Foster Group

Jerry Foster

Founder and CEO

Professional Biography

Jerry Foster, CFP®, founded Foster Group in 1989 with a vision to create an organization built around a team concept and dedicated to serving clients first. Jerry has written articles for national publications and speaks to physicians and business leaders, both in the U.S. and internationally, regarding personal and business

Mark Stadtlander

President

Professional Biography

Mark Stadtlander, CFP®, is the President of Foster Group. His primary responsibilities are to manage day-to-day operations and provide leadership for the direction and vision of Foster Group. Mark also serves as a director at Foster Group, Chief Compliance Officer and as a member of the Investment Committee.

Mark earned a

Joe Bantz

lifeWealth Advisor

Professional Biography

Joseph Bantz, CFP®, is a lifeWealth Advisor, helping clients make smarter decisions and avoid costly mistakes. Joe joined Foster Group in 2003, after 14 years as a high school math teacher and administrator in both public and private schools.

With degrees from Truman State University, the University of Nebraska and the

Jon Evans

lifeWealth Advisor

Professional Biography

Jon Evans, CFP®, is a lifeWealth Advisor at Foster Group. In this role, he assists with the delivery and implementation of financial plans and client service needs. Jon is also responsible for coordination of the firm’s marketing efforts and manages event administration.

Jon graduated from Bethel University in St. Paul,

Martha Gribble

lifeWealth Advisor

Professional Biography

Martha Gribble, lifeWealth Advisor with Foster Group serves clients by helping them identify and realize their financial objectives. As a single working parent, she understands the challenges facing professional women as they strive to identify and prepare for all sorts of life challenges whether managing current cash flow,

Phil Kruzan

Partner

Professional Biography

Phil M. Kruzan, Sr., CFP®, is a Partner in the firm. He has a strong desire to serve others through a caring, compassionate relationship that seeks to improve the lives of those he works with. Phil has the unique ability to look at the sum of the parts and create a clear picture of a client’s financial position both now and

Kent Kramer

Partner

Professional Biography

Kent Kramer, CFP®, Partner, works alongside clients to help them identify, progress toward, and achieve their most meaningful financial and related goals. Drawing on his varied experiences as a communicator, elected official, financial advisor and portfolio manager, Kent uses his unique abilities to describe and connect our

Ross Polking

lifeWealth Advisor

Professional Biography

Ross Polking, CFP®, manages the firm’s 401(k) retirement business. His role of advising and working closely with plan trustees and participants allows Foster Group’s corporate clients to deliver valued benefits to their employees. Ross is also heavily involved in the development, improvement and engineering of business

Brad Rempe

lifeWealth Advisor

Professional Biography

Brad Rempe, CFP®, CPA®, is a lifeWealth Advisor with Foster Group, and is passionate about serving our clients by helping them accomplish the things that are most important to them. Brad’s desire to ask the questions that really matter contributes to his ability to help clients live and work with intentionality.

Brad earned

Kate Juelfs

lifeWealth Advisor

Professional Biography

Kate Juelfs is a lifeWealth Advisor at Foster Group. In this role, she assists with the delivery and implementation of financial plans and client service needs. Kate’s past work experience included working for a regional brokerage firm as the Institutional Sales Manager. Kate holds her FINRA Series 66 and formerly held her

Marcus Iwig

lifeWealth Advisor

Professional Biography

Marcus Iwig, CPA, is a lifeWealth Advisor at Foster Group. In this role, he assists with the delivery and implementation of financial plans and client service needs.

