FREEGULLIVER - Key Persons
Born and raised in New Orleans, Amanda attended St. Mary's Dominican High School and then went on to graduate cumlaude from Texas Christian University with a B.B.A. in Finance and minor in International Business. After graduation in 2019, she had enough of "knowing what it means to miss New Orleans" and decided to come home to work at her family's law firm managing their books. After two years, Amanda desired a more analytical and client-facing role in the financial services industry. She was lucky to find exactly that at FreeGulliver and joined the team in 2021. Herrole is primarily in data aggregation/management, alternative investments, and client services.
In her free time, you can find her cheering on the Saints at the Superdome, catching a live music show, or trying to keep up with all the newest and greatest restaurants in the city.
Andrew grew up in Jacksonville, Florida until his family made the fantastic decision to relocate to New Orleans during his college years. While not enjoying the sights, sounds and culture of his new hometown, he studied Government at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. In addition to other collegiate pursuits, Andrew was captain of the rugby team and president of his fraternity.
Andrew is a CFA® charterholder. Prior to joining FreeGulliver, he served as a general partner and portfolio manager for a private investment fund with investments in public equity and options positions as well as a portfolio of real estate and real estate related instruments.
Here at Free Gulliver, Andrew is primarily responsible for the screening and selection process for public investment vehicles utilized to express allocation needs across all types of client portfolios. He is also deeply involved in the process of model portfolio construction and implementation.
Andrew loves the beach, is an avid traveler and cannot get enough of scuba diving. His family includes wonderful wife, Tonya, and two amazing children, Mazzy and Iko.
Originally from Fairfield, Connecticut, Billy moved to New Orleans to pursue a double major in Finance and Management from Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business. After graduating in 2018, Billy decided that his Northeastern roots found a new home in New Orleans and that there was no pulling himself from the City.
Shortly after graduation, Billy joined the FreeGulliver team where he works primarily with private fund administration, alternative investments, and client services. In his free time, Billy can be found playing Ultimate Frisbee, searching for the City's best wings (Bayou Hot Wings), and petting any dog he can find.
After graduating from Tulane University in 2005, Cliff moved to Washington, DC where he began a career in communications and public policy. He focused on increasing awareness of and achieving policy wins for a variety of clients, including: America's Wetland Campaign, Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, and advocated for Outer-Continental Shelf revenue sharing from energy production (which Congress authorized in December 2006), the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, and the National Network of Public Health Institutes.
Cliff returned to Tulane in 2010 and earned his MBA in 2012. Following graduate school, he served as the director of marketing for PacTec Inc., an international manufacturer of packaging for hazardous, non-hazardous, and radioactive waste streams. He was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing where the sales team achieved over $21 million in gross annual revenues.
Upon his grandfather's passing in 2012, Cliff began taking a greater interest in his family's investments, office structure, and governance. Since that time, he has become increasingly more involved in his family office by joining the investment and transition committees. Cliff realized he had, finally, discovered two passions: the first being in the alternative investment space, and the second in how families can structure themselves to achieve financial and familial goals. Cliff joined FreeGulliver in March of 2018 with the purpose of helping other families achieve their own unique goals.
Cliff serves on the board of the New Orleans Jewish Community Center, and previously served on the boards of 9th Ward Field of Dreams, and the Jewish Children's Regional Service. The time he enjoys most is the time he spends with his wife and their two children.
Job Titles:
- Client Relationship Manager
- Administration and Operation Manager
In 2020, Dana joined the FreeGulliver team as the Administration and Operation Manager of their new Monroe location. Dana has 17 years of management experience working as the Administration Manager for the Mintz Family Office and 13 years with the State Farm Insurance Operations Center in Monroe.
Originally from NE Louisiana, Dana enjoys spending free time with her husband, Ronnie and their family which includes four children, eight grandchildren, beloved Schnauzer Lucy and Charlie, their rescued one-eyed cat. She also has a love for gardening, fishing, road trips and watching Saints football!
