My Story and Services

About Erika Odell

Financial Advisor | Financial Planning Specialist | Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

True financial success isn’t just about accumulating wealth—it’s about creating confidence and freedom to live the life you want. My clients and I focus on aligning their wealth with their goals, values, and the people who matter most to them.

Before joining Morgan Stanley, I spent my career helping leading banks, insurers, and law firms use technology to improve results. As a former Chief Operating Officer in the legal sector, I learned how strategic planning and attention to detail can transform outcomes—skills that now guide how I help clients build their financial futures.
As a wife and mother of three adult daughters, I understand how financial goals evolve with each stage of life. My degree in engineering from Bucknell University, combined with years of leadership in both business and nonprofit organizations, shaped my practical and compassionate approach to financial advising.

My clients know me as a listener first. I take time to understand what’s most important to them, create a personalized plan, and then bring in Morgan Stanley’s exceptional specialists and resources to help turn those goals into reality.

Outside of work, I enjoy hiking the Lamorinda hills, skiing, sailing, and traveling with my husband and family.
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Leadership & Community Involvement
Giving back to the community has always been a cornerstone of my life.
• Junior League – Active member in the Leagues of Short Hills, New York City, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Oakland-East Bay, holding leadership and community program roles.
• Rotary International (Lamorinda Sunrise Club) – Founder of the Women’s Initiative to expand women’s leadership and participation in Rotary.
• Education Advocacy – As Parents Club President, I led fundraising efforts exceeding $500,000 annually and launched an after-school Spanish program that has since been replicated throughout the district.
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My Commitment to Clients
Whether you’re preparing for retirement, managing a business, or planning for future generations, I’ll help you design a thoughtful, flexible plan that grows with you. Together, we’ll use Morgan Stanley’s world-class resources to preserve and grow your wealth—always keeping your goals at the center of every decision.
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Services Include
Securities Agent: KS, DE, VT, VA, PR, PA, OK, CT, AR, RI, OR, NY, MT, MD, AZ, SD, OH, MN, IL, DC, VI, TX, MI, AL, NM, AK, MA, NJ, MO, GA, CA, SC, ME, IN, HI, CO, WI, WA, UT, NE, ND, LA, ID, IA, WY, WV, NV, NH, NC, MS, KY, FL; General Securities Representative; Investment Advisor Representative
NMLS#: 2406562
Check the background of Our Firm and Investment Professionals on FINRA's BrokerCheck.*

Personalized Solutions

While the strategies that my team and I provide are broad in scope, our approach is completely individualized. We deliver the personalized attention to expect as we build a structured plan focused on achieving your financial and legacy goal, while paying particular attention to:

  • Life Style Management: We play particular attention to the timing of milestone events, as well as on-going spending patterns to offer you a set of lifestyle guidelines that help assure that your retirement – and other key goals – are not compromised.
  • Asset Growth and Preservation: Asset management aims to achieve the best possible investment returns that are consistent with your level of risk. We offer you a wide range of strategies that apply long-held investment principles to help your assets appreciate appropriately. Most importantly, we the open free decision making within a cost effective structure.
  • Risk Management: Life's risks manifest themselves in many ways – from loss of health to loss of life – and have the potential to impair the efficiency of a thoughtfully developed plan. Erika and the team proactively address these concerns in a number of ways, ranging from insurance reviews to liquidity strategies.
  • Legacy Planning: Delivering an estate to the next generation or a favorite charity requires more attention than families often commit. Coordinating with outside estate and tax professionals, we align estate planning goals with the appropriate asset titling and beneficiary designation requirements, while incorporating best practice tax strategies to help enhance results.

Who We Work With

We are change navigators for women and their families.

We work with educated, influencal and successful women who recognize the need for, and the benefit of teaming with a financial professional to help them, their significant others, and their families, plan for and work through life's changes like buying or selling a business, a change in career, launching children into college, marriage, retirement, or course corrections due to divorce, declining health or death. We bring the services, resources, and life experiances to our clients and their families that they need to ensure that their goals and asperations are understood, and a financial roadmap created to give them the confidence that each new chapter of their lives can be met with financial confidence.

We focus on our client's dreams and their goals, as we help them accumulate the financial wherewithall they will need to realize those dreams and reach those goals.

Our clients include :

- Educators.
- Entrpenures,.
- Professionals.
- Business Owners.
- High net worth individuals and their families building long-term legacies.
- High-tech professionals holding concentrated positions, and
- Pre and early retirees building financial pathways to and through retirment.

Whether our clients' goals are to travel the world, fund or found a charity, build a legacy, teach, live overseas, buy a second home, or to simplly remain in the the family home upon diagnosis of serious illness, we help them build the financial plan they need to help them reach their goals. We can help you too.

Reaching Your Goals

Our process begins and ends with listening to you. We ask you questions about what is important to you and then we listen. Through each step we provide unbiased advice and investment insights to you as we develop and recommend and investment strategy that is uniquely yours.

Discovery:
We begin with an in-depth conversation with you where we listen carefully to understand what is important to you, your family and your legacy.

Through this discussion, we learn about the values that shape your decisions and identify any circumstances unique to your personal situation.

Analysis:
Next we collect and review important financial documents.

