Smart Money Circle

This Multi-Family Office Manages ~$1B Mainly in Crypto –

Meet Jake Claver Chairman Digital Ascension Group

Jake Claver, CEO, Digital Ascension Group

Website: www.digitalfamilyoffice.io

AUM = $1 Billion

Jake’s Bio:

Jake Claver is CEO and Principal of Digital Ascension Group, founder of Digital Wealth Partners, a digital-asset-focused RIA, and leader of Syndicately, an SPV platform for sophisticated investors.

A recognized expert in blockchain and Web3 adoption, he advises family offices and high-net-worth clients through a multi-family office model that integrates planning, governance and next-generation investment strategies.

Jake is a frequent industry speaker, has been featured in Bloomberg and MarketWatch, and is co-author of the bestselling book Wealth in Numbers. His focus is helping investors build durable, multi-generational wealth in the digital economy.

Awards & Recognition:

• Member of the Forbes Finance Council

• Speaker at the Digital Fusion Summit 2025

Guest:

Barry Quart, CEO and Director

Company:

Connect Biopharma, NASDAQ:CNTB

Website:

https://www.connectbiopharma.com/

Connect Biopharma Bio:

Connect Biopharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming care for asthma and COPD. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the Company is advancing rademikibart, a next-generation, potentially best-in-class antibody designed to target IL-4Rα. The Company is currently conducting global clinical studies of rademikibart for the treatment of acute exacerbations of asthma and COPD, areas with significant unmet need.

Connect has granted an exclusive license to Simcere Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., for rademikibart in Greater China. Under the exclusive license and collaboration agreement, Connect is eligible to receive remaining milestone payments up to an aggregate amount of approximately $110 million upon the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Connect is also eligible to receive royalties at tiered percentage rates up to low double-digit percentages on net sales in Greater China.

Barry Quart Bio:

Dr. Barry Quart brings over 30 years of extensive experience serving in leadership positions in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and developing innovative pharmaceutical products. He has personally led several early-stage biotech companies through late-stage clinical development, regulatory strategy, highlighted by nine U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs.

Dr. Quart was most recently CEO at Heron Therapeutics. He first served as CEO and Director starting 2012, transitioned to President and CEO in 2019 and was named Chair of the Board in October 2020. At Heron, Dr. Quart oversaw the development and approval of four drugs: two drugs for CINV (CINVANTI® and SUSTOL®) and two acute care drugs (ZYNRELEF® and APONVIE®). Prior to Heron, Dr. Quart co-founded Ardea Biosciences, Inc. in 2006 and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer and Director from its inception through its acquisition by AstraZeneca PLC in 2012. At Ardea, Dr. Quart invented and oversaw the development of a drug for gout (ZURAMPIC®), as well as the design and development of a series of MEK inhibitors for cancer that were licensed to Bayer AG. Dr. Quart currently serves on the Board of Directors of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals. He is an inventor on 18 U.S. patents and an author on 75 publications and abstracts. Dr. Quart received his Pharm.D. from the University of California, San Francisco.

Your Retirement Sketchbook: This $10B Money Manager Shares Timeless Advice

Guest

Jamie P. Hopkins is the Chief Executive Officer of Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors and Chief Wealth Officer of WSFS

Website:

https://www.bmt.com/

$9.7 B AUM

$83B AUA

Jamie’s Book Your Retirement Sketchbook

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=your+retirement+sketchbook&adgrpid=189089282849&hvadid=779538706971&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9012420&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=9417797168261476935--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=9417797168261476935&hvtargid=kwd-2438321451310&hydadcr=22566_13730726_8131&mcid=95ac021b6cc2339c840c1c1b5258a34f&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_8genc50o2l_e

Jamie’s Bio

Jamie P. Hopkins is the Chief Executive Officer of Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors and Chief Wealth Officer of WSFS. Jamie is a graduate of Temple University School of Law, where he received his LL.M., and Villanova University School of Law, where he earned his juris doctorate and his MBA.

