In this blog post, we will highlight some of the top Chinese-American financial advisors who have earned a reputation for excellence in the industry. Whether you're looking to plan for retirement, manage your investments, or navigate complex financial regulations, these advisors can help you achieve your financial goals.

Key Takeaways

• Chinese American financial advisors are financial advisors with both Chinese and American heritage, and who largely serve a Chinese-American and Asian-American client base.
• The Asian American population is projected to reach 46 million by 2060 which predicts an increased number of clientele for financial advisors of Asian American descent.
• Katie Wei, Mia Levu, and Charles Zhang are among the leading Chinese American financial advisors in the US

Disclaimer

The contents of this article are for educational purposes only. They are not intended to be a source of professional financial advice. You will find experts on financial planning, financial management, and real estate here. More on disclaimers here.

Asian American Population In The US

The Asian American population in the US is very diverse, with a record 22 million Asian Americans who trace their roots to more than 20 countries in East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. By 2000, the Asian population in the US was at 11.9 million. By 2019, it had risen to 22.4 million - an 88% increase in population within two decades.

Currently, Asians make up for about 7% of the total population in the U.S., the Chinese Americans constituting a total of about 5.4 million people. That's 24% of the total Asian population in the U.S. The Asian population in the U.S. is projected to reach approximately 46 million by 2060, meaning that there is a probability of an increase in the number of Asian American clients for financial advisors

Who is a Chinese American Financial Advisor?

A Chinese American financial advisor is a financial professional who specializes in providing financial advice and investment management services to clients of Chinese descent living in the United States. They possess a deep understanding of both the American and Chinese financial systems and can provide customized investment strategies based on their clients' unique cultural and financial needs. Many of them work solo as independent advisors and others serve as part of advisory teams.

Chinese American financial advisors may also offer services such as retirement planning, tax planning, and estate planning. They help clients improve in financial literacy and can assist clients with navigating complex financial regulations and help them make informed decisions about their investments. With their specialized knowledge and experience, Chinese American financial advisors can be a valuable resource for individuals and families seeking to build and preserve their wealth.

Leading Chinese American Financial Advisors

These are some of the leading Chinese American financial advisors:

Katie Wei

Katie Wei is a seasoned investment professional with 15 years of experience in multi-asset investments, portfolio construction, asset allocation, risk management, and capital markets. As one of the investment advisors at Bay Street Capital Holdings whose expertise is private credit, she evaluates loan deals as both an investor and a risk manager, and incorporates diversification and downside risk management into portfolio construction.

With an M.S. in Financial Mathematics from Stanford University and a B.S. in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Toronto, Katie Wei combines academic prowess with extensive industry knowledge. Starting her career at Deutsche Bank, Katie served as an equity derivatives structurer, and excelled in market and credit risk management.

Throughout her career, Katie held key roles at prestigious financial institutions. At AQR Capital Management, she co-managed multi-asset portfolios for a decade, covering equity, currencies, fixed income, commodities, and credit. Additionally, she spent two years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, evaluating fund managers and providing analytics on fund return drivers and portfolio optimization in alternative investments.

Mia Levu

Mia Levu is is the Chief of Staff at Bay Street Capital Holdings. In her capacity, she works closely with the executive team to streamline operations in order to ensure alignment with the company's vision and objectives.

Her role includes overseeing Bay Street's hotel portfolio operations, which include strategizing and optimizing performance within the hotel portfolio, with a focus on talent acquisition and operational excellence. In her role as a project manager within the investor relations domain, some of her responsibilities include content development, presentation creation, strategy formulation and the execution of initiatives to effectively communicate with investors, showcasing the fund's performance and future prospects. Mia is also in charge of ensuring that Bay Street's website is well maintained, so as to relay accurate brand representation and effective communication of Bay Street's offerings to clients and partners.

Mia's multifaceted role significantly contributes to Bay Street Capital Holdings' overall effectiveness and growth.

Anh Tran

Anh Tran is a certified financial planner, an estate planning attorney who is also a managing partner at SageMint Wealth. She works with high net worth individuals, families and businesses owners where she advises them on proper financial planning. She also helps her high net worth clients when it comes to all matters retirement planning as well as estate planning. She is passionate about working and supporting women, the LGBTQ+ community and people working in the technology space.

She started out her career as an attorney at Goldman Sachs where she worked under the private wealth management division. Eventually, she became Vice President of Financial Counseling at the same firm. While working at Goldman Sachs, she provided personalized financial services and tax and investment counseling services to senior executives at Fortune 500 companies and high-net-worth families on matters. In the same capacity, she also gave guidance on employee benefits, stock options and estate planning.

She's a California resident and during her free time, she enjoys hot yoga, cycling, cooking, traveling, and outdoor activities.

Charles Zhang

Charles Zhang is a leading financial advisor in the Michigan area. Zhang's approach emphasizes the advantages of collaborating with a team of advisors, each with expertise in a particular area. For instance, the team may have a member specializing in estate planning and another in taxes.

