CAPITAL FIRST TRUST COMPANY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Trust Officer
- Senior VP Business Development
Adam is an experienced trust officer focused on developing and maintaining strong relationships with lawyers, other trusted advisors, and their clients. Before Capital First, Adam was also a Senior VP at First Trust Company. Prior to joining First Trust Company the month after it was chartered, Adam was a senior trust officer and financial planner with Wells Fargo Private Bank. He began his financial services career at U.S. Bank as a contract analyst before transitioning to personal trust administration.
Adam is a graduate of the University of Kansas and is both a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA). He is a member of the Twin Cities Financial and Estate Planning Council and the Minnesota Financial Planning Association.
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Executive Team
- President
Chris Foregger is the President of Capital First Trust Company. Chris develops strategy and oversees compliance matters for the trust company. He is also a member of Capital First's Board of Directors.
Chris has spoken to numerous financial advisors, settlement planners, and attorneys about the advantages of incorporating trust solutions into their practice. Chris is a member of the Society of Settlement Planners and has appeared on the Settlement Channel website. He has also been a speaker at the Begley School on Special Needs Trusts.
In addition to protecting assets, Chris encourages our teams to focus on using trusts to improve the quality of life of a trust beneficiary. With nearly 20 years of experience in personal trust services, he has served in a variety of positions including trust operations, client services and trust consulting. Chris adheres to the values of client communication and education.
Chris is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. He successfully completed the Fiduciary & Investment Risk Management program at the Cannon Financial Institute in 2012.
Chris lives in the greater Milwaukee area with his wife and two sons. He loves camping, hiking and fishing with family and friends.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Senior VP Business Development
Dan Ehrmentraut is a graduate of the University of New York at Buffalo (J.D.) and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1984 (currently inactive). He spent over twenty years working in traditional bank trust departments serving as Trust Officer, Regional Trust Manager, Supervisor of Trust Tax and IRA, Sales Manager, and Department Head for a mid-size trust department. Since 1997, Dan has worked for several large financial service companies in a business development role including a Mid-West Trust wholesaler for Franklin Templeton Bank & Trust and as the Director of Business Development for a South Dakota chartered trust company.
Dan joined Capital First Trust Company (Capital First) in 2013 to expand Capital First's directed trustee presence in the Independent Broker Dealer, Wirehouse, RIA, and institutional custody channels. Dan also provides comprehensive sales support to financial advisors and attorneys seeking to establish a directed trustee relationship with Capital First. Dan has worked successfully numerous financial advisors on large and complex estate plans to incorporate the benefits of a directed trust structure for their wealthy clients.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Trust Development Officer
Daniel Naylor is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Dan has fifteen years of experience in the industry, wearing many valuable hats across his tenure.
Daniel is responsible for building and deepening relationships with financial advisors, the clients they care for, and the channels they work with in. He has extensive experience working in the Special Needs Trust arena and is enthusiastic towards solving highly complex family dynamics and challenging financial situations.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Vice President of Trust Operations
- Vice President of Trust Operations / CAPITAL FIRST TRUST COMPANY / Business Development
Dave Armstrong is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has been with Capital First Trust Company (Capital First) since January 2010. In July of 2012, he took over as the Director of Trust Operations. His primary job responsibilities as the Director of Trust Operations are to monitor policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the trust company and regulatory guidelines, investment review oversight, and work with our trust officers on portfolio realignments.
As a Trust Committee Member and a Senior Trust Officer, Dave has extensive experience working with clients of Special Needs Trusts and their families. He is familiar with public benefits and the regulations governing Special Needs Trusts. Prior to working for Capital First, Dave worked as a settlement consultant for 13 years with Reed & Strattford.
Dave completed the Trust, Audit, Compliance & Investment Risk Management program at the Cannon Financial School and received the CFIRS designation in July of 2014.
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Erica Lerew comes to Capital First with extensive office administration experience. She is a full-time online student at Southeast Tech currently and will finish the year up with her associates in Business Administration. She has been a vital part of the Capital First team, continuously taking on more responsibility.
