Stewart Willis, IAR

Stewart Willis, IAR

After growing up in San Diego, California Stewart moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to Attend the University of California, Berkeley in 1993. While at Berkeley, he rowed on the CAL Crew team, winning a PAC-10 Conference Championship. In 1997 Stewart completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Berkeley, intending to attend Law School after completion of his undergraduate studies. However, in 1998, during the application process for Law School entrance, Stewart was successfully recruited by a boutique investment banking group and Hedge Fund in La Jolla, CA. There he joined the insurance division and began to rise in the ranks of this group. Word of his success led other groups to solicit his employment. Eventually, in 2001 Stewart Willis accepted a job offer with a large Estate Planning Firm based in Orange County, CA. There, he became the national manager of agents serving 6,000 Estate Planning clients. Having a strong desire to have more direct interaction with clients, in 2005 Stewart accepted a position based in Phoenix, AZ, serving the clients of a large London-based insurance company. During this job, over the next five years, he developed a working relationship with Justin Carlson. In 2010 Stewart saw the success that Justin began having with Asset Preservation Specialists. So, they decided to work together and grow their combined business. Stewart spends most of his free time with his wife Shea and two boys, Andrew (14) and Anthony (17) playing AAU Basketball and racing go karts all over the west coast. After being the youngest person ever to win the prestigious Duffy Award, signifying the IKF national champion, Stewart’s boys have continued to compete nationally against the fastest drivers in the world.