The Team
William Valentine, CFA ~ Investments
Bill was born and raised in Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, majoring in Finance. The CFA Institute awarded him with the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1993. He holds the Series 2 & 65 licenses.
Prior to founding Valentine Ventures in 1997, Bill worked at Piper Jaffray & Hopwood, EF Hutton, and Fisher Investments. For six years, he was the host of “
The Rich Life with Bill Valentine”, a syndicated radio talk show. Previously, he penned “The InvestMentor,” a syndicated column about investing. He's noted for several prescient (and a few not-so-prescient) calls including the forewarning of the Real Estate Crash.
Bill is a member of The
CFA Institute - Portland Society and American Mensa. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of The High Desert Museum. Previously, Bill served on the boards of Habitat for Humanity - San Francisco and The Cinnabar Arts Corporation. He and his wife Jessica are the parents of four young men, Lindsay, Callan, Tate, and Perry. They live in Bend, where Bill enjoys fly fishing for trout and steelhead, bird hunting, and mountain biking.
Kyle French ~ Advisory
Kyle joined Valentine Ventures after several years in the investment banking, corporate consulting, and equities trading industries. He is the Director of Valentine Advisory, and is responsible for new business development and client service. Kyle was raised in North Dakota and has an economics degree from the University of North Dakota. Kyle holds the Series 65 licenses.
Prior to his business career, Kyle spent over sixteen years as an Air
Force pilot and is a decorated veteran of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Kyle is an avid mountain biker and skier, and loves to explore all Central Oregon has to offer with his wife Traci, son Bridger, and daughter Luella.
Jay Kolar, CFP® ~ Financial Planning
Jay is our lead Certified Financial Planner, and has over twenty years experience in the financial services profession. He joined Valentine Ventures after a long stint with a fee-only financial planning firm in Austin, Texas. Prior to his tenure with the financial planning firm, he spent most of the prior decade on the brokerage side of the investment community. The CFP® Board of Standards issued his license in January of 2003. Jay is also a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990 where he received a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in Finance.
Jay enjoys spending time with his two sons and experiencing the outdoor activities present in Central Oregon.
Jon Tapper ~ Operations / Compliance
Jon has 13 years of diverse experience in the financial services industry, working with broker-dealers, investment advisors, and hedge funds. Jon began his career at Banc of America Securities in San Francisco, serving sales, client service, and operational roles within their Prime Brokerage unit. Jon worked with Stadium Capital Management in the fields of trading, operations, and compliance. Jon helped launch Viewpoint Securities, a broker-dealer for small to mid-sized hedge funds;, he has also worked directly with hedge fund managers, providing operational and marketing expertise. Jon has passed the Series 7, 63, and 65 examinations. In addition to managing operations for the firm, Jon is the Chief Compliance Officer. Jon graduated Miami University of Ohio in 1994 with a Bachelor’s Degree in philosophy and Spanish.
An avid photographer, Jon has had his work featured in many publications and many of his photos adorn the walls of Valentine Ventures. He enjoys all that Bend has to offer, particularly snowboarding, fly fishing and mountain biking, and he serves as a Director of the Central Oregon Avalanche Association. Jon has lived in Bend since 2003 with his wife Anouk, and their two children.
JaiDee Taruscio ~ Trading
JaiDee’s financial career started at Smith Barney, where she worked in client services, trading, and brokerage operations. While there she earned her Series 7 & 63 securities licenses. As Valentine Ventures’ most tenured employee, JaiDee's responsibilities include the monitoring and management of security position sizes for all accounts, as well as the buying and selling of all securities based on the model portfolios developed by Mr. Valentine. JaiDee graduated from Blue Mountain Community College with an agriculture degree in 1995.
A native Oregonian, JaiDee enjoys hunting, photographing the Old West, horses, and competing in rodeos in her free time. She works from the annexed office of Valentine Ventures in Walla Walla, Washington, where she lives with her husband BJ on their family farm.
Chrissy Christoferson ~ Operations
Chrissy comes to Valentine Ventures with 12 years of diverse business experience. She began her
career as an Executive Operations Assistant with Emeritus Assisted Living, an assisted living company located in Seattle, Washington. Moving to Northern California, Chrissy worked with Hamilton Partners
as an Estate Manager before launching her own executive personal services company, Simplified Living. Chrissy has also provided professional fundraising for the Boys & Girls Club, as well as serving as the President of Soroptimist International inHealdsburg, CA. For the past 3 years Chrissy owned and operated a successful retail store in Bend. Chrissy graduated in 1996 from Washington State University with a degree in Elementary Education.
Chrissy and her family moved to Bend in 2005 to take advantage of the outdoor lifestyle. Annual rafting trips down the John Day
River have become a family tradition, alongside regular camping trips and fly fishing the Deschutes River. She and her husband Carl have two active boys, Thomas & Beck.
