The Principals

The people behind
the name on the door.

Every principal at Palisade runs this practice with an owner's mindset and serves as a fiduciary to its clients. There is no sales force, no call center, no hand-offs. This is who you work with.

Robin DeSota

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer · AIF®

Robin has spent more than twenty-five years as an investment adviser, and has helped start or improve over six hundred retirement plans along the way. Named one of the top retirement advisers in the United States by the Financial Times in 2017, he serves on the Retirement Advisor Council and holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designation. He earned his M.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his B.A. from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Steve Burkett

Principal · CFP®, CRPS©, AIF®

Steve is a Certified Financial Planner™ with more than twenty years advising investors and plan sponsors, including the establishment of over four hundred employer retirement plans. He holds the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist© and Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designations, with prior tenures at national mutual fund companies and one of the country's leading retirement plan recordkeepers.

Scott Miller

Principal · AIF®

Scott has worked exclusively as a retirement plan consultant for more than twenty years, co-founding a Denver consulting firm and serving as an Area Vice President for a Fortune 500 company. He studied Actuarial Science, Statistics, Economics, and Business Administration at Central Michigan University and holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designation.

Karen Pride

Principal · CRPC®

Karen has advised investors since 1999, including years running her own Registered Investment Adviser firm. A Chartered Retirement Planning Consultant and IRS Registered Tax Preparer, she brings a planner's discipline and a tax lens to every client relationship.

Larry Sidney

Principal

Larry brings nearly twenty years across education and financial advising, with a practice focus on clients who want their portfolios aligned with their values through sustainable investing. He holds degrees from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from UC Berkeley — and once represented the United States as an Olympic alternate in skeleton.

Advisors

Mike

Advisor · CPA, PFS

Mike is a Certified Public Accountant, Personal Financial Specialist, and investment advisor with more than forty-five years of experience helping conscientious investors achieve major personal financial goals by integrating tax and investment planning with ethical stewardship. He helps clients align their wealth with their values, so their investments support a more caring and sustainable future. A graduate of Humboldt State University, where he taught for several years, Mike is the author of a book on holistic solution investing, received an outstanding achievement award in professional wealth management from his peers in 1998, and is regularly invited to speak on investment and tax topics. Outside the office, he enjoys live music, time outdoors, and collecting vintage music memorabilia.

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