Jim Gaskins is a Registered Investment Advisor and Fiduciary, as well as the founder of United Financial Services, while working alongside the expert teams at Gradient Financial Group. He brings over 15 years of experience to the financial field, and has personally worked with over one thousand five hundred individuals and families employed through the state of Minnesota. Additionally, he has also worked with a variety of public and federal employees throughout the country. After working with teachers, professors, and law enforcement personnel, he realized that there was a gap in the help that public employees received with their retirement planning. The state HR departments know the pensions and options, but could not legally help with financial and insurance aspects, and other financial professionals don’t know how the state retirement plans work. Jim founded United Financial to help cover all the aspects of retirement planning for the people who keep us safe, teachers at all levels, and those who build our roads and take care of our beautiful state in every respect.
In his free time, Jim enjoys spending time at the family lake home, reading, writing articles, staying physically active, and having adventures with his daughter, Annika.
Investment Fiduciary
Tim Kaley oversees the investments for United Financial clients. In addition to being an Accredited Investment Fiduciary, Tim has dedicated a great deal of time over the past years studying a variety of important retirement topics. Tim has presented educational workshops and spoken at events throughout Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. In his spare time, Tim enjoys spending time with family and friends, hockey, skiing, hiking and being active in the community.
President of Gradient Investments, LLC
As President, Michael is the leader of Gradient Investments and has been with the firm since 2012. He brings more than 30 years of industry experience including prior roles managing multi-billion dollar portfolios for an institutional asset manager. Michael is a CFA® charterholder and is a frequent contributor on CNBC, Fox Business, Barron’s, and the Wall Street Journal.
Portfolio Manager of Gradient Investments, LLC
Jeremy has been with Gradient Investments since 2016 and has more than 20 years of investment experience. Jeremy is a CFA® charterholder and his previous job history includes equity research and portfolio management for institutional asset managers and hedge funds in Minneapolis and New York. He is a frequent contributor to media outlets including CNBC, Fox Business, Reuters, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal.
Portfolio Manager of Gradient Investments, LLC
Keith joined Gradient Investments in 2018 and has more than 25 years of industry experience. Prior roles include asset management for a multi-billion dollar portfolio with a large institutional asset management firm. Keith is a CFA® charterholder, managed a Lipper Award winning mutual fund, and has been featured in media outlets such as Investor’s Business Daily, Nasdaq, Reuters, and Bloomberg.
Portfolio Manager of Gradient Investments, LLC
Chad Levis, REBC® has been helping clients meet their insurance needs since 1997. He launched CAL Financial in 2016 and partners with many of the leading insurance companies in the industry to deliver top quality insurance products to fit the unique needs of each individual and business client. Chad and his agency assist clients in areas of Medicare, health insurance and employee benefits, life and disability insurance programs for individuals and business owners, as well as personal insurance lines such as auto, home and personal liability.