Charles Zhang was selected as one of the Grand Rapids 200 by the Grand Rapids Business Journal. In his "Letter from the Editor" entitled "Responsibility Weighs Heavily," Tim Gortsema, Editor of the journal, stated that the Grand Rapids 200 represents the best of the best in terms of leadership in West Michigan.

Zhang is one of the most sought after advisors. Who is the CEO of Zhang Financials? is a top Google search query. Also, since the inception of Michigan's Top Adviser four years ago, he has consistently held the position.

Marguerita Cheng

Marguerita M. Cheng is the founder and CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth. Prior to founding Blue Ocean Global Wealth, she worked as a Financial Advisor at Ameriprise Financial and an Analyst and Editor at Towa Securities in Tokyo, Japan. Previously, she was also the spokesperson for the AARP Financial Freedom Campaign and a regular columnist for Investopedia & Kiplinger.

She was awarded the Ameriprise Financial Presidential Award for Quality of Advice. In 2017, she was ranked the 3rd most Influential Financial Advisor in the Investopedia Top 100. Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council (CRMSDC) also named her as among Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise (MBE®).

As a certified financial planner, Marguerita engages policy makers, the general public, the media and policy makers and educates them on the benefits of ethical and competent financial planning.

Sandra Cho

Sandra Cho is the Founder and President of Pointwealth Capital Management, a boutique wealth management firm in Encino, California. The firm specializes in comprehensive management of generational wealth. With 15 years of experience under her belt, Ms. Cho has consistently emerged in the top 5% of financial advisors nationwide. In California, she's currently ranked #3. She's also a member of FINRA/SIPC and a Registered Representative with, and securities offered through LPL Financial.

She currently manages over $150 million and the clients that she manages span over various industries including Fortune 500 executives, NBA coaches, families as well as millennials.

In addition to being a financial advisor, she's also a mother of 4 amazing children, can speak conversational French as well as play the cello.

Sean Yu

Sean Yu is the leader and Managing Director of The Sean Yu Group at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management. Originally from Taiwan, Yu helps first-generation immigrants from China and Taiwan manage their wealth. Most of his clients, he says are living the American dream and are in pursuit of more ways and avenues to grow and maintain their wealth.

When he first launched his business in 2003, he says that it's that particular segment of clients that enabled his business to grow. He's since added more clients to his portfolio, who unlike his initial clients are coming to the US with huge amounts of money, ready to invest in lucrative ways that will yield good returns. Typically, such Chinese nationals are usually looking to diversify their portfolios by accessing the US markets.

Yu is also involved in philanthropy work and social leadership activities. He is the founder of the Taiwanese American Scholarship Fund and he also co-founded the Los Angeles Chapter of The Chinese Finance Association. In 2020, he set up the Sean Yu Travel Fund to help cultivate awareness of new cultures through travel abroad experiences.

Additionally, he set up the David Speak/Sean Yu Endowment Fund to help bring distinguished lecturers to campus as well as provide grants for faculty research. He also set up The Sid Sillman and Sean Yu Endowment to provide financial support for students looking to intern in Human Rights and Justice.

For six consecutive years, 2016 to 2020 Yu was named by Forbes Magazine as among the Top 250 Wealth Advisors. He was also ranked among “Top 40 Financial Advisors under 40” for four consecutive years between 2014 to 2017 on Wall Street.

Pick Your Choice of Expertise

Whether you're seeking to invest through mutual funds or buy shares in publicly traded companies, these financial professionals with a wide range of experience will guide into a success harbor.

For quick and easy navigation through the process of selecting a fitting advisor for you, work with our experts at Bay Street team.

Bay Street Capital Holdings

Bay Street Capital Holdings is an independent investment advisory, wealth management, and financial planning firm headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. They manage portfolios with the goal of maintaining and increasing total assets and income with a high priority on managing total risk and volatility. Although many advisors may focus on maximizing returns, they place a higher priority on managing total risk and volatility.

Our founder, William Huston founded Bay Street after 13 years of supporting the United States' largest retirement plan ($650B) Thrift Savings Plan. He is recognized as Investopedia’s Top 100 Financial Advisors for 2021. In California, only two black-owned firms out of nineteen firms received this recognition.

In Scottsdale Arizona, Ekenna Anya-Gafu CFP, AAMS is recognized among the Best Financial Advisors for his responsiveness, friendliness, helpfulness, and detail. Bay Street was founded to advocate for diverse and emerging fund managers and entrepreneurs. In 2021, Bay Street was selected as a finalist out of over 900 firms across the US in the category of Asset Manager for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Sources

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-americans/

https://www.financial-planning.com/news/asian-american-financial-advisors-see-unmet-potential

https://sagemintwealth.com/team_members/anh-tran/

https://teamgoldenstate.com/founder-president/meet-sandra-cho/

https://www.investopedia.com/marguerita-m-cheng-4692599

https://teamgoldenstate.com/founder-president/meet-sandra-cho/

https://www.cpp.edu/philanthropy/governance/sean-yu.shtml