Martin understands that each client has their own unique financial needs, and he is devoted to fully understanding their current financial situation. Martin is committed to making certain that good information, sound advice and a choice of solutions are provided. This process allows a client and their family to make informed decisions and reach the solutions that are best for their unique needs. Once deciding upon a financial direction, Martin often works with the client’s attorney and accountant in order to get a plan implemented. Providing this type of comprehensive planning has helped many clients get from where they were, to where they want to be, financially.
Martin Fong has been a Registered Representative and Investment Advisor Representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. since 1995. His focus and expertise lie in guiding executives, hospital professionals and all retirees, who seek his advice, through the ever-changing maze of retirement planning, estate planning and investment decisions.
Martin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Southern California. He has also earned the professional designations, Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®), and Chartered Retirement Planning Consultant (CRPC®).
Martin is an active member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, the Financial Planning Association, and Lincoln’s Chairman’s Council*. He has also attained the respected title of Lifetime Member with Lincoln’s Resource Group**. The Resource Group is an invitation-only, nationwide network of the top 200 planners within Lincoln Financial Advisors.
The California Bay Area has been home to Martin all of his life. He grew up in San Leandro, currently resides in Alamo with his wife Rashell and their 4 children, Taressa, Mason, Lila and Brielle. He enjoys barbecuing for family and friends and supporting his kids on the soccer field, in addition to their many other endeavors.
Martin is frequently quoted in Yahoo Finance and is a sought after speaker for financial planning conferences nationwide for his knowledge of retirement distribution strategies.
Conversations about financial planning often focus on the accumulation of wealth. Account balances. Compounding interest, and Net worth. Personally, I believe what really matters cannot be shown on any graph or bar chart.
Sure, annual returns matter. We all want to see our portfolios grow. And our firm has a long track record of success helping our clients build and protect wealth over time. But there’s a big difference between having a life savings - and saving for life.
What I learned many years ago is that wealth is a means to an end. When my grandmother was growing older, she worried so much about her savings that she stopped fully enjoying her life. Instead of traveling or going out to dinner, she sat at home, afraid to spend money. It didn’t have to be that way.
Now my job is to help other people like my grandmother - people with real stories, dreams, and fears about the future. Easing those fears is the most important part of being a financial planner. When I can show clients, they are on track - that everything is going to be okay - and they smile with relief, that’s the true measure of success. That’s why I do what I do.
That’s what our firm, Acord & Fong Wealth Strategies, stands for. We care about our clients having a well-organized financial life, which allows them to have the freedom to enjoy life, and to have the capacity to give back to their communities. And to know that they have an experienced planner they trust to coach them and hold them accountable to their financial goals.
That trust is the true foundation of our firm. We value the client on a personal level. We know them as people. They are our friends and our neighbors. We take pride in serving them by explaining complex financial topics in simple, honest terms. That was the way we did business when my dad started the firm in 1975, and that’s the way we do it today. I work hard to put my clients on a path to financial security because I care about them. Like my dad, I did not become a financial planner to help people who just love money. I became a financial planner to help people who love life.
Born in Fresno, CA, Steven is known as the very first addition to the Fresno office for the Acord & Fong team. His joy as a Financial Planner originated from the experiences he had as a child. “As young kids, we are constantly learning life lessons. I was blessed with the predisposition to committedly study and apply the important lesson of how to become financially independent very early.” He then received his bachelor’s degree in Finance at Brigham Young University of Hawaii.
Steven believes that comprehensive financial planning that is carefully designed to his client’s needs is what is required to ensure that their goals are achieved. He finds the greatest feeling experienced in his practice is when he meets with his clients and they reflect on the many goals achieved from the initial conversations, strategies, and planning work implemented at the very beginning. “I do this because I truly am passionate about financial planning. I believe in helping people achieve their financial goals. Most importantly, I believe that those who seek proper guidance should be rewarded. They deserve a financial planner who truly cares about improving their lives.” When Steven isn’t at the office, you may find him surfing, traveling, and spending time with his family. Steven is also fluent in Portuguese learned from his time in Brazil.
I remember back when I started college, I really had no idea what career path I should take. I recall hearing that on average, about 80 percent of students in the United States end up changing their major at least once. Thankfully, for me, I lucked out with picking a double major in Finance and Decision Sciences.