Marcus spent four years at Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company as an Investment Accountant and an Accountant in the Cost-Benefit-Analysis area. Before that he

Reed Rinderknecht

Partner

Professional Biography

Reed R. Rinderknecht, CFP®, is a Partner of Foster Group. Reed’s primary responsibilities include managing client relationships and directing the firm’s new business development strategies and resources. Before joining Foster Group in 1997, Reed spent four years with Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas, as a part of

Buck Olsen

Partner

Professional Biography

Buck Olsen, CFP®, is a Partner at Foster Group. On a day-to-day basis, Buck is charged with facilitating the on-boarding process for prospective new clients to the firm. Because Foster Group works so diligently to build and maintain lifelong client relationships, Buck's role is critical to the success of the firm. He is a

Mickie Kinney

Client Hospitality Coordinator

Professional Biography

Mickie Kinney, Foster Group’s Client Hospitality Coordinator, is thought of by the people who know her to be a ‘people person.’ She enjoys meeting new people and learning about their life stories. Learning new things and crossing things off her ‘to do’ list are things she looks forward to doing. In her role as Client

Bart Banwart

Portfolio Analyst

Professional Biography

Bart Banwart, CPA, CFP®, is a Portfolio Analyst with Foster Group. Bart participates in the management of client portfolios through periodic rebalancing, investing new contributions and making cash available for distributions. His systematic approach and attention to detail are valuable assets in reviewing client

Ed Green

Partner

Professional Biography

Ed Green, CFP®, ChFC, AIF®, is a Partner at Foster Group. Ed joined the firm in 1999 and has practiced in the financial services industry since 1987.

Ed held NASD (now FINRA) Series 6, 63 and 7 registrations, as well as Iowa insurance and annuity licenses, prior to joining Foster Group’s fee-only practice. He earned the

Leslie Nichols

Client Services Team Leader

Professional Biography

Leslie Nichols, Client Services Team Leader, serves as the primary liaison between the custodian of our clients’ assets, our clients and Foster Group’s internal staff. In this role, Leslie is responsible for managing different types of account activity including account establishment and maintenance, account features,

Pam Tryon

Client Services Coordinator

Professional Biography

Pam Tryon is a Client Service Coordinator for Foster Group. In this role, her primary responsibility is to act as a liaison between Foster Group and the firms which serve as custodians of our clients’ assets. In this role, Pam assists in the production and tracking of many types of client paperwork including opening new

Katie Lauer

Client Service Coordinator

Professional Biography

Katie Lauer is a Client Service Coordinator for Foster Group. In this role, her primary responsibility is to act as a liaison between Foster Group and the firm which serve as custodians of our clients’ assets. In this role, Katie assists in the production and tracking of many types of client paperwork including opening new

Paul Womacks

Operations Specialist

Professional Biography

Paul Womacks, RP® fills the role of Operations Specialist, working primarily as part of the Client Services team. In addition, he is involved in the Finance function.

Paul handles the daily reconciliation of data into our portfolio management system, manages the quarterly client reporting process, and maintains cost basis

Travis J. Rychnovsky

Leader - Client Services, IT, and Operations

Professional Biography

Travis J. Rychnovsky, CFA®, serves as the leader of three teams within Foster Group including Client Services, Operations, and Technology. He is also a member of the firm’s Leadership and Compliance teams. Known for his ability to strategize, organize, manage and execute, Travis is tasked with owning many of the firm’s core

Josh Van Heukelom

Information Technology Administrator

Professional Biography

Josh Van Heukelom is Foster Group’s Information Technology Administrator. He oversees all our technology-related issues, including maintenance, security, updates, and system innovation. Josh earned an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems with a minor in Computer Science from the University of Iowa. He also

Kay Stearns

Administrative Assistant

Professional Biography

Kay Stearns is an Administrative Assistant in the Human Resource and Accounting areas at Foster Group. Her primary responsibilities involve payroll, compiling numerous internal management reports as well as handling the quarterly billing process for our asset management clients. Her careful, systematic approach, comfort in

Janet Hircock

Executive Assistant

Professional Biography

Janet Hircock is Foster Group’s Executive Assistant. She provides administrative support to the firm, particularly to Jerry Foster and Mark Stadtlander. The balance of her time is spent scheduling internal meetings, phone conferences, client meetings, and any related travel for the entire firm. She also assists in editing

Brent Carlson

Leader - Finance, Compliance, and Human Resources

Professional Biography

Brent Carlson is Foster Group’s Leader in Finance, Compliance, and Human Resources. Brent has been with the firm since 2002. As his title indicates, he wears many different hats for the Foster Group team. Brent holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Northern Iowa. He draws upon this and his years of