Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management

I first found GK through a friend of mine who has a similar mentality about managing finances… don’t have time to deal with it and don’t totally understand it, I know these are things people done usually admit but it’s the truth. I have worked with Schwab, And UBS in the past and never felt like I had anyone I could ask questions to, except some phone bank csr who probably knew as much about my finances as I did. My friends manager Zach Bainter came up to Santa Barbara to personally meet with me, spent over an hour explaining how their management worked and answered all my questions. I felt like I could ask as many «dumb» questions as I needed to and Zach explained things until I was able to understand everything. He even did a follow up meeting with my husband because I wasn’t able to explain and answer all my husbands questions following the meeting.
After reviewing all the info and understanding the fees we decided to move our portfolio to GK and we couldn’t be happier with the customer service and results we’ve had in the last two years. Our portfolio has earned money, we’ve had at least two follow up in person meetings with Zach, which I feel like is un-​heard of unless you have millions to invest (which I don’t) and we continue to strategize with Zach on how to invest and be smart with our money.

Honest review, by an honest former member. I was initially drawn to this company by all the rave reviews however, after 1 year of membership my perception has changed. I invested over 200K with Elijah but I feel it turned out to be a mistake. I was talked into all kinds of services and a «life insurance» plan that was basically a money killer. He bought various stocks with my funds and didn’t keep any cash reserves, novice mistake. I had to call multiple times to «correct» his choices and that was a big energy drainer. He even had the nerve to ask me to invest more of my money, which really turned me off.
I specifically asked Elijah to invest in COKE at $ 81 a share, he bought KO instead and now COKE is at $ 175 a share again, novice mistake. Other companies were bought at very high prices that I didn’t agree with and then had to take my time to explain myself over and over. Hopefully, he will learn from these mistakes but unfortunately it was on my dime which was not fun.
Later that year, I requested to switch my account to Mr. Kawasaki, which was a much better experience however, I sold all my shares to invest in Real Estate, which is the best investment here in Los Angeles. In the end, I lost about 3−4K through all the fee’s and insurance programs I was talked into. This company has a «claw out» that pulls funds when you leave as well which was not exciting after losing funds. If you have a good amount of money to invest I highly recommend self investing with Scotttrade or you can try Wealth front and Personal Capital money management services.

I got in touch with Gerber Kawasaki not knowing if they would be willing to see me; however, I’d read that those with student loan debt should try to work with a financial planner (I’d never considered myself someone who would be eligible to see a financial planner having no wealth to speak of!)
I’m currently in the process of pursuing a graduate degree in social work while I work full-​time, and I had a number of questions about my workplace benefits, as well as how to pay off my student loan debt systematically (as well as, «Am I going to be able to make it as a social worker?!»)
Francine Lai got in touch with me and is amazing. She is sharp, no-​nonsense, professional, non-​judgmental, and an artist with numbers. She did all the hard thinking for me and set me up on a plan that is easy to follow. I sleep better at night not second guessing my decisions to pursue the career of my dreams and knowing I have someone helping me along the way when new financial scenarios arise. An added bonus is that she is pro-«Lean In» movement for women and has tried to create a practice to promote healthy financial practices among her female clients. She hosts mixers for us and I just so appreciate that I have a smart financially healthy role model who is young and appreciates how uniquely tough it can be for women who are just getting started in life to make tough but financially responsible decisions.
(Note: I’d tried LearnVest and signed up with a planner, and the conclusion I came to with them is that if you have a very simple financial picture, they’re great. But I had a much more complicated picture, and I felt that my LearnVest planner was not able to give me the customized answers I needed, and I often felt I was getting stock copy/​paste answers from them.)
If you’re having any doubts, just email them through their website! They might be able to help you as they were able to with me!

