Winans Investments Team
Kenneth G. Winans
CEO & Chief Investment Officer
Kenneth G. Winans is a celebrated investment management entrepreneur, a renowned financial history author, and an active philanthropist & community leader.
Business History
Over a 30-year career, he has conducted innovative investment research and designed innovative investment strategies while serving as a portfolio manager, investment analyst and financial writer.
Unique in the financial services industry, Mr. Winans has documented “track records” as a market strategist and a portfolio manager.
Continue readingKen calls himself, “a historian who manages money”. Since 1991, the use of his proprietary historical research has led to an impressive record of accurate multi-year financial forecasts.
Today, Winans Investments is a Morningstar® top-rated investment management firm managing equity, fixed-income and commodity portfolios for hundreds of clients across America and still works with many of the original clients. In 2019, the International Association of Top Professionals named Mr. Winans, “Top Money Manager of the Decade”.
Ken is one of the few investment professionals dually licensed as a Registered Investment Advisor and Commodity Trading Advisor.
Ken Winans left a promising career with Merrill Lynch and started Winans Investments in 1992 with only seven clients. He envisioned an independent advisory practice that would be different from other investment firms, countering the impersonal, one-size-fits-all approach to investing. Through innovative investment strategies made possible by his own research, he believed he could manage individual portfolios to meet the specific needs of each client.
It started in the small mountain town of Big Bear Lake, CA. Ken began trading stocks as a 17-year-old high school student after taking an economics class.
During his pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics at the University of San Diego, Ken earned his real estate associate license, worked part-time for California Brokers of San Diego and completed an internship at the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Later, at EF Hutton & Company, he conducted computerized stock selection for a 45-year veteran stockbroker and successfully competed in the 1986 U.S. Investing Championship. As an MBA student at the University of San Francisco working toward a master’s in finance, Ken joined the research department of Sutro & Company.
After completing his academic studies in the wake of the 1987 stock market crash, one of his former supervisors asked him to become technical analyst for the upstart Chicago-based Compass Investment Group. Each day, he worked with the firm’s traders on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in many different types of commodity futures.
Ken joined Merrill Lynch & Company in 1990 as a Registered Investment Advisor and Commodity Trading Advisor and earned many awards & accolades for successfully increasing clientele.
In 1992, he founded Winans Investments (RIA) and Winans Commodities (CTA) in 2023.
Radio Show, Articles & Books
Ken is host to Las Vegas’ acclaimed financial radio show & podcast, “Winning With Winans” on 840AM (WinningWithWinans.com).
Throughout his career, his investment research has been published as headline articles by international media outlets. Since 2011, Mr. Winans has written over 46 articles as a contributing writer for Forbes.com, with several named “Editor’s Pick”.
Mr. Winans has written and published five award-winning books:
- “Investment Atlas III – Creating Wealth Using Historical Trends” (2023)
- “Investment Atlas II – Using History as a Financial Tool” (2019)
- “Preferred Stocks – The Art of Profitable Income Investing” (2010)
- “Investment Atlas – Financial Maps to Investment Success” (2008)
- “Preferreds – Wall Street’s Best-Kept Income Secret” (2007)
His books have won 46 honors in major international competitions. In 2019, The World Record Academy recognized him as the most honored non-fiction author in the world. The United States Senate awarded him a Certificate of Commendation for this achievement.
Financial Inventions
Mr. Winans pioneered the development of unique investment indexes and a technical trend indicator used by institutions such as Morningstar® and Bloomberg®:
- Winans Legacy Stock Index (WILSI) – 2013
- Winans Real Estate Index™ (WIREI™) – 2007
- Winans Preferred Stock Index® (WIPSI®) – 2005
- Winans Trend Indicator (Symbol: WTI) – 2002
Academic & Professional Credentials
Mr. Winans holds an MBA in Finance from the University of San Francisco (1987) and a BA in Business Economics from the University of San Diego (1985) with a minor in Military Science (ROTC/Reserve Duty, Honorable Discharge).
He is a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) (2006) and a Certified Cryptocurrency Trader (CCT) (2023).
From 1996 to 2001, he served as adjunct faculty at the Graduate School of Business at St. Mary’s College of California, teaching an investment management course he designed.
In 2004, the University of San Francisco named him one of its most celebrated graduates since 1854.
Ken is an active member of The CFA Institute and CMT Association. He serves on the board of CFA Society – Nevada and attended the 83rd Nevada State Legislature Session as a non-paid lobbyist for Las Vegas’ financial services industry. He is currently participating in Kaplan’s College for Financial Planning® program approved by CFP® Board (ID 639470).
Philanthropy
Ken serves as trustee/advisor for several non-profit organizations including the UNLV Lee Business School Advisory Board, Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce’s Financial Services Committee, The Winans Foundation of Nevada, and the Society of California Pioneers.
For over 20 years, he also served officer and/or board roles for organizations such as The Holland Society of New York, USS Hornet Museum, The Museum of American Finance, San Francisco Fleet Week Association, Chabot Space & Science Center, and The University of San Francisco Alumni Association.
In 2021, The International Association of Top Professionals named him “Man of the Year”.
Space Exploration Collection
Ken is working with community groups in Las Vegas and Nellis AFB to build a permanent aerospace museum in Las Vegas by 2030 featuring artifacts from The Winans Foundation of Nevada.
