For more than 150 years, California’s opportunities have beckoned to young Easterners to head West and make a contribution. Bringing his East Coast education from New York to San Francisco, Ray Lent began his career straight out of college as a risk management trainee for America’s oldest Mutual Life insurer.

It was clear from early on that Ray had found his calling. His strong communication skills and ability to make complex financial information easy for clients to understand became his hallmark.

Never one to become complacent, Ray recognized the importance of furthering his own professional education, and over the next several years, earned the Chartered Life Underwriter’s designation (CLU)—America’s oldest professional financial designation—from The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

As a Registered Investment Advisor, Ray grew his practice, firmly embracing the philosophy that successful wealth management is a collaborative effort. It flourishes when the process maintains objectivity, the advice is unbiased and the client and advisor enjoy an open line of communication.

Now, in addition to heading Portsmouth’s wealth management division, Ray finds that his passion for history, philanthropy and mentorship, along with his entertaining style of speech, have made him a sought-after public speaker on both coasts. Always looking for an opportunity to harness the power of private and civic partnerships for the public good, Ray has aided the firm in launching a variety of educational internship programs for students to promote historical and economic literacy.

Echo Chien, the president and CEO at Portsmouth Financial Services, joined the firm in 2013 and brought with her extensive experience in the securities business, a high level of integrity, professionalism and dedication to the firm.

She had acquired East/West Securities in 2010 with the goal of providing high quality service at a competitive cost and the firm later merged with Portsmouth Financial Services.

In 1996, Echo established the Asian Division of the San Francisco brokerage firm, Thomas White & Co. The division soon became White Pacific Securities, Inc., a broker dealer primarily serving the financial needs of the Asian American community in US.

Echo, a graduate of San Francisco State University, learned the securities industry from the ground up by working in every aspect of the business. She became executive vice president of White Pacific Securities in 2000 and in the role oversaw the firm’s operations and business development. In 2008, she also became vice president of White Pacific Insurance Inc. an independent firm offering customers fixed annuity, variable annuity and life insurance products.

Echo holds licenses as a general securities principal, option principal and investment adviser. She is fluent in English and Mandarin.