We analyize for current and future situation, identify any potential short falls, and discuss the impact of unexpected life events.

In this step, we may also reach out to your CPA and estate attorney as we preform an estate and wealth planning analysis.

Plan Development:
Here we utilize various planning tools and techniques to develop a tailored and detailed strategy with specific recommendations to help you grow, preserve, and transfer your wealth.

This serves as the foundation for for building your initial plan as well as future investment decisions.
Presentation Meeting:

I this step, we present a comprehensive plan designed to achieve your goals.

As part of our presentation, we will explain our investment selection planning and asset allocation strategy.
We will also provide costs and detail on how we monitor performance.

Implementation:
Upon your approval, we will begin to exercise the various strategies presented.

We will also set up tools to provide you with easy access to your accounts and provide on-going update to ensure your plan is implemented as expected.

On-going Service:
We focus on developing a relationship that has special meaning to you and your family.

And, because markets and personal needs evolve over time, we speak with your regularly to held ensure your plan remain on track toward achieving your goals.

Our Core Values

We work each day honoring Morgan Stanley's core values:

Do the right thing, put clients' first, lead with exceptional ideas, commit to diversity and inclusion, and give back.

We live by our personal core values of ethics, building relationships, and collaborting with others to provide innovative solutions that create long-term value for our clients and our community.

Location

1333 N California Blvd
Suite 133
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
US
Direct:
(925) 746-2908(925) 746-2908
Wealth Management
Global Investment Office

Portfolio Insights

Retirement

Working with you to understand your life goals and develop a personalized wealth strategy. Today and for the years to come.
  • 401(k) Rollovers
  • IRA Plans
  • Retirement income strategies
  • Retirement plan participants
  • Annuities
A Simple Six-Step Retirement Checkup
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A Simple Six-Step Retirement Checkup

Checking in on your retirement plan may make a lot of sense, especially when market volatility arises.

Investing

Working closely with you to guide your wealth and investments through the most challenging market cycles.
  • Asset Management
  • Wealth Planning
  • Traditional Investments
  • Alternative Investments
  • Impact Investing
Rational Investing in an Age of Uncertainty
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Rational Investing in an Age of Uncertainty

When it comes to investing, even the most savvy of us fall prey to bias and emotional trades. So what triggers should you watch for?

Family

Creating customized financial strategies for the challenges that today’s families face.
  • Estate Planning Strategies
  • 529 Plans / Education Savings Planning
  • Long Term Care Insurance
  • Special Needs Planning
  • Trust Services
529 Plans: A Powerful Tool to Save for Education
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529 Plans: A Powerful Tool to Save for Education

Though education costs continue to climb, starting to save and invest early can make a difference.

Business Planning

Helping you on key aspects of your business such as ownership, liquidity and developing opportunities.
  • Succession Planning
  • Business Planning
  • Qualified Retirement Plans
Financial Planning for Life After Selling a Business
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Financial Planning for Life After Selling a Business

Selling your business can mean big changes for your life, both personally and financially. Know how to make the most of your windfall.

Philanthropy

Making sure your philanthropic dollars are managed with the same high quality service as the rest of your wealth.
  • Endowments
  • Foundations
  • Donor Advised Funds
  • Impact Investing
Donor Advised Funds: A Smart Way to Manage Your Giving
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Donor Advised Funds: A Smart Way to Manage Your Giving

There's more to charitable giving than you may realize. Here's one method that may be a tax-efficient way to give and can help maximize your impact.
Ready to start a conversation? Contact Erika Pieger Odell today.
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1Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is the trade name of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, a registered broker-dealer in the United States. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is a business of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.

For more information, please see the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Client Relationship Summary.

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2When Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors (collectively, “Morgan Stanley”) provide “investment advice” regarding a retirement or welfare benefit plan account, an individual retirement account or a Coverdell education savings account (“Retirement Account”), Morgan Stanley is a “fiduciary” as those terms are defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”), as applicable. When Morgan Stanley provides investment education, takes orders on an unsolicited basis or otherwise does not provide “investment advice”, Morgan Stanley will not be considered a “fiduciary” under ERISA and/or the Code. For more information regarding Morgan Stanley’s role with respect to a Retirement Account, please visit www.morganstanley.com/disclosures/dol. Tax laws are complex and subject to change. Morgan Stanley does not provide tax or legal advice. Individuals are encouraged to consult their tax and legal advisors (a) before establishing a Retirement Account, and (b) regarding any potential tax, ERISA and related consequences of any investments or other transactions made with respect to a Retirement Account. Individuals should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning, charitable giving, philanthropic planning and other legal matters.

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3Morgan Stanley offers a wide array of brokerage and advisory services to its clients, each of which may create a different type of relationship with different obligations to you. Please consult with your Financial Advisor to understand these differences or review our Understanding Your Brokerage and Investment Advisory Relationships brochure available at www.morganstanley.com/wealth-relationshipwithms/pdfs/understandingyourrelationship.pdf.

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4Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for legal matters.

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5Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning and other legal matters.

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Check the background of our Firm and Investment Professionals on FINRA's BrokerCheck*.

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Awards Disclosures | Morgan Stanley
CRC 4665150 (8/2025)