During my second year of college, my parents pointed me towards their financial advisor, Julie, to have a conversation with her about financial planning as a potential career to pursue. My parents were both in the medical field: My mom was a registered nurse and my dad was a pulmonary physician running his own practice. On top of that, they were also occupied with raising me and my three older sisters. Consequently, they didn’t have a lot of time to focus on their finances from a holistic view, and they met Julie at the hospital when my dad was finishing up residency. Thirty years later, my parents are now retired, and Julie is still with them to this day.
Being able to hear about the relationship’s advisors like Rod Acord and my parent’s advisor have built over the years by helping people reach their goals and aspirations over time was inspiring. I later decided to intern with Merrill Lynch in their advisor development program during my junior year which solidified my goal of becoming a financial planner.
I joined Lincoln Financial Advisors once I graduated from San Francisco State University and have been with Acord & Fong Wealth Strategies ever since. I remember Rod telling me on my first day, “Collin, if you just have the mindset of helping people in this business, you will be successful.”
Being on a team that has been in the business since 1975 and shares the same values as myself is invaluable. Rod & I both have the same mindset of working in this business to help people get on track so they can enjoy life. We see our clients as people and want to get to know them on a more personal level so we can make the right recommendations specifically catered for them.
Gibran Le has been with Acord & Fong Wealth Strategies and Lincoln Financial Advisors since 2016. He believes that his experience as a first-generation Vietnamese American has developed his passion to help others achieve financial independence. Gibran has witnessed, first-hand, the importance of sound decision making in personal finance. He stresses that key decisions can catapult you closer to or further away from your financial goals. Gibran realizes that many of his clients are at different stages of life. Whether his clients just graduated from college or are planning for retirement, he is curious about their goals and objectives and believes that thorough planning can help his clients achieve their goals.
Gibran is an alum of the University of California, Berkeley and holds his Chartered Retirement Planning Consultant designation. Away from the business, he enjoys snowboarding, working out, eating, and spending as much time as possible with his family.
Jordan Murray is one of our partners. He grew up in the East Bay and graduated from Westmont College in 2010 and started with Lincoln in the same year. Jordan began his career immediately as a financial planner and has risen to become a partner in the practice.
As a Certified Financial Planner, Jordan maintains a fiduciary standard with his clients and is held to the higher CFP® standard of ethics. Jordan works mostly with retirees and small business owners primarily through personal introductions from existing clients.
Jordan and his wife, Jennifer, currently live in Danville with their two little boys. He enjoys hiking and biking on the local trails, spending quality time with his family, and tinkering with his many hobbies in the garage.
Nancy’s passions are problem solving and helping people make their dreams of financial independence come true. Thirty years as a tax and financial advisor taught her that every client’s values, goals and beliefs about money are unique. “Everyone’s story is different. You have to understand someone’s story to help them move forward in a way that is right for them.”
Nancy has a BA in Finance and MBA in Financial Planning. She is an Enrolled Agent, with Series 7 and 66 securities registrations and California insurance license (0E71106). Her other obsessions include caring for our oceans, kayaking and writing.
Louis Romero III is a Financial Planner working with the Acord and Fong Group since 2018. Louis has been in the Financial Services industry since 2006, when he began his career working in Boston, MA. He currently services health care facilities and hospitals in Napa, Santa Rosa and the greater Bay Area and Peninsula. He is currently working toward his CFP certification. Louis loves the community Financial Planning has provided. He, along with his two young boys, train in Brazilian Jiujitsu, where this sense of community thrives. Louis and his wife grew up in San Francisco are big sports fans and weekend hikers, with their boys. His serve first frame of mind, along with the Acord and Fong proven planning process, has proven invaluable to his clients’ success in meeting their life goals.
My grandfather came to the United States from China in the year 1906 at the age of 14. He came because the emperor of China taxed his people so much that they remained in perpetual poverty no matter how hard they labored. He borrowed $300 from his uncle to pay for his passage and papers to get into the United States. He went to work on a farm as a cook, earning $15 a month. He only went to school once, and that was to bring lunch to his boss’s son because the son had forgotten to take it with him one morning. But he knew one day that he would marry and that they would have a son, and that son would go to school. He wanted to be out of debt and own his own piece of farmland before he would marry. It took him 26 years to accomplish this goal. At the age of 40, he married my grandmother who was 20 years his junior. They had 3 children. My father was their only son.
