Our Team

Jim Schlager, CFP®

Running Point founder Jim Schlager brings more than 30 years of experience in financial planning, asset management, tax, trusts and estates, insurance, and business management to the establishment of a firm dedicated to his long-held vision: that clients are best served by integrating a team of financial services experts under a single roof. Families and families who own businesses are, after all, extremely busy. Jim’s foundational ethos is to make clients’ lives easier, while utilizing a team method to help them secure an abundant, well-planned future.

Clients can come to Running Point and meet with their CPA, CIO, investment advisor, insurance advisor, and even their estate planner, all under one roof in a multifamily office.

Jim’s ability to integrate and execute these offerings is the result of decades of expertise and experience. After co-founding Financial Security Group in Bellevue, Washington, he merged the company with one of the largest public accounting firms in the country, Moss Adams LLP, in 2001. The result of the merger was a wealth management firm ahead of its time—one that offered seamless, integrated services including financial planning, asset management, tax, insurance, and estate planning.

Subsequently, Jim launched and built the Financial Security Group inside the Moss Adams Los Angeles and Northern California offices, moved to Manhattan Beach, California, and grew the group steadily over the course of 18 years. During that time, the two entities fully merged to become Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC.

For many years, Jim helped clients thrive as he worked side-by-side with highly regarded Moss Adams CPAs and consultants in numerous industries and areas of expertise. All the while, Jim’s desire to create his own multifamily office grew.

In 2020, he launched Running Point Capital Advisors to realize his unique vision: a firm that comprises a team of financial experts to help families and family business owners achieve financial prosperity and security.

Jim and his family live in Manhattan Beach, California, where Jim is an active and engaged member of the community. As a resident and business owner, he is committed to community service and actively involved in local institutions. He has served on the boards of the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation and the South Bay Police and Fire Department Memorial Foundation. He is a former planning commissioner with the City of Manhattan Beach, and a member of Manhattan Beach Rotary.

Michael Ashley Schulman, CFA

As chief investment officer and a founding partner of Running Point Capital Advisors, Michael Ashley Schulman is responsible for Running Point’s global macro outlook, research, investment strategies, PPLI & PPVA management, asset allocation, and impact and social assessments across public and private investments.

Michael has over 20 years of institutional and high-net-worth portfolio management, research, trading, and asset allocation experience across fixed-income, equity, hedge fund, real estate, and private investment classes. He has built quantitative and fundamental systems, modelled collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), and managed a fixed-income arbitrage hedge fund and a multi-strategy fund-of-funds.

Prior to Running Point, Michael was a partner, managing director, senior portfolio manager, and hedge fund manager at Hollencrest Capital Management; vice president, CDO/quantitative specialist at Deutsche Bank; manager at Accenture; director of strategy at Open Ratings (an MIT startup); and a portfolio manager at Pacific Income Advisors.

He has also effectively consulted for the World Federation of Exchanges in Paris, the Colombian Financial Exchange, and several high-tech firms, and has presented at forums and conferences in California, New York, Malaysia, Argentina, and Spain.

Michael has an MBA from MIT Sloan, a CFA designation, and a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley.

Within the community, Michael is a board member of Bridge Funding Global’s Permanent Selection Committee which selects top female emerging managers in venture capital to be matched with investors. Additionally, Michael served on the advisory board of a San Diego based impact fund and is a past president and board member of the CFA Society of Orange County. In his spare time, he enjoys art and adventure travel, including kayaking the Stockholm archipelago and mountain biking in Mongolia to raise funds for underprivileged Mongolian children.

Liz deSousa, CFP®, CDFA®

As a senior financial advisor, Liz provides financial planning and advice, working with clients to develop strategies unique to their financial and personal goals. She coordinates all aspects of wealth management and collaborates with Running Point’s team of cross-disciplinary professionals to provide options and solutions for individual situations.

Liz began her career in the financial services industry in 2000 at Barclays Global Investors (now BlackRock) in the Consultant Resource Group. In 2002, she began working at Duckworth Wealth Advisors as part of a team of tax and financial planning professionals providing wealth management and personal office services to high-net-worth individuals and families. Liz was a client advisor and principal at the respected firm, which she helped to grow. In 2017, Duckworth was acquired by Mercer Advisors, where Liz continued working as an advisor with existing and new clients.

Liz is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and a member of the Financial Planning Association. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), one of Liz’s specialties is working with women experiencing a life transition, such as divorce or the death of a spouse. She wants clients to feel in control of their lives and their finances, freeing them to focus on enjoying life.

