Our Leadership Team

Brian Cox, MBA, CFP®, Principal
b.cox@astoriastrategicwealth.com

• B.S., Economics (Superintendent's Award), United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, 1995
• Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Finance and Corporate Strategy Michigan Business School, 2003
• U.S. Service Academy Nomination Committee, Office of Congressman Chip Roy, District 21, Texas, 2013 - Present
• Investment Committee Chair and Board Treasurer, New Braunfels Area Community Foundation, 2014 – Present
• Christus Santa Rosa Hospital System, Civic Advisory Board Vice Chairman, 2013 - Present
• Director, New Braunfels Economic Development Council (4B), 2015 - Present
• Member, Wurstfest Association, 2010 - Present
• Chief Operating Officer, WestSpring Advisors, New York, NY, 2009-2012
• Managing Director, Highland Capital, Dallas, Texas and New York, NY 2006-2009
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, 2014
• Investment Associate, JPMorgan Private Bank, New York, NY - 2003 - 2006
• GEN George Casey Special Staff, Multi-National Forces-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq, 2004-2005
• Graduate, U.S. Army Airborne, Air Assault, and Airborne Ranger Courses, 1993, 1995, and 1996

I became interested in becoming a financial planner 20 plus years ago as I was transitioning out of my role as an Officer in the U.S. Army. Firms I met with rightfully and humbly pointed out that I should consider getting more experience before advising others.  They also educated me about the key differences between Fee-Only advising and the rest of the industry.  I never forgot those conversations.  In 2012, I was fortunate to be able to join Astoria Strategic Wealth, having gained knowledge and experience working in the wealth management and institutional money management industries.

For our clients, I believe as a team, we make a profound impact on their ability to achieve financial freedom.  Just as I did in the military, advising maneuver commanders on their combat decisions, and clients alongside advisors at JPMorgan on their financial decisions, we help clients negotiate life's fiscal and business challenges. We seek to provide thought leadership to the communities we serve in, and never stop learning from all walks of life.  To that end, my roles in Rotary, Christus, the San Antonio Military Medical Center, and other community organizations have provided me deeper exposure and expertise in serving family businesses, medical professionals, and tech entrepreneurs.

Chasing a “fire team” of three sons who all seem to have different and multiple passions (soccer, basketball, football, hunting, fishing, music) keeps me busy but I wouldn't change a thing and feel incredibly blessed.  I am also fortunate to have met and married my bride of 23 years at West Point.  Who is better suited to keep three boys in line than a woman who graduated from West Point and ultimately rose to be a General's speech writer, business owner and active Mom?

Kimberly Victoria, FPQPTM, Managing Principal
k.victoria@astoriastrategicwealth.com

• B.S. Mathematics, Summa Cum Laude, Fitchburg State University, 1991
• Implementation Consultant, Oracle (Information Resources, Inc. - Financial Systems), 1991 – 1996
• Database Technologies, Systems Architect, 1996-2002
• Founder, CEO, Moulton Strategic Partners, Inc. 2002-2009
• Financial Paraplanner Qualified Professional, FPQPTM, 2003
• COO and Partner, Astoria Strategic Wealth, 2009
• Investment Advisor Representative, Series 65 License, 2012
• 2014 - 2015 Dallas Five Star Wealth Manager

To say I have been lucky in my life would be an understatement. Mind you, most of the good fortune didn't come neatly packaged, nor was it often even recognizable as luck at the times when the most valuable opportunities presented themselves.  I didn't necessarily feel very lucky growing up in a financially challenged household. Yet, that experience paved the way to a career helping others pursue their financial freedom goals, armed with a background that understands the emotions so many of us have from our own money scripts formed in our early years.

Career-wise, a bit of tenacity combined with occasionally precarious levels of curiosity have afforded me the benefit of breadth of experience. What I do each day now is a culmination of experiences blended from combining a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Fitchburg State University in MA, a Financial Paraplanner Qualified Professional (FPQP®) designation from the College for Financial Planning, a licensed Investment Advisor Representative, a 25 year career in Information Systems spanning several diverse vertical markets (banking, manufacturing, telephony, finance, consumer packaged goods, environmental protection, agriculture, etc.), a business owner, a Mom and an occasional just-for-fun tennis player.

A serendipitous career shift during the“Tech Wreck" in 2000 bridged my career path from broadly IT to providing IT services to financial advisory firms only. I formed Moulton Strategic Partners, Inc, a boutique consulting firm serving Registered Investment Advisors across the country.  In 2009, I sold my IT services firm and decided to tweak my career path yet again by accepting a partnership position within Astoria Strategic Wealth as COO. Today, I continue in that role as well as serving as a direct client advisor specializing in our independent women and medical professionals niche.

Surrounded by outstanding colleagues, clients and allied professionals, like most of us, I continue to learn, succeed and fail regularly as I attempt to remain open to receive new ways of thinking, stand ready to challenge my own viewpoints as rigorously as I once defended them, and endeavor to remain as disciplined as I am pliable. 

I am an incredibly proud Mom of two young adults currently representing what's known as a "house divided" in Texas.  My oldest is a Nuero ICU Nurse in Houston - a graduate of UT, and my youngest is an engineering graduate from A&M starting his careeer as a coastal engineer with AECOM. College football weekends are very fun and look to be getting more fun as the schools prepare to play each other again!

