your financial life – the Financial Planning and the Investment Management.
We don’t lock you in.
We don’t require you to bring us all your assets right up front. It’s all about building a relationship.
No Sales People
We don’t do “sales”. The first person you get to know here at Gates Pass is likely the very person that will be your financial guide.
WHY WE’RE HERE
OUR MISSION
To guide our clients past uncertainty and complexity, through challenging transitions, and help them get to that good place where their money is doing exactly what they want for their life.
OUR CORE VALUES
Focus on the Individual
In order for us to help you get the most help out of the work we do together, we need to understand what you want your money to do for you.
OUR CORE VALUES
Broad-based Technical Expertise
Each client situation is unique and the financial world is constantly changing. Therefore, we must constantly go over and above to be technical experts across the financial landscape.
OUR CORE VALUES
Trustworthy Transparency
It’s important to us that all of our clients have a clear understanding of where their money goes, how we get paid, and how it all works.
OUR CORE VALUES
Open, Confidential Communication
We create a safe, comfy space that makes it easy to open up and have real conversations about money and life.
OUR CORE VALUES
Long-Term Partnership
Just like a great investment, the value of a great relationship increases over time. We’re there to guide our clients, now and for the long-term, through all life’s ups and downs.
GETTING THERE
How our unique approach to financial advising was born out of my own passage from fear to fulfillment.
I was in a successful long-term marriage when my 56-year old husband, unexpectedly, was diagnosed with a serious heart ailment. Over the next 3 years I witnessed both his resolve as well as his decline.
Concurrently I was in a long-term business partnership. An entrepreneur at heart, I had been encouraged many times to launch my own firm. But at the time I was scared to take on that financial, managerial and regulatory responsibility.
On a Russian river cruise, my husband suffered a significant and ultimately fatal health emergency. The med-evac brought us home, he passed, and I was left alone.
Over the next 15 months, I made my own passage from fear to fulfillment. I realized that if I could make it through that experience, I could make it through anything. Life really was too short to spend it worrying about all that could go wrong. It was time to focus on what could really go right. I learned you can master fear and enjoy a fulfilling, thriving and financially healthy life. And I was willing and ready to give my gifts, experience, skill — and heart — to my own new venture.
Let’s work together to co-create your own fulfillment, no matter what life has dropped in your lap!
THE GATES PASS TEAM
Certified Financial Transitionist®
Founder and CEO
K. Esther Szabo, CFP®
Certified Financial Transitionist®
Founder and CEO
With over two decades of financial planning experience, Gates Pass founder K. Esther Szabo is a respected leader in her field.
A skilled advisor, Esther can help each individual navigate the many challenges involved in life and financial planning. She is passionate about the role comprehensive financial planning plays in helping a person craft and attain their goals.
Her background in counseling and teaching allows her to communicate in a highly personal way with her clients to clearly explain the technical aspects of planning and investment management and to build long-term trusting relationships. Esther is skilled at helping clients detach from headline anxiety and return their focus to the fundamentals of their own personal financial situation. In this way clients realize that their own financial path and strategy is clear.
Esther’s experiences have given her the ability to empathize with individual life transitions and provide knowledgeable support to her clients.
She is committed to creating, implementing and monitoring solutions that will contribute to a family’s financial stability and life satisfaction, and is passionate about serving professional women in particular.
A past president of the Financial Planning Association of Silicon Valley, Esther has been quoted in Investment Advisor, Financial Advisor Magazine, AARP online, and the San Jose Mercury News, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal.
Senior Advisor
Erik Schei, CFA
Senior Advisor
Since Erik joined Gates Pass in 2019, clients have repeatedly expressed appreciation for his ability to translate current market and investment information into easily digestible and engaging discussions. He is fluid in matching the level of involvement and interest of the client.
Erik, a Chartered Financial Analyst, started his career in investment management in 2006. He soon found that financial success is more than portfolio returns. He is passionate about his role as a trusted advisor who, in addition to managing investments, has the experience and knowledge to guide all other personal financial planning aspects for clients.
While Erik works with all Gates Pass clients, his specialty is assisting successful and high earning professionals and couples whose careers provide healthy household cash flow but who may not have yet amassed a multi-million dollar liquid portfolio.
By understanding where they want to go, and utilizing both his technical and personal skills, Erik provides context and perspective, empowering these individuals and families to confidently make real life financial and personal decisions, including real estate purchases, starting or growing a family and working overseas for extended periods of time.
Personally, Erik loves experiencing life’s adventures with his wife and two young sons. When he’s not corralling his toddlers, he enjoys being active in fitness and recreational sports.
YOUR GO-TO FINANCIAL SUPPORT TEAM
As your Personal Guide for all things financial, we constantly maintain a strong, collaborative relationship with a dynamic, broad-based team of specialists we can pull in to address any situation, no matter how complex. In fact, because of this uniquely adaptable Go-To Guide Approach, complexity is our specialty!
READY TO GET THERE ?
We’d love to help you get on that peaceful path where your money is doing exactly what you want for your life.
Give Us a Call
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Investment advice is only offered in jurisdictions where Gates Pass Advisors, LLC is registered, exempt, or excluded from such requirements and this website should not be construed as a solicitation to provide advisory services in any other jurisdictions.
The information, opinions, statements, and links (collectively, “Content”) appearing on this website or contained in the “Getting There Podcast” (“Podcast”) have been obtained from or are based upon information obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, however, we do not warrant or guarantee the timeliness or accuracy of any such information. The Content appearing on this website and in the Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Opinions and statements expressed by any guest on the Podcast are solely their own opinions, and do not necessarily reflect the firm’s views. The appearance of any guest on the Podcast should not be construed as an endorsement or testimonial with respect to our firm, our personnel, or our advisory services. You should carefully consider your unique financial circumstances and needs prior to making any investment in securities or insurance products. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing in securities involves the risk of loss, including the risk of loss of principal, that clients should be prepared to bear.