Intellect and Experience
S. Katherine ('Kate') Campbell, CFP® began advising financial planning and investment advisory clients in 1993 after completing her MA in Cultural Anthropology. Kate loves studying systems and culture and is very good with numbers, and the broad scope of ways to understand and help articulate and resolve financial issues really appeals to her. She spent a period of time in management and then as President of a securities broker / dealer along the way, and got to know the nuts and bolts of the financial advisory industry from the bottom up. Her mother was an investment advisor, and as her practice grew she extended a helping hand to her mom and her mom’s clients, particularly when her mom retired. Kate worked solely with our longtime client service team members Debra Ellisen and Clare Gallagher at that time.
Sue Reinhold, Ph.D. began doing investment and market research in 1993 after completing a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology. Sue loves qualitative research and reading between the lines to find meaning. She went from studying British politics to analyzing companies, industries and stocks, and also built and managed stock portfolios at institutional investment management firms. She found that finance is a very particular language that, like other languages, conveys meaning. As with other languages, what is hidden, unsaid, or less obvious in financial settings can be as important as what is visible on the surface. Even as she grew to positions of increasing investment responsibility, she decided to spend time in industry, and built a corporate strategic planning team at a large, public company in order to experience building capacity inside a company. Ultimately, she wanted to get closer to people she served and to her local community, and wanted to be an investor again.
Sue and Kate fortuitously met at a local fundraiser at their children's preschool, Step One School. After finding out that they were both part of two-mom families with young children, were both professional investors, and that they both held graduate degrees in anthropology, they began an acquaintance that later turned into business partnership conversations. After understanding that their investment philosophies closely lined up, that they both wanted to run a business that got close to people and provided high value to the right clients, and was deeply rooted in community, they formed North Berkeley Investment Partners in 2005.
In early 2005, at the same time that Kate and Sue were discussing going into business together, they jointly hired a new employee, Ted Tilles, CFP® who in 2011 became our third advisor and partner. As he completed his CFP® coursework, Ted searched for the right firm where he could have a positive impact for clients and build a long-term career. His background as a project manager at Charles Schwab & Co. gave him experience working inside a larger investment firm. After talking with several dozen financial advisors in the Bay Area he settled on an offer from Kate and Sue, even though he knew he was committing long-term to a BART-and-bicycle commute from San Francisco.
North Berkeley has grown organically over the years, as the firm has gradually added clients, client service capacity, new team members, and infrastructure. We have a goal of providing the highest value possible to the right group of clients. We are planning now for the firm to outlast all of the current principals' careers, as we think that will serve the best long-term interest of our clients, our staff, and our community.