Daniela was born in Bulgaria and always wanted to explore the world and see what lies beyond her small European country. She began by studying international business in a small university in San Diego and later transferred to John Cabot University located in beautiful Rome. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and in the process took every possible finance class. She knew she found her calling and pursued it further by completing the Master of Finance program at Tulane University.
After graduating from Tulane, Daniela joined the FreeGulliver team, where she is mostly responsible for designing asset allocations, researching investment options, and managing the firm's Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund.
Daniela is a CFA® charterholder and a CFP® practitioner. She also serves on the Board of the CFA Society Louisiana.
Daniela and her spouse are parents of an adorable boy named Sebastian.
Deborah handles the insurance side of the business. She started working for Tripp's grandfather and father in 1984.
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations Emeritus
After five years of analyzing forecasts for a large phone company, Denise Guttenberg left in search of a position that would allow her more flexibility to raise her two young sons. That was in 1985, when she joined Tripp's dad's firm - the year before Tripp joined.
Denise's Master's Degree in Business Administration and Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics prepared her for her current position with FreeGulliver. Denise manages much of the financial and compliance operations of the firm; she provides technical analysis to FreeGulliver's clients in the area of executive compensation; and she is the administrator of the FreeGulliver flagship hedge funds.
Job Titles:
- Director of Administration
Before joining the FreeGulliver team in 2020, Donna worked within the Mintz Family Office where her primary duties included private fund management and reporting, cash management and philanthropy. Since joining FreeGulliver, her focus is in fund administration and cash management.
In her spare time, Donna enjoys spending time with her family which include her two grandchildren, Graycen and Brooks, family trips to the beach, and watching a good series on Netflix.
Eric is a native New Orleanian who understands that when someone from New Orleans asks, "Where did you go to school," they are obviously talking about high school (St. Martin's Episcopal). His curiosity and zeal for life has drawn him to pursue many passions both personal and intellectual. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC). Eric is a long time tennis player and former member and letterman of the varsity team at LSU, soccer player, avid college football fan (Geaux Tigers!), traveler to 11 European countries and 38 US states, sky diver (just once), and bull runner in Pamplona, Spain (twice). But most important of all, he is the proud husband to Meghan and father of three: Lucy, Eloise, and Dottie.
Eric always knew he would work in the financial services business, so after studying finance at LSU he traveled to Boston, MA to begin his career as an internal wholesaler for John Hancock's financial products. After surviving the economic downturn in 2008, he decided to move back home with Meghan, to join Morgan Stanley, one of the largest financial service firms in the world, as a Wealth Management Advisor. He spent 6 years with Morgan Stanley before joining the FreeGulliver family. Eric now feels that he can provide an even better service to the affluent individuals and families he represents; one that is more transparent and customizable. He is no longer tied down by his strings and he looks forward to helping others free themselves of their own.
Eric's responsibilities include, but are not limited to: financial planning, investment management, risk identification and mitigation, retirement income analysis, and estate planning.
Jamin was born and raised in New Orleans. After graduating from Newman, she moved to Chicago to study painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She worked her way through school in the hospitality industry and spent her junior year abroad in London before completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts.
Unable to survive another Chicago winter, Jamin moved back to New Orleans, where she continued her career in hotels for the next fifteen years, working her way up to Operations Leadership. During that time, she has loved and cared for a dog named Zerro, two tortoises, Popeye and Olive Oil, a fish named Rosie, and the center of her universe, her two human children, Keyes and Miller. Jamin now brings her years of experience providing exceptional customer service and human resources support to Free Gulliver's payroll and benefits administration clients.
Originally from the Northshore, Jennifer McKibben settled in New Orleans after graduating from Loyola University New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina diverted her to New York City, where she worked for 10 years at the legendary Strand Bookstore as a Senior Accounts Manager. After getting married and starting a family, the lure of New Orleans drew her to relocate with her family back to the heart of Uptown. Jennifer joined the Free Gulliver team for the opportunity to explore her passion for project management and to provide personalized service to corporate clients.