I’ve worked with other investment firms in the past, and GK is definitely one of the better ones. The staff is friendly and earnest. They have a strong grasp of the market and investment opportunities, and don’t push bad investments on clients just to make themselves some extra money.
We have been working with Robert Castillo in their office, who has been awesome at helping us put our money in the best investment, even if it’s something outside of their firm (like my company’s stock program). Robert has provided a number of creative solutions to making investments and contacts us at least once every 4 — 8 weeks just to check in and see if he can be of service. He’s very quick to answer email and in general has provided great customer service through availability and knowledge base.
We’ve been very happy with our experience with GK and Robert so far (it’s been about a year), and look forward to growing our wealth with them in the future.

Matthew Iantosca at Gerber Kawasaki is the BEST! I have worked with a few wealth managers in the past but I have never had such a great experience. Matt is on top of his game! He puts his heart and soul into his job and is always available to answer questions. He took the time to sit down with me and discuss all my financial goals and I provided him with all my statements. We than had a second meeting and he outlined a very detailed plan to achieve all my financial goals and we discussed these in great detail. One of my issues was I had accounts all over the place and I did not have the time or the patience to streamline my investments. We carefully went over each investment and went over the pros & cons of each one. He was not pushy and took the time to educate me together we can property transfer them into investments that align with my goals. Once we decided on a plan I did not have to do any legwork. It was all taken care of. Just like everyone else, I thought I could properly manage my money and follow the market. There is so much more that is involved and the market is changing daily. It’s best to trust someone else and give them control to take advantage of the opportunities when they pop up. After all this what they do for a living. Matt reminds me a lot of myself… He is trustworthy, ambitious, and professional and is very hands on. It’s hard to find this qualities in people especially in LA. Do yourself a favor pick up the phone and call Matt today! It’s been one of the best decisions I have made in a while and I have no regrets! Thanks again Matt for all your hard work!

A good friend referred me to Zach a couple years ago and I will admit, I was skeptical. I had my money invested elsewhere, had life insurance and was not really looking for a change.
I’m soooo glad I decided to give Zach & Gerber Kawasaki a try!
Not only has my money been growing faster, I’m more engaged in the process and, because Zach helped me make a solid plan to get where I want to be and is holding me accountable to the deal I made with myself, I am also putting more $ away!
As an added bonus, Zach got me into TESLA at like $ 36/​share! Ahahahahaaaa! I love this guy!
Go meet with Zach and hear him out… he’s a really smart, honest guy.

What a great agency!
Kaytlin Hall is our financial adviser and she does such great work to help us build wealth. She shocked us by showing us how much we need to retire comfortably at the beginning, which made a lot of sense. She listened to our needs and gave us some recommendations. We wanted to grow slowly with low risk.
We jump started our investments since then. It gives us motivation to work hard when we know are ultimate goal. We will continue to work with Kaytlin for sure!

I have to say, a lot of these five star reviews sound like they were written by the same person. They have a phony ring to them. Anyway I had a meeting with a financial advisor at Gerber. She was very nice but wanted me to buy an American mutual fund with a 5.75% load. I thought the fee was too high so I didn’t go through with it. I think it’s better to just get a no load mutual fund!

Francine Lai really changed my outlook on my financial future. She really gave me hope by helping me come up with a game plan to secure my future retirement on a beach in Tahiti (or somewhere tropical and amazing)! She really clearly explained to me what needed to be done to get to my financial goals. I always felt like behind the game when it came to saving especially for retirement as none of my companies offered 401k’s. Now not only do I have money tucked away, it’s constantly growing which is the best part! She’s always available to discuss any future plans that may affect my financial contribution to my retirement and saving funds like my upcoming move to Hawaii from NYC. It’s a really good feeling to have someone on your side who’s an expert!

I cannot recommend Gerber Kawasaki enough. My husband and I met with Zach Bainter and discussed our current budget and what are future goals are (buying a house, kids, paying off debt etc).
We’re pretty financially savvy, but he was able to show us options we hadn’t thought of before and we left our first meeting with a solid plan.
This is not just for people with money, everyone should use an advisor. I wish we had gone years ago! We’re young and do not make a lot of money, but still we devised a plan to save for a house downpayment, while also thinking about retirement and buying another car.

