Justin Berman, Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Justin Berman founded Berman Capital Advisors in 2010 as part of his commitment to provide truly objective wealth management and investment consulting services to a select group of high-net-worth clients.

Prior to launching BCA, Justin was a Vice-President in the Private Wealth Management division of Goldman Sachs & Co. He has also served in the Investment Advisory Group at myCFO, Inc. and in the Private Client Group at Arthur Andersen & Co.

Justin is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Georgetown University where he served as Varsity Tennis Captain and was a Rhodes Scholar Finalist. He also holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where he was named a Palmer Scholar.

Justin is active in community affairs and serves on the Boards of Families First, Zoo Atlanta and is a member of Leadership Atlanta and United Way’s Tocqueville Society. He is also involved in Young Presidents’ Organization and is on two corporate boards.

Jill Asrael, Principal

Jill Asrael joined BCA in 2011 as a Principal. She serves as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer and as a client relationship manager. Since 2001, she has been the CFO of Grapevine Partners, a single family office and now a BCA client, where she has managed all of the family’s financial interests including investment managers, tax professionals, insurance professionals and estate planning attorneys. In addition, she managed an operating company and a charitable supporting organization for the family. Jill also serves as the CFO for Peachtree II, L.P., an SBIC mezzanine debt fund in Atlanta.

Jill’s prior experience includes two years in the Corporate Turnaround group at Arthur Andersen performing financial analysis and cash flow forecasting and working with management to implement new policies and procedures to improve operations. Jill also worked for five years at Larson-Juhl, Inc. where she was responsible for budgeting and forecasting as well as financial statement preparation and treasury functions.

Jill graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis and has been a licensed CPA since 1998.

Kelly Downs, Director, Chief Operations Officer

Kelly Downs joined Berman Capital Advisors in 2011 as the firm's Chief Operations Officer. Before coming to BCA, she worked in the Private Wealth Management division of Goldman Sachs & Co. where she specialized in operations and client service for the firm's high-net-worth clients.

Prior to her time at Goldman Sachs, Kelly spent nine years at Fisher Investments, a California-based Registered Investment Adviser that works with private clients and large institutions. While at Fisher Investments, she served as Group Manager for eight years overseeing various functions such as client operations, recruiting, client reporting and trading.

Kelly graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a concentration in Finance. She was a member of Delta Gamma Fraternity and Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity.

Geoff Lasda, Director of Investments

Geoff Lasda joined Berman Capital Advisors as the firm's Director of Investments in 2011. Before joining BCA, he worked as a Business Analyst for Credit Suisse in their Private Banking Group in Atlanta, where he was responsible for portfolio evaluation, investment selection, and trading for a wealth management team with over $1 billion in assets under advisement.

Prior to his three years at Credit Suisse, Geoff worked as a Regional Business Associate for the AIG Advisor Group, where he oversaw business development and compliance for the northeast region for the retail broker-dealer group.

Geoff graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. At Princeton, Geoff was a four year member of the men's lacrosse team and was a two time national champion.

Shae Amerson, Head Reporting Analyst

Shae Amerson joined Berman Capital Advisors in 2012 as Head Reporting Analyst. Before joining BCA, she was Vice President of Trading and Operations for Aurora Investment Counsel. At Aurora she was responsible for all trading, operations and reporting for several RIA firm's high-net-worth clients.

Prior to her five years at Aurora Investment Counsel, Shae worked as a trader for Personal Asset Management, a division of SunTrust, where she conducted trading, research and also advised on investment recommendations to portfolio managers and clients.

Shae graduated from Clayton College and State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Marketing. At CCSU, Shae was captain of the women's basketball team and is a record holder.

Mary Moore, Head Client Analyst

Mary Moore joined Berman Capital Advisors in 2011 as Head Client Analyst. Before joining BCA, she worked on a wealth management team in the Private Client Group division of Wells Fargo Advisors. During her time with Wells Fargo Advisors, she acted as the director of PR/Marketing and served as the relationship liaison for the wealth management team. She also focused a majority of her time on servicing the team's high-net-worth clients.

Mary graduated from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. She was a member of the Business Honors Program and Chi Omega Fraternity.

Kelsey Ledford, Client Analyst

Kelsey Ledford joined Berman Capital Advisors in 2013 as a Client Analyst. Prior to joining BCA, she worked at an NFL agency where she assisted in the financial affairs of the firm’s high profile clients, as well as marketing research and design. While in college, she was a student assistant for The University of Georgia Athletic Association where she focused on team travel and logistics, recruitment, event preparation and daily operations involving the football department.

Kelsey graduated from The University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the Terry College of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management. She was a member of Sports Business Club.

Laura Perez, Executive Assistant

Laura Perez joined Berman Capital Advisors in 2012 as Executive Assistant. Before joining BCA, she worked for over two years as an Administrative Assistant to the District Sales Manager for FedEx Corporate Services in Atlanta. At FedEx, her focus was on coordinating activities and initiatives that support a Sales Team towards excellence in sales as well as exceptional back office administration.

Prior to her work at FedEx, Laura spent six years doing back office accounting and payroll for Publix Supermarkets. At Publix she was responsible for managing a team of over 150 associates.

Board of Advisors