Born and raised as a third-generation New Orleans Saints fan in Metairie, Julie did not experience winning football until she arrived in Austin at the University of Texas in 2000. The Longhorns did not lose a single home game during Julie's time in Texas, even though they couldn't beat Oklahoma. Julie returned home after graduation and began her career in private banking at a Fortune 500 company.
Following a year as a working professional, Julie returned to school and earned her MBA from Tulane in 2005. Julie enjoyed winning football again as a Saints season ticket holder a few years later, and shortly after that, she joined the New Orleans startup Lucid as its sixth employee. As the Director of Finance at Lucid, Julie helped grow the eventual tech "unicorn" from six to fifty employees during her four-year tenure.
With experience in both the Fortune 500 and Startup realms, Julie later became the Director of Business Services at Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans, a local social services non-profit organization specializing in mental health and teen suicide prevention education. Julie returned to wealth management in 2022 with FreeGulliver following eight years in the non-profit sector.
Julie likes to spend time with her family whenever she is not at work. She is the mother of two young fourth-generation Who Dats, Gabe and Rafi.
Originally from Pensacola, Florida, Julie moved to New Orleans in 2000 to attend Tulane University. She studied at Tulane's A.B. Freeman School of Business where she earned a Bachelor's of Science in Marketing and a Masters of Accounting. Upon her graduation in 2005, she made an impromptu decision to move to New York City so she could experience big city life for a couple of years with the intention of moving back to New Orleans at some point down the road. She ended up staying in NYC for 13 years.
Laurel moved from Columbus, MS to New Orleans to attend Loyola University New Orleans. While studying Accounting at Loyola, she joined the FreeGulliver team as an Intern and transitioned to full-time after graduation. She now works with FreeGulliver's accounting and operations.
When she's not in the office, Laurel enjoys spending time outdoors, visiting with friends, or watching movies.
Job Titles:
- Director of Retirement Planning
A life-long New Orleans native, Newman and Tulane alum, Max stays involved in the local community performing data analysis and strategic operational/financial oversight on a variety of boards across the city and state. While at Tulane, Max worked full-time as a Manager for Dickie Brennan & Co., tackling accounting, payroll, strategic vision implementation, and management.
After graduating from Tulane, Max deferred his law school acceptance, and joined Teach for America. Max spent several years teaching high school math at East St. John in Reserve, LA. His time as an educator exposed him to the huge gap in financial literacy existing throughout the state. This sparked a passion for educating and assisting people in complex financial matters, and he incorporated personal finance and geo-politics into his math classes.
Max began his finance career in 2015 in the private wealth management team at Morgan Stanley, assisting in the supervision of over $2 billion in assets under management.
In 2017, Max came to FreeGulliver to foster his entrepreneurial spirit. His duties include, but are not limited to comprehensive financial planning, risk analysis and mitigation, geo-political trend analysis, as well as 401(k) and other business consulting services. Max lives near Bayou St. John with his wife and daughter.
Meghan graduated from LSU with a B.S. in Accounting. After completing the Internal Audit program there, she started her career in Washington, DC working for Deloitte as a consultant. She had the opportunity to work with many interesting clients such as The World Bank, The United Stated Postal Service, and Indian Health Services to name a few. After experiencing one too many snowmageddens, she made the obvious choice to head back home to New Orleans where she started her career at Entergy. There she worked in Revenue Accounting, Finance Business Partners, and lastly Regulatory Services. She now works with Eric, her husband, helping to support his Free Gulliver clients. When Meghan is not supporting the wonderful clients of Free Gulliver, you can find her outside on the tennis court, riding her bike around downtown Covington, looking for furniture bargains, and mostly just trying to keep up with their four kiddos.