My advisor, Zachary Bainter, saved me. Years ago I had invested my money with a friend of mine, who turned out to not have my best financial interests at heart. When I decided I needed to find a new advisor, I immediately turned to Zach who made the process of transferring my funds seamless. He showed me a side by side comparison of my current investments and how those same investments would look with GK. He orchestrated everything so that the transfer was easy and quick. My accounts are flourishing and I feel confident because Zach has taken the time to explain things and answer all of my questions (and there are a lot!). Zach is easy to reach, responsive, knowledgeable and so much fun to work with. I am so glad that he stepped in and put my finances on the right track for the future! Looking forward to a lifelong relationship with Zach and Gerber Kawasaki.

I’ve been working with Bryan Miranda at Gerber Kawasaki for over a year. My experience has been nothing short of wonderful. He answers all of my questions, no matter how ridiculous, thoroughly and in a timely manner. I rolled over a Roth IRA from Merrill after he showed me how much I was being over charged in back end fees. He also helped me out with life insurance for me and my wife before we had our daughter.
Bryan is always available, always follows up and take care of the things that I don’t want to have to worry about. First class!

Gerber Kawasaki is great! Zach has been advising me for over a few years now and I can’t tell you how much better I feel about my finances. Being a business owner, I appreciate how Zach has helped me set up the right type of retirement accounts. The investments have done well too.
The best part about working with him is that he is always there to answer any questions I might have. And he always explains them in a way that makes sense to me. Highly recommend.

When it came time to create a roadmap for our financial goals my husband and I went in for a consultation with Kaytlin Hall. Right off the bat, she was extremely personable and very tuned-​in to our specific areas of concern. We went in wanting someone who could not only manage our financial accounts but also give us a little education, and she spent time going over each of her suggestions and explaining what I’m sure are pretty basic investing principles, and was completely non-​judgmental and patient the entire time. She was professional and extremely knowledgable, but also put things in very simple and friendly terms for us to understand how best to budget ourselves.
After our meeting, we left feeling empowered and optimistic about our financial future. Very excited to have this new structure and watch our money grow in the months and years to come!

One day, my Mom unloads this one on me — «My biggest regret is not investing my money when I was your age.» Oh no. I know nothing about finances. Absolutely nothing. I have almost nothing saved, but thankfully, no real debts either.
I found Gerber Kawasaki on Unilocal,and I made the decision to take the trek to Santa Monica because of their wealth building program, which was exactly what I needed, and their incredible reviews. Unilocal,thank you once again. Kaytlin will save me.
She was so welcoming and patient, answered all my questions, and all of a sudden I have knowledge of investing and I’ve got some new accounts set up! I feel safer and more informed about my finances than ever before, and, dare I say it, feel quite grown up. Kaytlin helped me make the best choices with my upcoming 401K switch and general preparedness for the future. I’m looking forward to working with her for a long time.

Nobody cares more about your money more than you do. GKWIM has created an atmosphere where the employees are empowered to help you reach your financial goals.
My wife and I want the simple things: less debt and piece of mind. Seems simple enough; but after 30 years on the planet I couldn’t get it right. Zach came out to Torrance and put us on the path. 3 years later, dept free, maxing out 401k and feeling great about the future.
Do what you do best, let Zach do what he does best and help you prepare for the future!

