Pasadena Branch Office

Mark graduated from Lafayette College in 1993 with a degree in Psychology and immediately began work as an intern at Shearson Lehman Brothers in Boston. This began his 30 year career at Morgan Stanley, where he has had the roles of Financial Advisor, Assistant Branch Manager, and Market Manager. Mark currently leads the Pasadena Market Cluster, which is comprised of the Pasadena, Claremont, Riverside, and Palm Desert offices of Morgan Stanley in Southern California.

Mark has served as a mentor throughout his career and has been involved in many non-profit organizations. He was honored to receive a 2013 Citizenship Award from Morgan Stanley in honor of his involvement in the community.

Mark has been an active volunteer for Lafayette College. In 2021 he received the George T. Woodring ’19 Service Award, which recognizes the achievements of a long-term Alumni Association volunteer whose service is both dedicated and effective. Mark is also a past Chair of Lafayette College’s West Coast Advisory Council, a group of west coast alumni who help drive engagement in the areas of career services, development, and admissions. He currently serves as an Alumni Associate of the Student Life Committee of the Board of Trustees.

Mark is married to Dr. Reza Kermani, a general/trauma surgeon. They live in Studio City, CA, with their son Abraham and rescue Beagle, Mr. Magoo.

Audrey graduated from University of California, San Diego with a B.S. degree in Management Science. She has 18 years of financial industry experience where she started at Merrill Lynch in 2000 as a Registered Associate and joined Smith Barney in 2005 which later became Morgan Stanley in 2009. She oversees the Pasadena Market Cluster, which is comprised of the Pasadena, Claremont, Riverside and Palm Desert offices of Morgan Stanley in Southern California. She is the International BSO for Pasadena to help service our international clients.
She speaks fluent Mandarin, Cantonese and English. She lives with her husband and two daughters and two cats Mina and Mocha in Arcadia and enjoys cooking and traveling.

Teneé DeCoteau is a Business Service Officer with over 20 years of experience in the Financial Service industry. She earned BA in Sociology from California State Long Beach University while working full-time.

Teneé promotes a culture of collaboration and partnership while ensuring that the execution of the business and service functions for the branches she helps to manage are seamless. She currently sits on the firm’s Business Service Advisory Council, a group tasked with providing insight and feedback to senior management regarding the firm’s business processes.

Teneé is at her best when coaching and developing others. She enjoys inspiring others to be their best selves both in and outside of the office and is happiest when spending time with family and friends.

As Service Manager, John oversees the operations personnel and processes across the Los Angeles Complex at Morgan Stanley. He has worked in the financial services industry for over 25 years and has been at Morgan Stanley since 2013.
John was born in Laos, moved to Taiwan and emigrated to Louisiana where he spent his earlier years before settling down in California. He currently resides in Duarte. John speaks four languages, which has been helpful in servicing our international business. He comes from a large family of four brothers and two sisters. In his spare time, John enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing sports, and watching movies.

Wayne’s family immigrated from Taiwan to the US in 1981. He attended high school in the Los Angeles area and studied chemical engineering at UC Berkeley. His career in the financial industry began in 1996 when he obtained his FINRA licenses and became an investment specialist. He is currently a risk officer with Morgan Stanley. He is married and enjoys online gaming and fiddling with computers.

Kimberly began her career in the financial services industry in 1985 and has been with Morgan Stanley since 2014. She has served as a Support Professional, Operations Manager, Administration Manager, Complex Risk Officer, and Senior Complex Risk Officer.
As a Risk Officer (CRO), Kimberly supervises the Pasadena Branch of the Los Angeles Complex. She is passionate about finding solutions that protect our clients, financial advisors, and the firm; she has extensive knowledge and experience and is a valued member of the Complex Management Team.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her sons, cooking, listening to live music, drinking fine wine, and traveling.

Debra brings over 40 years of industry experience to our team. As a Branch Administrator, she provides administrative support to our managers, financial advisors, and support professionals. Debra is passionate about mentoring and helping others. She is very active in the community and leads the philanthropic efforts in the Los Angeles Complex. Outside of work, Debra serves as a Chaplain and Life Coach. She also enjoys spending time with her daughter, Joya.

Jennifer Duarte is a Vice President and Business Development Manager serving Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management office in the Pasadena Market. She is responsible for helping Financial Advisors grow and scale their practice by understanding their goals and priorities and connecting them to firm resources to enhance and deepen their relationships with their clients.

Jennifer began her career in financial services in 2013 and joined Morgan Stanley in 2021. Prior to her current position, she was a Wealth Advisor at an independent RIA company leading the company’s financial planning initiatives. However, Jennifer spent the bulk of her career at Merrill Lynch on a team serving as a Financial Advisor focusing on financial planning and investment management.

Jennifer graduated from the University of California, Irvine and holds her Certified Financial Planner^® and Chartered Financial Consultant (CHFC^®). Jennifer lives in Los Angeles, CA where her family has several Mexican restaurants that she can recommend! Outside of work, she enjoys the outdoors and can be found at a Pilates class.

Mary joined Morgan Stanley as a Branch Administrator in 2022 with an eclectic career history. She studied Vocal Performance & Theatre at the University of Michigan and the Heifetz International Music Institute before touring internationally. After returning from overseas, Mary became the Director of First Impressions at Western International Securities, a position she held for five years before moving into Compliance. Simultaneously, Mary and a group of close friends started Rundalay^®, an athletic non-profit based out of downtown Los Angeles whose mission is to provide free athletic events and charitable opportunities to support our local communities, and after 11 years later, is still going strong. Mary currently supports the Pasadena, Palm Desert, Riverside, Claremont, and Palmdale locations. In her spare time, she performs in opera and musical theatre productions throughout Southern California, is a mentor for young singers, and goes on adventures with her dog Venus.

Jennifer is the Business Service Officer overseeing the Inland Empire region of the Los Angeles market. She is a graduate of Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute and joined the brokerage industry in 2015. In 2023 Jennifer joined Morgan Stanley to serve as BSO for Claremont, Riverside, and Palm Desert, where she supervises and guides the Support Professionals and Service Associates. Jennifer is passionate about improving clients’ lives through financial peace of mind.

In her free time Jennifer enjoys being involved in her community through fostering dogs and working on native habitat restoration.

Justin graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a concentration in Finance and joined the firm back in 2015. He has worn many hats in the service role and is currently the Business Service Officer for the Pasadena Market. Justin enjoys finding efficient and effective ways to help maximize the overall client experience and to ensure that we are putting clients first.

On his free time, Justin enjoys spending time with his daughter, playing golf with friends, and baking and cooking new recipes.