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OUR TEAM

Meet Our Team

Every advisor gets access to the experts at Trusted Advisor Search. The team you see here is the team you work with.

Our Team
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Dave Porter

Dave Porter

Founder & CEO

Dave is a 40-year veteran of the financial services industry whose career spans agency ownership in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and more than two decades leading Baystate Financial, one of Massachusetts’ oldest and largest financial planning firms.

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Tom O'Connor

Tom O'Connor

General Counsel

Tom has been practicing law for more than 45 years. He began his legal career at Rogers & Wells in New York City, spent nearly two decades at Hale and Dorr in Boston, and then stepped away from practice to co-found Marathon Capital Group, a federally registered RIA.
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Sarah Senkfor

Sarah Senkfor

Chief Operating Officer

Sarah keeps TAS running. As COO, she leads the operations behind every advisor engagement: the coordination, the process, the details that make a complex transition feel manageable.
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John Dixon

John Dixon

Senior Vice President of
Business Development

John has been in financial services since 1988. Over the course of 30-plus years in management and leadership, he’s served as an advisor, sales manager, and managing partner at multiple firms, earning recognition at each stop.
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Ted Leathersich

Ted Leathersich

Senior Vice President of
Business Development

Ted started his career at NE Wealth Management before moving into enterprise sales at Oracle NetSuite, where he consistently exceeded quota while helping organizations adopt cloud ERP solutions.
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Matt Kerr

Matt Kerr

Senior Vice President of
Business Development

Matt has been in sales for 20 years, the last eight focused entirely on recruiting experienced financial advisors. He got his start at a private firm before running his own practice and spending time at Penn Mutual.
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Kayla Kates

Kayla Kates

Vice President of
Business Development

Kayla came to financial services recruiting through New York Life and MassMutual, where she focused on sourcing, recruiting, and onboarding advisors at every career stage.
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Shan McKoy

Vice President of Business Development

Shan has spent more than 10 years helping financial advisors navigate some of the biggest decisions of their careers.

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Whether you’re an advisor exploring your options or a firm looking to grow, we’re here to help you think it through. 
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LinkedIN
Dave Porter

Dave Porter

Founder & CEO

Dave is a 40-year veteran of the financial services industry whose career spans agency ownership in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and more than two decades leading Baystate Financial, one of Massachusetts’ oldest and largest financial planning firms. He purchased Baystate in 1996 with 49 advisors and built it into a firm of more than 300 generating over $165 million in revenue.

He is also the author of Where Winners Live, a book on accountability in financial services that has sold more than 45,000 copies and taken him to stages around the world. A proponent of the philosophy “doing well by doing good,” Dave has served on the boards of Tufts Medical Center, Zoo New England, and Elon University; established the Baystate Financial Charitable Foundation; and was a founding member of Friends of the Children – Boston. When he’s not spending time with his wife Jen and their five children and three grandchildren, you can catch him on the golf course, ski slopes, or at a Bruce Springsteen concert. 

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LinkedIN
Tom O'Connor

Tom O'Connor

General Counsel

Tom has been practicing law for more than 45 years. He began his legal career at Rogers & Wells in New York City, spent nearly two decades at Hale and Dorr in Boston, and then stepped away from practice to co-found Marathon Capital Group, a federally registered RIA.
He later co-founded Baystate Wealth Management with Dave Porter in 2008 and, following its sale, helped start Catalyst Financial Partners. Over that span, he developed the proprietary transition methodology, the Number 1 Protocol, which is at the heart of what TAS offers advisors today: a structured, legally grounded process for changing firms that has never resulted in a lawsuit. He lives in Vero Beach, Florida with his wife Julie, and is a father of two and grandfather of four.
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LinkedIN
Sarah Senkfor

Sarah Senkfor

Chief Operating Officer

Sarah keeps TAS running. As COO, she leads the operations behind every advisor engagement: the coordination, the process, the details that make a complex transition feel manageable.
Her background in financial services includes leading a national initiative at Baystate Financial to expand planning resources for first responders, where she aligned advisors across multiple firms and managed high-stakes partnerships at scale. In her free time, she’s a dedicated Cleveland Cavaliers fan with a wide range of interests including painting, skiing, and trivia.
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LinkedIN
John Dixon

John Dixon

Senior Vice President of Business Development

John has been in financial services since 1988. Over the course of 30-plus years in management and leadership, he’s served as an advisor, sales manager, and managing partner at multiple firms, earning recognition at each stop.
He’s recruited hundreds of people into financial services careers, and takes special satisfaction in coaching and developing advisors. Outside of the office, he spends time with his wife Sherri and their three sons, and stays active through skiing, fly fishing, tennis, and golf.
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LinkedIN
Ted Leathersich

Ted Leathersich

Senior Vice President of Business Development

Ted started his career at NE Wealth Management before moving into enterprise sales at Oracle NetSuite, where he consistently exceeded quota while helping organizations adopt cloud ERP solutions.
A former Division I athlete, he brings that same competitive focus to financial advisor recruiting, specifically to the go-to-market and strategic partnership work that drives TAS’s growth. In his spare time, he enjoys splitboarding, golfing, fishing, and throwing tennis balls for his dog.
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LinkedIN
Matt Kerr

Matt Kerr

Senior Vice President of Business Development

Matt has been in sales for 20 years, the last eight focused entirely on recruiting experienced financial advisors. He got his start at a private firm before running his own practice and spending time at Penn Mutual.
He knows the advisor transition process from the inside: the hesitations, the logistics, and what it takes to get a move right. A devoted Phillies, Eagles, and Michigan fan, he also enjoys golfing and serving his community.
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LinkedIN
Kayla Kates

Kayla Kates

Vice President of Business Development

Kayla came to financial services recruiting through New York Life and MassMutual, where she focused on sourcing, recruiting, and onboarding advisors at every career stage.
She takes a relationship-first approach, prioritizing long-term fit over quick placements, a perspective shaped by 10 years as a business owner before she ever made her first advisor placement. She’s spent 10 years as an entrepreneur and also helped establish a virtual staffing firm, giving her a ground-level view of what building and scaling a business actually requires. Outside of work, she’s a mom of two who travels, cooks, gets outdoors, and rides motorcycles.

Shan McKoy

Vice President of Business Development

Shan has spent more than 10 years helping financial advisors navigate some of the biggest decisions of their careers. Having recruited across the independent, broker-dealer, insurance, and wealth management channels, she understands that the right opportunity isn’t just about a higher payout—it’s about finding a platform that supports an advisor’s vision for the future.

Known for her honest, relationship-first approach, Shan believes great recruiting starts with listening. Her goal is simple: help advisors make informed decisions that create lasting success for their businesses and the families they serve.

 

When she’s not recruiting, you’ll find Shan on the golf course, traveling, or spending time with her daughter.