Joseph Fonte has been in the financial services industry for more than 25 years.  He launched the firm in 2006 with a strong focus on ethics and a clear mission to provide reliable corporate retirement plans to small and medium sized businesses and individual investors. Joseph is an Investment Advisory Representative with Securities America, with all related licenses.  Joseph holds a Certified Retirement Plan Specialists® (CRPS) through the College for Financial Planning.

 

Previously, Joseph was Senior Vice President at one of the largest employee benefits firms in Southern California from 2001 - 2006, where he led the pension marketing department and was successful at developing a strong broker network through wire houses and independent agents.

 

From 1997 to 2001, Joseph was Director of Pension Marketing at one of the largest pension companies in the United States, where he was responsible for leading agent training to facilitate retirement plan sales. For nearly 10 years prior, Joseph was a principal with Fonte & Associates, where he first honed his passion for developing and implementing employee benefit programs for corporate clients.

 

Joseph started his career in finance as a Vice President and Director of Business Development at the largest privately-owned bank in California. There he managed a 13-branch operation and was responsible for recruiting, training and supervising 25 business development officers.

 

Throughout his career, Joseph has published numerous articles in financial journals on subjects related to retirement planning. Joseph holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College in Los Angeles, and his Life & Health Insurance, Variable Annuity, and Securities 6, 63 and 65 licenses.

 

Joseph believes strongly in giving back to his community and enthusiastically volunteers his time and donates financial resources to a number of organizations in Santa Barbara. Joseph is married and has three sons. Joseph can be reached at Joseph.Fonte@TheSourceFinancial.com.

 

 

Jill Rushing brings more than 12 years strategic marketing experience to The Source Financial Group.  Prior to joining the firm, Jill was a strategic consultant with a national communications firm where she led marketing and communications programs for financial institutions and health care clients.  

 

Jill also served as account supervisor in the corporate public affairs practice of an international public relations firm, where she oversaw marketing programs for clients including New Century Financial, Nike and General Motors.

 

Jill is a licensed Life/Health/Disability agent and a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners/Santa Barbara Chapter, the Society for Human Resources Management, and the Santa Barbara Human Resources Association. Jill is also dedicated to giving back to the community and volunteers her time each week as a teen mentor with the Fighting Back Mentor Program.

 

Jill holds an MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management and a BA from Boston University.  Jill can be reached at Jill@TheSourceFinancial.com. 

 

 

 

Ross Lopez entered the financial services industry in 1997 and has maintained a strong focus on employee benefits and retirement planning ever since. Ross is responsible for marketing new plans, servicing existing plans and serving as our Spanish-speaking liaison with plan participants.

 

Prior to joining The Source Financial Group, Ross was a Regional Service Client Consultant with The Standard, one of the largest insurance companies in the nation. Ross managed more than 120 plans with combined assets totaling more than $250 million.

 

Previously, Ross was a Plan Operations Manager with one of the largest financial services companies in Santa Barbara. He managed more than 75 plans with combined assets of $150 million. Ross coordinated educational campaigns to address the benefits of savings and investing, and he rolled-out a third-party Money Manager (RIA) to existing 401(k) clients, in addition to cultivating leads for the Financial Planning team.

 

Ross began his career in finance with one of the largest employee benefits firms in Southern California where he served as Pension Marketing Specialist. In this capacity, he analyzed investments, expenses and plan design for existing retirement plans and identified ways to improve them. Ross provided oversight for the implementation of new plans and transitions of existing plans. Ross also conducted enrollment meetings and financial planning seminars, and helped individual plan participants in preparation of financial plans.

 

Ross holds his Series 7, 63, and 66 securities licenses and earned a Certified Retirement Plan Specialists® (CRPS) through the College for Financial Planning.  Ross can be reached at Ross@TheSourceFinancial.com.