A Wall Street Journal bestselling author, educator and executive speaker, Jamie serves on numerous advisory boards around the financial services industry and formerly as a national trustee member of NAIFA.

Jamie is also the founder and president of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit FinServ Foundation and was named as a top 10 Investopedia 100 Top Financial Advisor for 2023.

Jamie's new bestselling book is Your Retirement Sketchbook, designed to make retirement planning simple. Jamie has written for MarketWatch, InvestmentNews, ThinkAdvisor, Forbes and Kiplinger.

Guest

Joseph Barrato Founder & CEO of Arrow Investment Advisors

Website

https://arrowfunds.com/

Bio

Joseph Barrato is the Founder and CEO of Arrow Investment Advisors, where he has spent nearly two decades developing institutional-style portfolio solutions designed to help financial advisors navigate changing market environments through diversification, tactical allocation, and alternative investments.

With more than 25 years of experience spanning ETF innovation, quantitative modeling, managed futures, and tactical portfolio construction, Joe has been involved in the development of several pioneering investment structures throughout his career. Prior to founding Arrow in 2006, he held leadership roles at Rydex Investments, where he worked on research, momentum modeling, and product development initiatives that contributed to some of the earliest innovations in smart beta, tactical allocation, and ETF portfolio design, including work associated with the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF.

Earlier in his career, Joe spent 12 years at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where he worked as both a financial analyst and senior financial examiner supporting economists, analyzing monetary data, and advising Federal Reserve officials on financial and operational matters.

Under Joe’s leadership, Arrow became an early adopter of managed futures within the 40 Act structure and today manages one of the industry’s longest-running managed futures strategies in a mutual fund wrapper. Arrow has also helped develop innovative solutions across tactical balanced portfolios, global macro strategies, income-oriented ETFs, and Tactical Bitcoin strategies focused on managing volatility within digital assets.

In addition to portfolio management and product development, Joe regularly publishes market commentary and portfolio research through Arrow Insights, focusing on portfolio construction, volatility, diversification, and evolving market structure. He is also actively involved in charitable and community outreach initiatives, including Dividend Angels and service-oriented programs supporting recovery and underserved communities in Baltimore.

Joe’s investment philosophy centers on a belief that portfolio structure matters just as much as asset selection. His work has consistently focused on helping advisors incorporate non-correlated exposures, systematic disciplines, and dynamic allocation frameworks into modern portfolio construction.

This $2B CEO Built An ETF Powerhouse Based By Using Macro Themes & Smart Beta 2.0

Guest

Frank Holmes CEO & CIO of US Global Investors With Many ETFS ~$2B AUM CEO and Chief Investment Officer of U.S. Global Investors

(GROW, JETS, HIVE, SEAS, and more)

Executive Chairman of HIVE Digital Technologies (NASDAQ: HIVE)

Company Name:

U.S. Global Investors

Company Website: usfunds.com

Frank Holmes Bio

Frank Holmes is the CEO and chief investment officer of U.S. Global Investors (NASDAQ: GROW). Mr. Holmes purchased a controlling interest in U.S. Global Investors in 1989 and became the firm’s chief investment officer in 1999. He is the co-author of The Goldwatcher: Demystifying Gold Investing. Over 100,000 subscribers follow his weekly commentary in the award-winning Investor Alert newsletter, across social channels and in his Frank Talk blog, which is read in over 180 countries.

Under his guidance, the company’s mutual funds have received recognition from Lipper and Morningstar over the years. In 2015, Mr. Holmes led the company into the exchange-traded fund (ETF) business with the launch of the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE: JETS), which invests in the global airline sector. In 2017, the firm launched its second ETF, the U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF (NYSE: GOAU), focusing on gold royalty companies.

In 2017, U.S. Global Investors made a strategic investment in HIVE Digital Technologies (TSX.V: HIVE, NASDAQ: HIVE). Mr. Holmes serves as Executive Chairman of HIVE, which is the first cryptocurrency mining company to go public, mining Bitcoin.