A life-long space enthusiast, Ken has amassed one of the largest private collections of space exploration artifacts, including spacesuits, a full-size Gemini capsule boilerplate, and items carried to the moon on Apollo missions.
In 2002, he co-founded The W Foundation and donated most of the collection for public STEM education. Many items are on permanent display at The USS Hornet Museum. The organization has attracted advisors such as Apollo 12 Astronaut Dick Gordon, Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden, actor Bill Pullman and game designer Will Wright.
In 2011, Ken founded “The Space Station” museum in Novato — a community STEM museum featuring real space-flown artifacts. At its closure in 2019, it had welcomed more than 147,000 visitors, including 22 astronauts.
Financial History Collection
Ken’s interest in finance began early, sparked by business-related family heirlooms. His collection now includes an Edison ticker tape, stock certificates signed by John Rockefeller, Colonial real estate deeds, and bond indentures once owned by Andrew Carnegie. Many items have been displayed at The Museum of American Finance, CFA Society San Francisco, and Winans Investments’ offices.
Personal & Pedigree
Ken is a resident of Las Vegas and enjoys the city with his German Shepherd, Anya. A lifelong athlete and sportsman, he travels internationally, rides horses & motorcycles, snow skis, scuba dives, shoots recreationally, cooks, and enjoys wine pairings.
He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Napa and Faith Lutheran Church in Summerlin.
Mr. Winans is a 12th-generation American whose Dutch ancestors established colonies in New York and New Jersey in the 1600s. Several were Founding Fathers and among America’s first multimillionaires.
His mother’s Swedish family immigrated to California in the 1850s and soon became national leaders in science, architecture, agriculture, and business. Many state landmarks honor their legacy.
Stephanie Larson
Portfolio Manager & Director
Since 2007, Stephanie has worked in the investment management industry for some of the largest firms in the industry; Franklin Templeton, Robert Stephenson, Fisher Investments, Bank of the West/BNP Paribas, and Zions Bancorp.
Stephanie joined Winans Investments 2020 as the Portfolio Manager. In this role she is responsible for investment research, portfolio implementation, performance, and analytics.
Prior to joining Winans Investments, She was a Senior Risk Consultant with Franklin Templeton. In that role she led the development of the equity platform risk analytics and research. She partnered with the EVP of Risk and the CIO to create enterprise equity analytics on $450B in assets. Stephanie also spearheaded the development and implementation of the equity sell discipline across all equity groups utilizing quantitative portfolio optimization techniques. Previous roles include Performance Manager, AVP of Portfolio Analytics, Senior Investment Analyst, and Head of Investments and Research.
Continue readingShe is a Bay Area native and has lived and worked here for most her life. She attended St Mary’s College graduating with a BS in Business Administration and Economics. After which she pursued her advance degree in London at the University of Westminster achieving her MSc in International Business Economics and is fluent in Spanish.
Stephanie is also highly involved in the Marin community where she resides. She is raising her two young sons in Novato. Her husband is a Bay Area fireman as well and a Marin native. She has coached high school girls’ basketball for 17 seasons, including at her alma mater Marin Catholic. Her family also has a charitable foundation that puts on an annual charity basketball tournament at Marin Catholic to raise money for scholarships for underprivileged students to attend MC.
Brittany Jerez
VP of Operations
Brittany joined Winans Investments as the Operations Manager in early 2020. In this role she oversees company operations, finances, office management and regulatory compliance. Brittany’s goal is to keep the company operations running as smoothly as possible. In 2023, she received a Certificate of Achievement for completing NRS’ Investment Advisor Core Compliance Program. In 2024, she successfully passed the series 65 and became an Investment Advisor Representative.
Brittany grew up in the North Bay and graduated High School with distinction and received the student of the year in business/computers. After graduating she chose to immediately step into the work force. After becoming a mom, she decided to be a stay at home mom to raise her young children. Brittany wanted to get back into the work force and became an Administration Assistant for Harrison Drywall, Inc, a successful drywall company based out of San Francisco. During her 5 years with the firm, she advanced into the operations side of the business. She became an integral part of the operations management team and became the payroll specialist who was in charge of the entire firms accounts payable and receivables.
Continue readingBrittany currently resides in Las Vegas, NV with her 3 kids and husband. She is very active outside of work with her kids. She enjoys watching them play soccer and football. She has also coached their soccer teams for many years. Her kids are the one thing that keeps her going every day and the reason she works so hard.
Alana Calairo
Client Service Manager
Alana began working with Winans Investments as an intern in 2024. During her internship she studied and passed the Series 65 license exam, becoming an Investment Advisor Representative. In the beginning of 2025, she became a full-time employee with Winans Investments as the Client Services Manager.
As the client service manager she assists with all manners of client support, including opening and maintaining accounts with Charles Schwab, identifying client needs and enhancing existing relationships with both clients and custodians.
Alana grew up on Oahu, Hawaii until eventually moving to Martinez, California where she attended College Park High School. She then continued her education at California State University Sacramento where she received a Bachelor of Science in Finance with a minor in Risk Management, with magma cum laude honors. During her studies she received top of her class for accounting and worked as Customer Service Team Lead for the college bookstore. Alana currently lives in Las Vegas with her family.