After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1997, with a B.A. in Economics and Political Science, Michael joined his family retail business. After 13 years of management in Sales Development, Human Resources, Property Management, Real Estate and Insurance Negotiation, and Customer Service, Michael decided to "Free [his] Gulliver", making the transition from a FreeGulliver client to part of the team.
Growing up in New Orleans, Michael is a graduate of Isidore Newman School, and after his 4 years in the cold Midwest at Michigan, he came home. His wife and two sons are his best friends.
Job Titles:
- Compliance and Fund Administration
Phyllis earned her B.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Louisiana Monroe in 1987. Upon graduation, she worked as a retail manager for several years before starting her career in the banking industry for the next 23 years. She held positions as retail operations manager, internal auditor, BSA officer and assistant compliance officer. In 2014, she decided to leave banking to join the Mintz Family Office as their project manager.
As part of the FreeGulliver team, Phyllis assists with compliance, manages all corporate governance activities, philanthropy, and provides general office support for the Monroe office. She enjoys spending time with her husband and family, cooking, and working in her yard.
Tripp Friedler is Gulliver. A born adventurer, he has weathered his share of storms, has found himself tied down by the little things, has cut plenty of knots, and now helps others chart their journeys around the jagged obstacles of unforeseen disasters and the whirlpools of complacency.
A graduate of Philips Exeter Academy, Tripp earned a Bachelors degree in Economics from Amherst College, and he earned his Juris Doctorate at Tulane University Law School, graduating in the top 10 of his law class. Tripp has gone on to be certified as a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), and an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP). He received a Masters degree in Financial Services from American College and has finished all class requirements for the Masters in Counseling at Loyola University.
Tripp's work experience is as varied as his education. After graduating from law school, he worked for Phelps, Dunbar, Marks, Claverie and Sims doing First Amendment and corporate law. In 1986, he cut a knot, leaving the practice of law for good.
Tripp became the third generation in his family to enter the insurance industry, where he specialized in providing strategic, financial, and investment advice to high net worth individuals. Over his career Tripp has helped over 1,000 people with their financial plans. He has done such diverse work for clients as design and create private placement insurance products and manage a group of hedge funds as well as design sophisticated plans for an assortment of personal and corporate clients. Tripp's experience also includes business planning for mid-sized public companies and privately held corporations, and designing, analyzing, and implementing incentive compensation and deferred compensation packages.
Tripp tied and then cut more than a few knots along the way. He managed Geautreau's, a top restaurant in New Orleans, from its opening in 1990 until he sold it in 1996. His work for the restaurant led to his first "15 minutes" of fame, as Time magazine used his photograph and interview in an article in 1991. He managed a band, The Blue Runners, producing a recording for Island Records in 1991. He started his own record label, Monkey Hill, producing many nationally-released recordings with two of the bands signing major record deals.
Tripp comes from a long line of community leaders. He formed the Young Leadership Council with a handful of other young business leaders in 1986. Today the YLC boasts over 1,000 members and has raised millions for charitable and civic purposes. Tripp has served as President of the Young Leadership Council, Chairman of the Board of Isidore Newman School, and as a Board Member of the Arts Council, the Contemporary Arts Center, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Advisory Council, and the Community Service Center.
Tripp's greatest accomplishments have nothing to do with money or status. They are his three children and his marriage of 34 years. In fact, asked to list one of his most meaningful life experiences, he'll tell anyone who'll listen about winning the U10 Boys Championship in soccer when he coached his son's team.
When asked today what he does Tripp will answer, "I free Gullivers." He is the President and CEO of Free Gulliver, LLC, advising both corporate and individual clients in ways to maximize abilities and achieve desired results. "My mission is to free Gullivers, allowing them to maximize their unique strengths unfettered from distractions."
Job Titles:
- Technology and Special Projects
William works primarily to support FreeGulliver's investments in private funds, its software integrations, and its hedge fund. In his free time, William enjoys biking, watching movies, and playing any competitive game he can get his hands on, from chess to video games.