One of the perks in living in Los Angeles is the opportunities you get, and the situations you find yourself in. Los Angeles is often referred to as the City of Angeles, and sometimes if you ask The City of Angeles for something, she’ll show you what you’re looking for.
Being a «native» Los Angelian I lived life the way I was” supposed to” in my youth up until recently. I partied hard. I traveled plenty. And I lived life on my own terms… and pretty much emptied my wallet doing so. Now in my non-20’s, I find myself happily married with child, living a seemingly American dream, except I worry a lot about my financial future come time for retirement.
Fortunately, around the same time I’d been thinking heavily on how I’m going to get myself situated for retirement, the City of Angels came through and seemingly by destiny (if you believe in that) I was offered the opportunity to sit in on a «couple’s financial counseling» session at Gerber Kawasaki, listen to, and ask questions pertaining to our futures as future homeowners, families, and retiree’s. Being naturally skeptical I looked for all the cracks in the armor, but I must say, after doing my homework, Gerber Kawasaki is as legit and ready to help as they advertise themselves to be. Attending the counseling session set us up for a free one-​on-​one session with my new money guy… Elijah
Elijah Souza and I spoke that night about some old investments I’d made in the past and bad decisions I knowingly went through, and he set up an appointment for my wife and I to come sit down with him, and walk through what’s going on in our house financially. Working with me on MY time schedule, we met on a Friday evening, and sat down and talked finances. Thoroughly he explored what and how we spend, where we’re saving, what we could be doing differently, where we’re wasting… and what seemed no time at all, Elijah had broken down our home spending, savings, and investment in just a few hours.
Initially I had thought I was pretty well versed in what I was doing by listening to guys on the radio, or bits I pick up from money guys on tv or coffee shop talk. I had a 401K I thought I was investing correctly in, and I had Roth IRA’s open (not making money)… thinking that I was doing everything right. But he showed us that we had been losing money by the choices we had made by investing in CD’s or slow-​growth funds, also paying way too much for way too little life insurance… and basically showing us that just having accounts doesn’t mean you’re going to make money with them. you have to make them work for you.
My skeptical demeanor came back, and I simply asked… «How do you win?»
And it’s simple… Simply put without going into the details (because I’m sure each client’s profile is structured differently) Elijah wins if I win. He wins if all his clients win… so watching out for his clientele is his best interest. By doing my research on him, he’s got a pretty good track record, and I am very pleased to be working with him directly.
Elijah definitely works hard to make me feel safe, and make me feel as if he has my family’s best interest in mind, and for that I appreciate him, and have recommended him to my close friends and family. It really is a pleasure to work with him.

Have been with GK for several months now, specifically with Kaytlin Hall, and have been nothing less than thrilled with every single correspondence. She has been more diligent than I could have ever imagined, is so patient, and makes me feel safe with my finances.
This is a very confusing area for me, so I couldn’t have been luckier to find her.

My wife and I are retired teachers. Our investments had been managed by a friend/​co-​worker for many years until he was forced to retire for health reasons and left us with a colleague who was, at best, weak tea. Our daughter, who is an «elite» Unilocal contributor ran across Gerber/​Kawasaki and, more importantly, Matt Iantosca in her search for a reliable financial planner. She passed the word on to us and the rest is history.
Matt is perfect for us. Neither my wife nor I is interested in managing our own retirement funds; we want someone we can trust, with real expertise, to do that for us. Matt is that person. He reviewed various options with us, learned our needs and desires for the future, and worked out a suite of investments that, so far, is working out very well. Matt is a no-​pressure kind of guy. He will let you know what types of investments he thinks are best for you, but in the end he wants you to make choices you will be comfortable with.
I have no hesitation in recommending Matt Iantosca to any sane person who is looking for long-​term financial guidance. You’ll like him, and benefit from the experience.

I went to Gerber and met with Zach. I cannot tell you what a wonderful experience it has been. I waited a year to do the review because I wanted to see how his customer service would be POST-​customer.
Not only has our portfolio shined (with the help of a great market) but…
Zach set us up with:
— low cost health insurance
— low cost life insurance (his quotes beat mine)
— a solid retirement portfolio for me and the wife
— a solid college fund for my son
— a «future» house fund
He’s constantly answering my emails and «checking in». Absolutely no pressure to make my monthly contributions if times are tight. We review the portfolio yearly and reevaluate goals. He’s transparent with fee’s from the beginning and our portfolio has paid for them 5x over.
I only have one wish… I wish I did this 5 years ago. I will be a client for a long time.