My father was born in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1936. He and his sisters grew up in a small flat in one of Chinatown’s many apartment buildings. By that time, my grandparents had saved enough money to open a small hofbrau in San Francisco’s financial district. My father worked there after school and on weekends. When he was not working, my father spent his free time at youth program run by Cameron House and attended the affiliated Presbyterian Church in Chinatown. My parents met at Cameron House and a few years later they were married at the Presbyterian Church and held their wedding reception at Cameron House. As a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley in the field of Chemistry, my father was first member of our family to graduate with a college degree. Soon after their marriage my parents moved to Richmond, California where my mother stayed at home with my sister and I, and my father commuted to Berkeley where he worked as a Chemist for the State Health Department. Even though we lived in the East Bay, our family remained active in Chinatown community through Cameron House and the Presbyterian Church.
I was born on March 18, 1961. I turned out to be the only son of an only son. As tradition had it, on my first birthday I got to choose my own destiny. My relatives placed a plate with three items on it in front of me. Those items were a piece of chicken, a red envelope with money inside and a book. I had to choose one of those items. If I chose the chicken, I would become a slob. If I chose the red envelope, I would grow up to be wealthy. If I chose the book, I would be a scholar. I chose the book and from that day forward I was pegged to be a scholar. I went to school every weekday, spent my Saturdays with my family and relatives in San Francisco and attended church every Sunday. The church had a motto: “Work, Worship, Study, Play. Keep your life in balance”. I was also taught to live my life by the golden rule.
I followed my father’s footsteps and attended UC Berkeley where I graduated with a degree in Environment Science. As the eldest male grandchild, my grandfather gave me shares of stock that he had saved up for me to go to college. I did not choose to use that money, rather I worked as a dishwasher, a stagehand, a bicycle lot attendant, and an Asian American studies tutor. Throughout college I also got to spend my Saturdays and summers working with the youth program at Cameron House. The work taught me how to appreciate all the gifts I had been blessed with. After graduation from UC Berkeley, I went to work at the Bank of California. I went to work at 5:00 am so that I could finish work by 3:00 pm and then take the bus to the University of San Francisco campus where I took MBA classes until 8:00 pm. Two years later, I graduated with MBA in Finance and through the recruitment center at USF, I met my current employer Lincoln Financial Advisors.
For the last 37 years I have worked with Lincoln; first building a Financial Planning practice and then running our regional office where I recruited and trained financial planners to follow our company creed, to “Serve first, last and always”. I have stayed with Lincoln for my entire career because the majority of our clients are employees and managers of not-for-profit organizations. I chose not to work with a firm that focuses on making rich people richer, instead opting to work with people like the ones at Cameron House and the Presbyterian Church that made such an impact on my life and the lives of my family. After 37 years I have never regretted that decision. CRN-4873408-072622
Taressa Soto grew up in the San Francisco, Bay area. She graduated from The University Of Arizona with a BA in Business Management. Taressa Is a Financial Planner with the Acord and Fong group at Lincoln Financial Advisors. Taressa enjoys guiding and educating others to meet their personal and financial goals. Many times, improper wealth management serves as a barrier for families and opportunities. Something that can seem so complex can be made simple with proper coordination. She looks forward to working with you to realize your goals.
Taressa began as a paraplanner in 2020 assisting the team with reports, projections, and client relations.
After graduating high school in Hayward, CA Michael received his BA in Spanish and German studies from San Diego State University. His junior year he studied abroad in Berlin and Barcelona and the world opened up to him. Michael moved back to Europe for another six years eventually getting his MA in Foreign Language Linguistics from Universität Potsdam in Germany and studied abroad once again in Montpellier, France. Upon graduation he began to search for career opportunities both home and abroad and noticed that everyone in the world regardless of country, language, color, or creed had concerns about money. It was then that he began to take an interest in finance.
Due to family circumstances, he saw firsthand the differences between sound financial planning and the lack thereof. Michael is grateful to be a part of Lincoln Financial Advisors and feels blessed to be able to work with the Acord & Fong team. Michael is ready to implement his diverse skillset and worldly experience in the process of helping you achieve not just your financial, but also life goals. Michael knows that his success will ultimately be measured by the number of families served!