She also serves as a trustee for the Friends of the Girl Scouts Trust, an endowment fund created by the Girl Scouts of Orange County, and is a board member of WISE, a philanthropic educational organization that provides girls and women opportunities to learn about investing and personal finance.

Liz lives in Newport Beach with her husband, two boys, and two adorable Standard Schnauzers. She is active in her children’s school and chaired its PTA Reflections Art Program for three years. Liz is also on the board of Friends of CASA (FOCASA), a fundraising group dedicated to supporting CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Orange County. She has always enjoyed working with and helping young people, and is particularly passionate about giving at-risk children a chance to succeed in life.

Daniel Kerr, CFP®

As a senior financial advisor, Daniel Kerr is responsible for managing client relationships as well as supporting the rest of the Running Point team. He specializes in financial planning as well as educating and serving clients with expert recommendations.

Daniel has been in the financial services industry for seven years, all working with registered investment advisor (RIA) firms. These included firms that ranged in size from $100 million to
$2 billion in assets under management. Drawing on that background, Daniel is able to provide personal, tailored advice to clients that utilizes the best processes of both smaller and larger firms.

Prior to Running Point Capital, Daniel was an associate advisor at Mission Wealth; financial advisor, associate advisor, and paraplanner at Moss Adams Wealth Advisors; and a paraplanner at LJCooper Wealth Advisors.

In his spare time, Daniel is often found on a golf course or exploring Ventura’s food and brewery scene with his wife and friends.

Daniel Israeli, CPA, CFP®, CFA

In his role as Financial Service Advisor, Daniel Israeli prepares financial plans, cultivates client relationships, and delivers personalized investment solutions to help clients achieve their long-term financial goals.

Daniel has worked as a forensic accountant for PCG Consultants, a property accountant for MWest Holdings, and a tax staff accountant for Leo Berger & Associates.

Prior to joining Running Point Capital Advisors, Daniel was an advisor at Kennedy Wealth Management, where he specialized in comprehensive retirement planning and client relationship management for high-net-worth individuals and families.

Outside of the office, Daniel enjoys watching and playing football and basketball as well as reading and traveling.

Susan Lash, CPA

As the firm’s tax partner, Susan Lash heads up Running Point Tax and Consulting, LLC. She specializes in working with closely held businesses and their owners in the areas of real estate, personal services, entertainment and sports, and high-net-worth tax planning. Over the years, Susan has worked with several family groups, handling multigenerational issues and tiered businesses. She also brings years of experience working with clients in the areas of estate planning and trust and estate administration, including the related tax-compliance work.

With a well-rounded background in income and estate taxation, Susan is skilled in helping clients and their business advisors optimize their income tax position toward preserving the wealth they have created. For more than two decades, Susan’s expertise in income tax and estate planning has helped clients reach their goals and achieve a well-planned transfer of their wealth.

Susan holds a CPA license in California. Prior to joining Running Point, Susan worked for more than 25 years as a tax principal and senior tax manager in large regional and local public accounting firms in Southern California.

Brooke Sigler, CPA

Brooke Sigler, CPA brings 20 years of tax expertise and deep South Bay roots to Running Point. As a tax partner, she excels at simplifying complex financial matters, enabling clients to focus on their core business priorities.

Prior to joining Running Point, Brooke served as a tax partner at a regional public accounting firm, where she built an impressive portfolio serving family-owned businesses, real estate ventures, professional services firms, and multi-generational high-net-worth families.

Running Point's integrated approach aligns perfectly with Brooke's philosophy—providing clients seamless access to comprehensive financial expertise under one roof. She is thrilled to join a team of seasoned professionals who share her commitment to client service.

Brooke is also part of the Professional Advisory Council (PAC) for Torrance Memorial Foundation where they commented that, "Brooke's extensive expertise in tax and estate planning will be a valuable asset to our council as we continue to educate our community on the benefits of charitable tax and estate planning."

A third-generation Palos Verdes resident, Brooke graduated magna cum laude from University of San Diego and maintains memberships in AICPA and CalCPA. She lives in Palos Verdes Estates with her husband, Marty, their two sons, an Australian Labradoodle named Lucy and a cat, Leo.

Tome Baldocchi, EA

As a senior tax manager at Running Point Tax & Consulting, Tome Baldocchi, EA focuses on proactive tax planning for high-net-worth individuals as well as privately held companies and their owners. He brings more than twenty-five years of senior tax and accounting experience to his main emphasis—developing innovative tax planning strategies to reduce the overall tax burden for clients. This includes tax planning for ongoing business operations as well as development of key strategies related to entity formation and structure, exit strategies, and succession/estate planning. He also has extensive experience representing his clients before the Internal Revenue Service and various state and local governmental jurisdictions.