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Member of the Executive Team
- SALES CONSULTANTS
- Senior VP Business Development
James joined Capital First in 2012 and has 30 years of experience in the financial services industry including banks, investments, insurance and trusts. He has assisted personal injury victims establish financial plans since 1989 and has helped over 1,000 personal injury victims establish plans to protect and secure their financial future. James is a Chartered Special Needs Consultant.
As a Trust Consultant for Capital First, James works closely with settlement planners and trust attorneys to establish trust solutions to protect clients from wasteful dissipation of settlement funds and provide income, security, liquidity and growth over the clients' lifetime. He frequently attends mediations and court proceedings.
James currently lives in the Charlotte NC area with his wife and 4 children. He enjoys fly-fishing, hiking, and volunteering as a Middle School Baseball coach for is children's school.
Jodi Wilde is a former Capital First employee and will assume the role of Case Administrator. She has over 15 years of experience providing administrative support in the financial services industry. She has served in a variety of positions in trust services, asset management, as well as, risk management consultation. "We are extremely pleased to have Jodi back on the team" said Foregger. Wile enjoys reading, playing video games and watching her neighbors' reactions when she takes her cats out for a walk on their leashes.
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Executive Team
Kristin has been the Chief Financial Officer and HR Director for Capital First since February of 2016. She provides leadership and oversight for all corporate accounting, financial reporting and analysis, financial planning, and human resources. Kristin reports directly to the President and actively participates in setting and implementing strategic initiatives for Capital First as part of the executive team.
Prior to joining Capital First, Kristin held positions as the Controller for Regional Services and Senior Director, Risk Management & Business Analysis for a national non-profit organization and spent nine years in public accounting. Her public accounting career was focused on auditing and accounting for non-profit organizations, financial institutions, and privately held companies.
In her spare time, Kristin enjoys attending the many sporting events that her children participate in and volunteering for their sports teams. Kristin is proud to work for a growing and stable company like Capital First and is invested in making it an even better workplace for the future.
A newly created position at Capital First has been filled by Wisconsin native, Levi Dax. Dax assumed the position of Marketing Coordinator on February 22.
According to Chris Foregger, President and CEO, "the position had been given priority status by our board and was a direct result of the milestones we reached in 2020". He continued, "we announced on January 1, 2020 that Capital First had reached the $1 billion milestone mark for assets under management and had added 5 new trust officers to help service the new business. We knew a marketing position was also necessary to coordinate all the deployment of the marketing initiatives to our target industry and to continue the trend."
Dax is a 2017 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His experience includes a strong background in mixed media advertising as well as digital marketing. A former Account Manager in advertising for iHeartMedia, he also has a broad range of service in sales and event and promotional planning.
A native of Green Bay, he now resides in Milwaukee where he enjoys travel, sports and writing.
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Senior Trust Officer
- Director of Personal Trust Services
Pete Fletcher has been tapped as Director of Personal Trust Services. He brings a diverse background including both sales communication and analytics experience in his role at BMO Global Asset Management U.S. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he received his MBA from Marquette University. Speaking about Fletcher's hire, Foregger said, "we were so impressed with his ability as a relationship manager and problem solver. Pete makes it his job to fully understand the scope of an opportunity, gather all the information from those affected and develop an effective solution. He truly understands the priorities of client satisfaction and optimal results."
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Richard Comp has joined Capital First as a Case Manager. With over 25 years in the financial services industry, Comp brings a vast array of experience in investment operations, trust administration and client services. Commenting on his hire, Chris Foregger, President and CEO noted, "Richard is accomplished in delivering exceptional client service and has a talent for aligning customer needs with solutions and solving problems creatively." Comp received his Bachelor of Arts from Carrol University. He has held positions at Northwestern Mutual and US Bankcorp Investments, Inc. Comp enjoys the outdoors especially riding bicycles or his Harley Davidson.
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the TRUST OFFICERS Team