Steven E. Zeller CFP®, CExP®, AIF®

Co-Founder, President & Senior Wealth Advisor

Steven Zeller is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Certified Business Exit Planner, Accredited Investment Fiduciary, practicing Wealth Advisor, and is President of Zeller Kern Wealth Advisors. He has 28 years of experience within his profession.

Serving Business Owners

Along with traditional wealth advisement, which includes comprehensive retirement planning for individuals and other financial planning, Steve has many years of experience working closely with first- and second-generation business owners and their families.

Steve has a unique perspective as an advisor for business owners because of his previous background as a territory manager for a Fortune 500 consumer products company. As a result, he understands branding, positioning, distribution channels, product pricing, retail distribution, product promotion, and the overall product lifecycle. This perspective, along with his business education, and being a business owner himself, makes him better able to understand the business owner’s needs.

He advises owners on growing and protecting their wealth, creating comprehensive business exit plans, designing and managing company retirement plans, deferred compensation plans, and other solutions to build the value of their company.

Through many years of providing business exit planning, he has developed an effective Exit Planning Process that his firm uses today. He is also an active member of the Business Enterprise Institute, a national organization for exit planning professionals, and has been a featured speaker at the annual conferences.

A Passion for Making a Positive Difference

Steve has a passion for making a positive, life-enhancing difference for his clients and their families. He achieves this by developing a deep understanding of their situation and needs, delivering planning and solutions, and providing the highest level of client service possible – “it’s a relationship business.”

Steve continues to actively learn, attend conferences, and develop planning processes such as the firm’s Focused Wealth Process, “Purposeful Conversations,” their Business Exit Planning Process, and the firm’s Family Legacy Development Process.

Steve is also experienced in helping high-net-worth families develop a Family Legacy Plan, which involves facilitating family retreats to help the family establish a family vision statement, mission statement, and financial philosophy statement. Ultimately, a written family legacy plan is created, family meetings follow, and the family begins on the road to family governance.  

Active Writer and Speaker

Steve actively participates in advancing the wealth advisement profession by writing several articles and conducting regular public speaking engagements on business value building, business exit planning, family legacy development, and other timely topics related to retirement planning and growing and preserving wealth.  He has his own professional blog, www.family-fortunes.com, where he dedicates his time to these topics and is a contributor to the ExitMap Blog.

Founder of Sacramento Business Advisors Network

Steve is President and Founder of the Sacramento Business Advisors Network, an exclusive organization of established advisors who collaborate to share best practices for serving business owners.  He is also an active participant in his community, volunteering his time on many charitable boards.

His Family and Passions

Steve resides in Carmichael, CA, with his wife, Cynthia, of 26 years. They have a son, Kevin, who lives in the Nashville area. In his off-hours, Steve enjoys spending time with his wife, building friendships in the community, giving back, staying fit, traveling, reading books, studying history, economics, and capital markets, and being an accomplished guitar player and collector.

Request Steve to Speak to Your Organization

If you’re interested in Steve speaking to your organization on a timely financial or business-related topic, please complete the form below.

Current Memberships

  • Sutter Club, Facilities Committee
  • Purposeful Planning Institute
  • Financial Planning Association, Northern California Chapter, Board Member
  • Business Enterprise Institute
  • Idaho Technology Council
  • Sacramento Estate Planning Council
  • Sacramento Business Advisors Network, President/ Founder

Past Memberships

  • Boy Scouts of America, Golden Empire Council, Executive Board
  • Advisors in Philanthropy
  • National Committee On Planned Giving
  • Client Centered Planning System™ Alumni
  • Vistage
  • Peak™ – Professional Development Group
  • Phoenix Best Practices Network
  • Rotary Club of East Sacramento/Board
  • National Speakers Association
  • Leadership Sacramento, 2008
  • Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
  • Sacramento Area Trade and Commerce Organization (SACTO)
  • Sacramento Child Advocates, Board of Directors
  • Sacramento Child Advocates, Executive Committee
  • Boise Metro Chamber
  • Sacramento Professional Advisors Network – Co-founder and President
  • Finance Council Board Member, St. Johns Church

Steve holds his Series 7, Series 31, Series 63, and Series 65 registrations through Commonwealth Financial Network. CA Insurance Lic# 0B74763