Tome is also a Tax Accountant (Enrolled Agent). He has a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) focused in Mathematics and Computer Science from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.

He enjoys sharing time with his wife and three boys and occasionaly carves out time for a round of golf.

Laura Lee

Laura’s role with Running Point Tax and Consulting is to assist the team with analysis of client data and research toward the preparation of tax returns.

A born number cruncher, Laura comes to Running Point after 20 years of service in the federal government. In her most recent position, she was the Deputy Budget Officer for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, within the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health. Among other duties in that role, she managed the preparation of the Institute’s annual congressional justification for presentation to Congress and was responsible for providing budget reports and data to the institute director, other government agencies, and to the public.

Rupali Kaypee

As our senior accounting manager, Rupali carefully interfaces with Running Point's wealth management, accounting, and tax teams to expertly manage the business affairs of high-net-worth clients. She handles day-to-day accounting for clients and works with the Running Point team to help them achieve their long-term goals.

Rupali was educated in India, Wales, and at UCLA. In the course of nine years of working in regional public accounting and business management, she has worked closely with entertainers, high-net-worth individuals, and small businesses.

Outside of work she enjoys reading, watching sports, and, of course, our SoCal beaches.

Rupali speaks English, Hindi, and Punjabi.

Irene Aguilar, MSA, CRTP

Irene Aguilar, MSA is an Account Executive at Running Point Tax & Consulting (RPTC). Irene has extensive experience in accounting and business management, most recently in the role of Business Manager at Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, Director of Business Management at Unlimited Management, and Account Manager at Williams Tax & Financial Group. She has worked closely with entertainers, professional athletes and high-net-worth individuals.

Outside of work she enjoys sharing time with her daughter—helping her excel at soccer—and trying new restaurants.

Irene speaks English and Spanish.

Tony Diaz

In his role as Portfolio Associate, Tony Diaz works closely with Running Point's advisors to monitor portfolios and cash positions, prepare investment reports, understand client guidelines, trade securities, and help maintain personalized investment portfolios for clients. Tony is also the Registered Representative for Running Point Capital Insurance Agency.

Tony has worked in different aspects of the financial industry and brings great experience ranging from high-net-worth to institutional.

Prior to joining Running Point, Tony was an equity trader and portfolio manager assistant at RNC Genter Capital where he provided oversight and direction for over $6 billion in assets under management (AUM) and managed and modeled delivery execution for over $800 million of unified managed account (UMA) relationships. Additionally, he has held positions as an operations specialist at Apex Pro and a brokerage associate at Wells Fargo Advisors.

Tony has a BA degree in accounting from Arizona State University, W.P. Carey School of Business and has also earned a professional insurance license as well as the Series 6, 7 , 63, and 99 security licenses.

Outside of the office, Tony is an avid golfer and enjoys hiking with his dogs (a golden retriever and a rescue pug terrier), traveling, and trying new restaurants.

Franklin Lee

In his role as Director of Operations, Franklin Lee works closely with Running Point's advisors and investment team to monitor portfolios and cash positions, prepare investment reports, understand client guidelines, trade securities, and help maintain personalized investment portfolios for clients.

Prior to joining Running Point, Franklin was an investment analyst at Salient Wealth Planning Group/Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. He has deep experience working in several related finance and industry roles at Retirement Wellness Group, Prudential Financial, Parsons Corporation, and BTAS, Inc.

A South Bay native, he enjoys spending time with his wife, playing with his two children, and the occassioal golf or tennis session. Franklin's family also has two pet fish.

Franklin speaks English and Korean.

Kristi Buckley

Kristi Buckley plays a key role in ensuring the smooth and efficient functioning of your experience across Running Point's Investment Advisory, Tax, Accounting, and Insurance operations. As Operations Coordinator, she harmonizes various day-to-day activities related to systems, processes, and technology while enhancing firm organization, safety, and confidentiality of your information.

Prior to joining Running Point Capital, Kristi served as the Donor Relations Director for the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation, where she managed the Annual Appeal Campaign, raising over $5 million annually to support an enriched academic experience in the Manhattan Beach public schools. She also has over 8 years of experience as a commercial real estate property manager, overseeing leasing, tenant improvements, and building maintenance.

Kristi lives in Manhattan Beach and has twin boys attending UCLA.