Jeff Junior

Trajan Wealth Founder & CEO

Jeff Junior learned hard work and compassion from his parents - a bowling alley owner and a nurse in a small town in Wisconsin. His career began with newspaper delivery and as a bank teller, fueling his passion for finance. After joining the US Marine Corps for discipline and leadership, Jeff transitioned to the financial sector, becoming a broker in 1999 and founding Trajan Wealth in 2012. The independent firm, led by Jeff and his family, focuses on a client-centric, fiduciary approach, offering services like estate planning and tax advisory. With nearly three decades of experience, Jeff is committed to educating clients and ensuring their financial confidence. Under his leadership, Trajan Wealth has expanded to over 40 offices nationwide and earned recognition as a Top Place to Work in 2024, as well as a spot on USA Today’s Best Financial Advisory Firms list in 2023 and 2024. Outside of work, Jeff enjoys golf, fishing, skiing, and family time.

Bruce St. James

Radio Host

Bruce St. James hosts OUTSPOKEN on KTAR-FM in Phoenix, where he brings energy and insight to the day’s headlines. His radio career spans major markets, including roles as Program Director, Assistant Program Director, and Music Director at stations in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Phoenix. Known for making news engaging and accessible, Bruce is also a proud client of Trajan Wealth.

Robert J. Shiller

Sterling Professor, Yale University
Nobel Prize-winning economist

Robert J. Shiller is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, academic, and author. He is the Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University and a fellow at the Yale School of Management’s International Center for Finance. A research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research since 1980, Shiller has also served in leadership roles at the American Economic Association and the Eastern Economic Association. He is co-founder and chief economist of the investment firm MacroMarkets LLC.

Renowned for identifying speculative market bubbles, Shiller co-authored a 2003 Brookings Institution paper titled “Is There a Bubble in the Housing Market ?” and was among the earliest voices to warn of the 2008 financial crisis. His prescient commentary in The Wall Street Journal and other outlets predicted the housing collapse and the broader recession.

Shiller was ranked among the world’s 100 most influential economists by the IDEAS RePEc monitor and remained on the list for over a decade. In 2013, he shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Eugene Fama and Lars Peter Hansen for their empirical analysis of asset prices.

Ben Shiller, PhD

Brandeis Associate Professor of Economics

Ben Shiller is an economist whose work explores how technology and data are reshaping markets and consumer behavior. His research focuses on industrial organization and the economic implications of technological change, particularly in the context of internet commerce and large-scale consumer data collection (Big Data).

He investigates how emerging digital trends affect competition, pricing strategies, and market concentration. His studies include whether ad blocking discourages investment in online content, how proprietary data allows firms to maintain profitability despite competition, and the implications of personalized pricing—where companies use tracked web-browsing behavior to set individualized prices.

Dr. Shiller also examines how digitizing entertainment products transforms markets through pricing optimization and the restriction of resale. He actively integrates these research insights into his teaching, bridging theory with the evolving digital economy.

Mary Beth Franklin, CFP®

Award-Winning Journalist & Retirement Expert

Mary Beth Franklin is a nationally recognized personal finance journalist and Certified Financial Planner® with over 40 years of experience covering money and policy from Washington, D.C. She is best known for her clear, conversational approach to explaining complex retirement topics like Social Security, Medicare, and tax strategies.

A former Capitol Hill reporter, Mary Beth covered the 1983 Social Security reform early in her career, later bringing that insight to her role as tax and retirement editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. She later joined Investment News as a Contributing Editor, educating financial advisors and earning numerous awards—including the Jesse H. Neal Award, WISER Hero Award, and multiple EPPY Awards.

Mary Beth combines deep policy knowledge with a personal touch, building strong relationships with readers and helping both individuals and advisors make informed retirement decisions. She continues to speak nationwide on retirement income planning and related topics.

Roger G. Ibbotson, PhD

Professor Emeritus, Yale University
Chairman, Zebra Capital

Roger G. Ibbotson is Professor Emeritus in the Practice of Finance at Yale and chairman of Zebra Capital Management, LLC. He is the founder and former chairman of Ibbotson Associates, now part of Morningstar, and is best known for his work Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation, a widely cited reference on capital market returns.

A prolific researcher and author, Professor Ibbotson has published extensively on topics including investment returns, market liquidity, mutual funds, portfolio management, and valuation. His recent works include Popularity: A Bridge Between Classical and Behavioral Finance and Lifetime Financial Advice. He has also co-authored several influential books, including The Equity Risk Premium and Global Investing.

He serves on multiple editorial boards and frequently speaks at academic and industry events. Professor Ibbotson holds degrees from Purdue University, Indiana University, and the University of Chicago, where he also taught for over a decade and led the Center for Research in Security Prices.

Rob Arnott

Research Affiliates Founder & Chairman
Investment Strategist

Rob Arnott is the founder and chairman of Research Affiliates, a research-driven asset management firm known for pioneering innovative investment strategies. He plays an active role in the firm’s research, portfolio management, and product development, and serves on its Executive Committee. Rob also co-manages the PIMCO All Asset, All Asset All Authority, and PIMCO RAE™ funds.

Over his career, Rob has built a reputation as a provocative thinker and leading voice in quantitative investing. He has challenged traditional finance theory by introducing groundbreaking approaches such as Fundamental Indexing™, tactical asset allocation, and tax-efficient equity management—many of which have become widely adopted.

Before founding Research Affiliates in 2002, Rob held leadership roles at First Quadrant, Salomon Brothers, TSA Capital Management, and The Boston Company. A prolific writer, he has authored over 150 articles in top financial journals and received numerous honors, including eight Graham and Dodd Scrolls and the William F. Sharpe Indexing Lifetime Achievement Award. He also served as editor-in-chief of the Financial Analysts Journal from 2002 to 2006.

Rob earned his BS summa cum laude in economics, applied mathematics, and computer science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.