Our Team
Our History and Approach
Based in Washington DC, KF Wealth provides investment management services to high net worth private investors, trusts, and business owners. We work with clients, their families, and their professional advisors providing specialized advice and guidance on the entire wealth management process.
Our team has four decades of combined experience. We invest time to learn about you, your family dynamics, and your legacy intentions. Operating as a boutique advisory team within Janney Montgomery Scott , we provide holistic solutions driven by your own personal life and legacy objectives. We collaborate with your professional advisors including your CPAs and tax and estate attorneys to ensure that our planning strategies are aligned with your tax and legal structures.
Our primary objective is to help families maintain their lifestyle pre and post retirement. We provide guidance on the investment management process based on personal objectives, proper risk control, and fee transparency. It is our intent that we can help simplify financial complexity surrounding managing your assets, liabilities, and estate planning strategy. Drawing from the resources of Janney, we provide advice around:
• Investment Management
• Pre and Post Retirement Planning
• Family Transitions
• Executive Decisions
• Insurance Planning
• Estate and Legacy Planning
• Philanthropy and Charitable Gifting
James has been providing investment management advice to his clients for nearly 15 years. Prior to joining Janney, he spent 10 years advising clients at Wells Fargo Advisors. He specializes in equities with a focus on dividend income investing. He also provides research leadership for the team on international and emerging market economies.
James is a proud South African from Standerton, South Africa. He grew up on a dairy farm just outside of Johannesburg. He has an economics degree from the University of South Africa and ran his own family business before immigrating to the United States. A true renaissance man, James is an avid motorcyclist, an expert cow breeder, and knows the best cuts of meat and the right side of a wrench. James is fluent in Afrikaans and proficient in Spanish. He is a global traveler and has visited many countries around the world. His favorite place however, is South Africa where he can roll up the sleeves and command a heavy tractor or combine harvester. He lives with his beautiful wife, son, and 2 daughters in Columbia, Maryland.
Anastasia Sabonis-Helf, Private Client Associate, comes to Janney from retail banking, where she worked for three and a half years. Prior to banking, she spent several years in the hospitality industry, having worked in hotels, restaurants, and catering. The constant across all is a dedication to customer service and client relationships - she loves solving challenges and improving the lives of those she serves.
Anastasia was born in the Almaty, Kazakhstan and at the age of 9, was adopted by academic parents volunteering at the orphanage where she lived at the time. She moved to Takoma Park, Maryland and has been in the DC area ever since. In addition to English, she is fluent in both Russian and Spanish. She is also fluent in music: she sang choir for years and plays flute, piccolo and oboe.