Ed Gjertsen II, CFP®
Founder and Chief Engagement Officer
Ed works closely with clients to provide clarity and direction in their financial lives. He specializes in comprehensive financial planning, guiding his clients to organize their finances, develop and review their financial goals, along with implementing strategies to achieve financial independence.
He collaborates with his clients’ tax professionals, estate planning attorneys, and other professionals to help coordinate and strengthen their financial plans in today’s complex financial world.
Ed is the founder of Engage Wealth Group, LLC. A Fee-Only financial advisory firm built on the philosophy that financial planning and portfolio management should be transparent, individualized, and most important collaborative. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, he has been serving the financial planning needs of clients for over twenty-five years.
A sought-after industry expert, Ed has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on a wide range of personal finance topics and industry trends. He is frequently featured in numerous local and national media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNBC, Bloomberg, NPR, ABC, MSN, Barron’s, The Journal of Financial Planning, AARP Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and WBBM Noon Business Hour.
Ed proudly served the profession as the National Chairman of the Financial Planning Association’s Board of Directors, leading 22,000 active members. He is a co-founder of the FPA National Diversity & Inclusion Initiative and is past President and Chairman of the Financial Planning Association of Illinois, one of the nation’s largest Chapters. He is a recipient of the FPA of Illinois Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Illinois State University and is recognized as a distinguished alumnus. He resides in Winnetka, Illinois, with his wife and two children.
Present and Past
- CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional
- Northwestern University CFP® Advisory Board
- Past National President, Chairman, Financial Planning Association
- 2009-2012 National Board of Directors, Financial Planning Association
- Co-Founder, Financial Planning Association Diversity & Inclusion Initiative
- Past President, Chairman, Financial Planning Association Illinois
- Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award, FPA Illinois
Andrew Gjertsen, CFP®
Director of Engagement
Andrew brings a unique perspective to Engage Wealth Group, blending a background in strategic product management with a deep-seated commitment to fiduciary financial planning.
Watching his parents as Founders of their own financial planning firm, Andrew was deeply impacted by witnessing the generational empowerment that comes with having a strong financial plan in place. He is highly motivated to help Engage’s clients build that legacy for themselves.
As the Director of Engagement, Andrew focuses on building meaningful, long-term relationships with clients, helping them navigate complex financial landscapes with clarity and confidence. Prior to joining the firm, Andrew spent nearly a decade in product management at organizations like Medline Industries and Platformatics. This experience honed his ability to solve intricate problems and manage multifaceted projects—skills he now applies to helping individuals and families secure their financial futures.
Andrew graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University – Bloomington’s renowned Kelley School of Business, double-majoring in Finance and Entrepreneurship & Corporate Innovation. He holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation.
A firm believer in the power of community, Andrew serves on the Associate Board for Urban Initiatives, a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering local youth through sport and play.
Stephanie Portnoy
Client Engagement Specialist
Stephanie is a lifelong financial optimizer who joined Engage Wealth Group after a long career as a journalist and marketing executive.
She is an accredited financial counselor candidate who has earned more than 1,000 experience hours toward that designation. More than 900 of those hours were spent providing financial counseling to clients, including serving as a Volunteer Financial Mentor for the nonprofit 3rd Decade. She is certified in eMoney and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University.
Stephanie’s superpower is organization with words, workflows, and numbers. One of her favorite tasks in financial planning is forecasting retirement and estate plans and supporting planners as they help their clients create rich lives. What she loves most about her role at Engage Wealth is watching clients make miraculous progress towards their life goals.
When she isn’t hosting book clubs on the personal finance books found on The New York Times best-seller list, you’ll find her debating the many details of Top Chef and Survivor, two of her favorite TV shows. An empty-nester who is a recent transplant to North Carolina, Stephanie and her husband have raised three very financially savvy young adults.