Mr. Holmes is a much-sought-after keynote speaker at national and international investment conferences. He is a regular commentator on popular financial networks and has been profiled by Fortune as well as The Financial Times.

U.S. Global Investors — ETFs

U.S. Global Investors ETFs -

Total Assets (ETFDb): ~2B AUM

U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS)

AUM: $941.84M

U.S. Global Go GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF (GOAU)

AUM: $220.09M

U.S. Global Technology and Aerospace & Defense ETF (WAR)

AUM: $12.30M

U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF (SEA)

AUM: $12.10M

This Company Wants To Keep Your Heart Healthy – Meet Todd Usen CEO Adagio Medical – ADGM

Guest

Todd Usen, Chief Executive Officer Adagio Medical

Company:

Adagio Medical

Ticker: ADGM

Website: https://adagiomedical.com/

Bio:

Adagio Medical is a medical device company focused on developing and commercializing products for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias utilizing its novel, proprietary, catheter-based Ultra-Low Temperature Ablation (ULTA) technology. ULTA is designed to create large, durable lesions extending through the depth of both diseased and healthy cardiac tissue.

The Company is currently focused on the treatment of ventricular tachycardia (VT) with its purpose-built vCLAS™ catheter, which is CE Marked and is currently under evaluation in the FULCRUM-VT U.S. IDE Pivotal Study. FULCRUM-VT, which took only eleven months to fully enroll 209 patients, completed enrollment in October 2025 and FDA approval of vCLAS is expected by the end of 2026.

This Money Manager Is Helping Companies Grow & Financing The American Dream.

Guest:

Damien Dwin Founder & CEO Lafayette Square

$1.1B AUM

Company Name:

Lafayette Square

Website:

www.lafayettesquare.com

Damien’s Bio:

Damien Dwin is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lafayette Square®, a private credit firm lending capital to growing middle market companies in working-class places. Previously, Damien served as Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brightwood Capital Advisors from its founding in 2010 to October 2020. 

Damien began his career as a trader with Goldman Sachs, New York & London, there earning the Michael P. Mortara Award for Innovation.

At Credit Suisse, he was the Co-Founder and Head of the North American Special Opportunities business until 2010.

Damien also served on the Vice President Selection Committee and led the Fixed Income Division Credit Training Program. 

Damien serves on the non-profit boards of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Studio Museum in Harlem, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Boys’ Club of New York, and Vera Institute of Justice. He is a Council Member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Damien received a B.S./B.A. from Georgetown University. 

Company bio:

Lafayette Square® is a private credit firm lending capital to growing middle market companies in Working-Class places. The firm focuses on non-sponsored deals, significant managerial assistance, and a data-driven investment strategy.

Lafayette Square's thesis holds that Working-Class people and places are overlooked by private credit creating an attractive investment opportunity subject to conservative underwriting, managerial assistance, and technology.

Lafayette Square® aims to support 100,000 Working-Class jobs, invest 50% of capital in Working-Class places, and curate benefits for 50% of its portfolio by 2030.

For more information,

please visit www.lafayettesquare.com.

This CEO Built A $860M Money Management Firm & Is Big On Servant Leadership.

Guest

Max Kulyk CEO and Founder Chicory Wealth with ~$860M in AUM

Company

Chicory Wealth

Website

https://chicorywealth.com/

Max Bio

My main interest is in people – getting to know them, listening to them, and helping them balance their finances with the rest of their lives in a way that has meaning to them. I started in the financial industry in 2002 and opened Maggie Kulyk and Associates soon after. In 2018 this business became Chicory Wealth, a fee-only financial life planning and sustainable wealth management firm.

I have a BA in political philosophy from West Chester (Pennsylvania) State University and an MDiv from Candler School of Theology at Emory, finishing ABD from the Graduate School of Religion at Emory. I’m a CRPC® (Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM), a Chartered SRI Counselor™, and a member of the Financial Planning Association.

