The Capitol Group at Morgan Stanley

David Sugar is a founding partner of The Capitol Group with over 30 years of wealth advisory and trust administration experience. As a Family Wealth Director, David leads our high net worth family unit providing a comprehensive wealth management approach to multi-generational families. Many of these families have complex philanthropic, tax and estate planning needs. David developed extensive experience as a trust and legal professional and works with clients' tax/legal advisors to assist with advanced planning needs that require the technical knowledge of complex legal and tax structures. David is responsible for the coordination of the Morgan Stanley Family Office resources such as philanthropic planning and family governance. He has developed a focus on clients’ monetization and liquidity planning for privately held companies and concentrated public stock holdings.

The Capitol Group provides customized portfolio management to our clients. David oversees a team of four investment professionals and serves as the co-chair of The Capitol Group investment committee. David as a Senior Portfolio Management Director is responsible for the creation of proprietary portfolio models comprised of individual stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and bonds. In addition, David has extensive experience with providing access to clients that are qualified investors with exposure to separately managed accounts, and alternative investment strategies.

David has been named on the Forbes Best-In-State List since 2019, most recently in 2024. He was selected for his extensive knowledge and experience, as well as his superior commitment and sophisticated approach to integrating the wealth management requirements of his clients. David earned his B.A. from The Ohio State University and his Law Degree from Capital University (not practicing at Morgan Stanley). He lives in Upper Arlington with his wife Susan and their four adult children. In his free time, David enjoys golf and traveling with his family.





2019-2024 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded 2019-2024). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in June of year prior to the issuance of the award.

The term “Family Office Resources” is being used as a term of art and not to imply that Morgan Stanley and/or its employees are acting as a family office pursuant to Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Thomas Mitchell is a Senior Vice President and a Portfolio Management Director based in Columbus, Ohio. Tom is a founding member of The Capitol Group and has over 30 years of experience as a Financial Advisor. He is committed to providing a diverse selection of wealth management services and strategies including portfolio management, retirement and financial planning, and credit and lending solutions. Tom’s clients include individuals, families, corporations, and non-profits.

Tom leads the team’s effort in their qualified retirement plan business. In this role, Tom brings together the vast intellectual capital of Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Manager Analysis team and Global Investment Committee. Services in this area include Investment Policy Statement review, investment manager and fund performance evaluation and selection, asset class selection, and participant education and advice.

In working with clients, Tom and the team utilizes a needs-based planning strategy that includes an in depth needs assessment, planning and probability analysis, asset allocation and investment modeling and ongoing monitoring of performance and cash flow. Tom is the co-chair of The Capitol Group Investment Committee and is responsible for creating proprietary portfolio models consisting of individual equities and fixed income securities, mutual funds, ETF’s and separately managed accounts.

Tom received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University in 1993, majoring in Economics. He resides in Dublin with his wife Kelley and their four daughters. Tom is an avid sports fan and enjoys running, biking, golf and poker.

Peggy joined The Capitol Group at Morgan Stanley in August of 2017. Peggy provides her clients with wealth management solutions integrating her early career experience as a CPA in the tax department of a national accounting firm, although she does not currently give tax advice. Her investment and financial planning career began in 1996 at Bank One, a predecessor to J.P. Morgan Chase. Between her tax and investment careers Peggy was a principal with her family’s local business.

She earned her undergraduate degree in Economics from Smith College and her Master of Business Administration from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College. She earned her Certified Financial Planner certificate in 1996 and has the FINRA Series 7, 66 and 3 as well as insurance licenses for several states. Peggy has been with Morgan Stanley since 2005 and was with Merrill Lynch from 1999-2005.

Peggy is a lifelong resident of Upper Arlington. She has two married daughters living out of state and four grandchildren. She enjoys spending time with her family, golf, tennis and traveling.

Catherine began working in the financial service industry in 1992 and joined the team in 2008 after working as the Service Support Supervisor for the Merrill Lynch Buckeye Complex. Throughout her substantial length of service, Catherine has worked in various support, sales, and management positions within the industry. With her wide-ranging knowledge base and experience, Catherine is qualified to manage and supervise the team's internal operations.

Catherine enjoys working closely with the team’s client base on various financial needs and services. She focuses on helping ensure the timely and accurate resolution of all client needs, including trade executions and numerous other transactions. Catherine is proficient at directing the team's administrative operations and ensuring that all client accounts are diligently addressed and reviewed. She recently obtained Morgan Stanley's internal Financial Planning Specialist designation and is assisting the team with our clients' financial planning and goal setting. She is a valuable resource for the team's clients as well as a mentor and resource to the other support staff in our office.

Catherine holds her FINRA Series 3, 7, 8, 63 and 65 securities licenses and her Life, Accident, and Health Insurance license. She earned a B.A. in International Studies from The Ohio State University. She currently resides in Dublin, Ohio with her husband.

Melissa Gest joined The Capitol Group in September of 2017, bringing experience from both banking and brokerage operational support. Melissa is often the first point of contact for all client inquiries and requests. She is committed to delivering the highest level of personalized customer service possible to ensure that all operational and administrative processes are handled in a seamless manner.

Originally from New York, Melissa came to Ohio to earn her Organizational Leadership degree at the University of Cincinnati. She moved to Columbus when she joined Morgan Stanley in 2011. She has one daughter, enjoys exploring new places and spending time with friends and family.

Steve has been a Columbus-based local and national pacesetter in the retirement plan industry for over 25 years. He has been involved in the sales, on-boarding, education and servicing of more than 1000 corporate retirement plans as of February 2024.

After years of helping other advisors start and build their retirement plan businesses, Steve joined The Capitol Group in 2018 and has now set out to help our team manage and grow our significant retirement plan practice.

Steve's goal is to help our clients design and run well-crafted, cost-effective retirement plans and to encourage each of their employees to understand that their own retirement dreams can come true.

Steve earned his B.S. from The Ohio State University and his MBA from the University of Dayton. He resides in Upper Arlington with his wife Kelley and two daughters along with three overly enthusiastic dogs.

Billy began his financial services career in 2012 working in the Wealth Management department of a small county bank before coming to Morgan Stanley in 2013. Starting as an Operations Professional then joining branch management as the Branch Administrator for the Columbus Market in 2019, Billy brings a skill set that provides next level customer service to the clients of the team, which he joined in 2024 as a Wealth Management Associate.

Billy holds the FINRA SIE, Series 7, 63 and 65 as well as Morgan Stanley’s internal designation of Financial Planning Specialist which allows him to provide assistance with the financial planning goals of the team’s clients.

Billy was born and raised in Syracuse, New York, coming to Ohio in 2009 to attend college where he earned a B.S. in Financial Management and an M.B.A in Organizational Management. He currently lives in Delaware, Ohio with his wife, Abby, and their two dogs Clary, a Jack Russel, and Lotus, a Greyhound. Billy and Abby enjoy traveling, hiking, CrossFit and drinking a good cup of coffee.