Marissa joined Acord and Fong Wealth Strategies in April 2021, and serves as the Practice Manager for the Fong Team. Her diverse background focused around helping others, makes her a strong asset to the team. Marissa is a Bay Area native and currently resides in Dublin with her husband, Michael and their three children, Logan, Jacob and Kennedy.
Lelanie is the Lead Business Processor and Operations Lead for the Fong Team. She handles all new business applications, preparation, account rollovers and transfers as well as team roles and processes. Lelanie joined the team in November of 2015. With a strong work ethic and demeanor, Lelanie knew that she wanted to work in the financial field and see her professional growth. Lelanie is passionate in her work ethic and attention to detail.
When Lelanie is not in the office, she loves spending time with her family and friends.
Barbara’s been with the Acord Team for 14 years and played a myriad of roles. She loves this industry because of the great opportunity to impact peoples’ lives. Barbara has a broad base of knowledge and experience from which to draw upon, with over 35 years of experience in multiple business disciplines.
Though she’s often in the background, Barbara finds joy in providing an office space that is welcoming, comfortable and functional to both our team and clients. Sometimes meeting with a planner can be stressful, so providing this environment allows the client to relax and focus without distractions.
When Barbara’s not in the office you’ll find her hanging out with her husband and golden retriever or studying, teaching or practicing Pilates.
Bailey grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and recently joined the Acord & Fong team in January 2022. She is the Executive Administrative Assistant for Martin Fong and Jordan Murray on the Fong team. She enjoys getting the pleasure to get to know each of the clients along the way. When she is not at work, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and spending time with her family.
Joy joined our team as a part-time Planner Assistant in 2006. She loves people and enjoys connecting with our clients. Her duties include scheduling and preparing for appointments, answering phones and greeting clients in the Fairfield office (her favorite part!).
Joy graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. Outside of work, she enjoys walking, scrapbooking and being active in her church.
Joy and her husband Gary have been married for 30 years. Fridays are their “date day” where they enjoy driving to Napa and having lunch and coffee. They also love spending time with their three adult children, Caleb, Casady and Faith.
Carolyn has always had a knack for numbers and organization. She still remembers her high school locker combination (sad but true). What we do at Acord & Fong Wealth Strategies is so much more than numbers. Its about peoples lives, dreams and hopes for their future and how we can come along side of them and help them organize their financial life. As practice manager for Rod Acord Carolyn gets to combine her knack for numbers and desire to serve people. Carolyn’s responsibilities include managing and executing the practice’s Client Service Model, as well providing ongoing support for internal operations and procedures. Carolyn strives to ensure that all clients are handled with the utmost care and professionalism.
Carolyn is a native of Fairfield, CA where she resides with her husband Matt and two daughters, Lauren (soon to be at UC Irvine) and Katie. Outside of work Carolyn and Matt actively serve at their church. Carolyn likes to spend time with her family, and travel whenever and wherever possible.
Lea is our Project Specialist which means she handles our Pop-Up Projects and sees them to the end. She also is our numbers person, tracking the ins and outs of team goals. She has been with Rod and Martin for over 20 years! Why change when you’re doing something you love? This team continues to evolve and learn and provides a challenging yet fun loving place to call your home-away-from-home.
One of her favorite quotes is: "To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you." Tony Dorsett
Sheila has 20+ years in customer service experience. She joined the Fong Team in 2018 as our Customer Service Associate and is excited to continue to learn and grow with her co-workers. With a smile, she assists with client request, processing forms and helps with answering questions. She has lived in the California Bay Area all her life and is proud and amazed by the beautiful scenery, diversity of cultures and countless events to partake in. Her free time is spent with family and friends. Sheila loves to travel. She also enjoys festivals, live music shows and sporting events.
Jasmine is an Investment Support Specialist for the Acord team in the Fairfield office. She joined the Acord & Fong team in September 2020 shortly after graduating from Sac State with her BA in English. Jasmine’s duties include building out financial plans, preparing and processing new business, and client service. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, serving at her church, working out, and exploring new restaurants.
John joined Acord and Fong Wealth Strategies in January 2022. As the Business Operations Specialist for the Fong Team in San Ramon, John works to ensure a smooth client experience by preparing and processing new business, prepping documents for client meetings, and assisting with client contribution and distribution requests.
Outside of the office, John enjoys, skateboarding, cycling, and spending time with his wife Juliette and their two children, Julian and Audrey. You will often find them hiking, camping or spending time at the beach