I’m also the author of Integrating Money and Meaning: Practices for a Heart-Centered Life.

I’m married to Dr. Wendy Farley, professor of Christian spirituality and director of the Christian Spirituality Program at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and we have four children: Joanna, Scotty, Paul, and Yana, and one grandchild, Liv. My constant companion is a coton de tulear named Teddy.

A balanced life for me includes pickleball, beer, time with my beloved family and friends, and hanging out on Orcas Island, Washington.

Chicory Orgin

Chicory Wealth is a fee-only private wealth advisory practice with the aim of helping our clients “integrate money and meaning.” We provide financial life planning and socially conscious investing to individuals and nonprofit organizations across the country. With a background in business and religious studies, Maggie Kulyk opened the practice as Maggie Kulyk and Associates in Decatur, Georgia, in 2002, and it became Chicory Wealth in 2018. We are a national, all-virtual business, with a mailing address in Decatur, Georgia.

This $2.4B Money Management Firm Shares Timeless Advice

Chris Ballard, Managing Director at Check CapitalManagement.

Website

https://checkcapital.com/

AUM - 2.4 Billion

Company Bio

Check Capital Management is an award-winning investment and asset management firm based in Costa Mesa, California, serving clients throughout the United States. Founded in 1987, the firm specializes in long-term, value-oriented portfolio management, with a focus on acquiring shares of high-quality businesses at attractive prices and helping clients protect and grow their wealth.

Known for its disciplined investment philosophy and personalized service, Check Capital offers both traditional asset-based fee structures and profit-based management options, designed to align the firm’s interests with client outcomes. The firm manages more than $2.3 billion in assets and serves a diverse clientele, including high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans, and corporate accounts.

With a commitment to thoughtful research and a long-term perspective, Check Capital combines rigorous fundamental analysis with a client-first approach to deliver tailored investment solutions and long-term financial guidance.

Chris Ballard’s Bio:

Chris Ballard, CFP® is a seasoned financial advisor and Certified Financial Planner with a strong focus on helping individuals and families achieve their long-term financial goals. Based in Costa Mesa, California, Chris works with clients at Check Capital Management, where he provides personalized financial planning and portfolio management services tailored to each client’s unique needs.

With a comprehensive understanding of retirement planning, investment strategy, and risk management, Chris leverages his CFP® designation and financial expertise to guide clients through complex financial decisions with clarity and confidence. Outside of his professional work, he is known for his commitment to delivering thoughtful, client-centered advice that aligns with both short-term priorities and long-term objectives.

Guest

Sarah DerGarabedian, Director of Investment Strategy, Principal at Modera Wealth

Company:

Modera Wealth

Website:

www.moderawealth.com

AUM ~$18B

Sarah’s Bio:

Sarah specializes in investment strategy at Modera, where she oversees the firm’s research team and investment initiatives. She thrives on solving operational challenges and helps bring clarity to complex financial concepts for the firm’s clients.

She is particularly passionate about the behavioral side of investing—understanding what drives investor decisions and guiding them with empathy, evidence, and a touch of humor.

Her approach is grounded in consistency, discipline, humility, and a long-term perspective, mirroring her personal philosophy on health and wellness. Sarah’s curiosity and beginner’s mindset keep her adaptable and engaged in the ever-evolving financial landscape.

With over 20 years of experience in the RIA industry, Sarah joined Modera in 2023 following an 18-year tenure at Parsec Financial, where she led research, trading, and portfolio management.

Before entering the financial sector, she worked in fields as diverse as petroleum geology and academic editing, showcasing her wide-ranging interests and adaptability. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geology from Wellesley College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®).

She is affiliated with the CFA Institute and the CFA Society North Carolina. Outside of Modera, Sarah is an avid reader who often juggles multiple books across genres—from history and mystery to humor and leadership. She enjoys spending time outdoors with friends and family, whether hiking the mountains around Asheville or searching for shark’s teeth on the beaches of Pawleys Island.