Kirby Jacobson, CFA®, CFP®, Chief Investment Officer, Principal
k.jacobson@astoriastrategicwealth.com

• B.S. Personal Financial Planning, Magna Cum Laude, Texas Tech University, 2008
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, 2011
• Chartered Financial Analyst® charterholder, 2012
• CEO and Managing Member, Jacobson Wealth Management LLC, 2019
• Senior Planner, Astoria Strategic Wealth, Inc.; 2021
• Chief Operating Officer, Darwin's Beagle, Inc., 2018
• Senior Financial Advisor and Member, Lee Financial Company, LLC; 2008-2019

I have had a passion for helping others with their finances from a very young age. I enjoy supporting young investors looking to build their portfolios across a progressive career as well as those more established in their careers and in retirement looking for a creative, collaborative partner in the management of their assets. Holding both the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ deisgnation and being a Chartered Financial Analyst® charterholder is a rare and unique combination that provides clients a well-rounded perspective on their financial needs and investment strategies.

My wife, Angela, and I have enjoyed 17 incredible years together and are now raising our two girls, Lillian, 7, and Penelope, 5. Outside of my financial pursuits, I am a long-term member of Orange Theory Fitness and an avid Yogi. Life is about balance, and financial planning is no different. I enjoy helping people look beyond traditional money management and consider balancing one's personal life and aspirations with all the possibilities of how to accomplish those goals.

Jake Ridley, CFP®, Director of Investment Management, Senior Advisor
j.ridley@astoriastrategicwealth.com

• B.S., Business Administration (Professional Flight), Auburn University, 2008
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, 2019

There is tremendous value in knowing that your advisor is concerned solely with your best interests and is qualified to provide skilled financial guidance. I experienced this first-hand when my wife, Lauren, and I were looking to get started on the right financial track and met with a fee-only CFP® professional. So moved by the positive impact that experience had on our lives, I pursued the CFP® education myself so that I could help others in the same manner we had been helped.

A native Georgian, I attended Auburn University and graduated with a degree in Business Administration supplemented by attaining my FAA Commercial Pilot/Multi-Engine Certificate. After deciding to pursue a career in financial planning, I completed the Financial Planning Certificate Program through the University of Texas.

As Astoria Strategic Wealth's first leadership team “millennial”, I am enjoying both learning from those that have gone before me as well as the enthusiasm and humility with which our team embraces change to improve our service, ourselves and our communities.

Lauren and I have two young children, Georgia Ruth and David. Lauren is a former teacher turned stay-at-home Mom and is a native Austinite. We both enjoy spending time with our family and friends and are active in our community.

Jennifer LaFortune, Director of Client Services
j.lafortune@astoriastrategicwealth.com

• B.S. Environmental Science, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1990
• Groundwater Technology, Inc., Project and Team Manager, Environmental Scientist, 1990
• Registered Dental Hygiene Practitioner, 2000
• Astoria Strategic Wealth, Director of Client Services, 2014

In today's world, a linear career path does not necessarily have the same advantages it did in previous generations. Diversity is a breeding ground for adaptability and breadth of experience - just ask anyone under 20! Like many women, I have worked to balance my roles as a wife, mother and daughter with a professional career. I am blessed with the level of personal growth that has come from this challenge. My favorite definition of wisdom: a combination of knowledge and experience. Our team is rich in both through education, and collectively, a LOT of life experience.

I joined Astoria Strategic Wealth in 2014 having accumulated 25 years of work experience in varying forms: Project Manager for an international environmental remediation firm, to Registered Dental Hygiene Practitioner when I could no longer travel and meet my responsibilities as a Mother, to Household Manager and Mother of four dynamic young ladies.

From my eclectic background, I enthusiastically bring strong organizational, managerial, communication, compliance, and client service skills to my role as Director of Client Services at Astoria Strategic Wealth. Running the daily operations of our firm is much like running the daily operations of my household of six, with the notable exception that our cohesive team never rolls their eyes at me - my teenagers have occasionally been known to do this.

Each day, I seek to provide excellent support to our highly qualified team of advisors as well as to our amazing clients who have placed their trust in Astoria Strategic Wealth. 

Matt Frost, CFP®, J.D., Chief Compliance Officer, Financial Planning Advisor, m.frost@astoriastrategicwealth.com

• M.S. Personal Financial Planning, Texas Tech University, 2019
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, 2022
• Graduate Certificate in Charitable Financial Planning, 2019
• J.D. Texas Tech University School of Law, 2019
• Investment Advisor Representative, Series 65 License, 2020
• B.A. English, Concentration in Professional Writing, University of Texas San Antonio, 2015

I experienced financial planning at a fairly young age as my Mom was a C.P.A. and my Dad believed strongly in money management “teaching moments.” Neither accounting nor finance seemed terribly interesting in those formative years.  That was, however, until I started rolling off the parent-payroll.  Perphaps there actually was something to all those lessons as I began to more fully appreciate the intricacies of managing my own money.

That interest led me to Texas Tech for graduate studies as the school offered an opportunity to obtain a law degree and a M.S. in personal financial planning simultaneously. I began to understand the value of the intersection of specialized legal knowledge and personal wealth management.  Upon graduation, I knew I wanted to join a firm that took a client-centric approach to planning for high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals and families. I was fortunate to find that with Astoria Strategic Wealth.

I joined the Astoria team in March of 2020, just in time for the most tumultuous financial period of the past decade. Immersed in the real-life application of my academics, I more than confirmed my career choice and I am enthusiastically pursuing passing the bar and CFP® exams.

I am based out of San Antonio and live with my partner Gabi and some very precocious fish. We can usually be found traveling, cooking, cheering on our beloved San Antonio Spurs, or tending to our indoor jungle.