The SKKZD Group at Morgan Stanley

Chris Kidd is the co-founder of The SKKZD Group, a wealth management team located in Atlanta, GA. Chris’ mission is to assist business owners, corporate executives, pre-retirees, retirees, and high-net worth families with goal-oriented wealth planning and investment management. Chris works to form long-term, multi-generational relationships with clients and their families. He is passionate about helping them make informed decisions in all aspects of their financial lives. As the key point of contact, Chris stays up to date on client needs/priorities and seeks to understand the emotional and financial components of the decision-making process. This better enables him to guide clients as they develop and implement their individualized wealth management strategies.

After spending 23 years with Merrill Lynch, Chris joined Morgan Stanley in October of 2020. During his 23 years in the financial services industry, Chris has become a Portfolio Manager (PM) who, in addition to providing traditional advice and guidance, can help clients pursue their objectives by building and managing their own investment strategies. These strategies may incorporate individual stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and third-party investment strategies. When servicing clients through Morgan Stanley’s advisory platform, a Portfolio Manager may manage their own strategies on a discretionary basis.

Chris is a graduate of Auburn University where he attended on a Varsity Diving scholarship. He is a CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR (CRPC^®) and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP^®) certificant, a designation awarded by the College of Financial Planning.

Chris lives in Inman Park with his wife, Beth, and his son, Jacob. Chris has been volunteering for 15 years with Special K’s, a local delegation of the Special Olympics Georgia, as a coach for the swimming and basketball teams. He is also a part of Special K’s management team.

Daniel Kaufman is a co-founder of the SKKZD Group, a wealth management team located in Atlanta, GA. Encouraging “savings and spending discipline strategies” for clients. Daniel places equal importance and focus on managing investments and liabilities – providing educational moments and practical, near-term recommendations as part of an overall wealth management strategy. He brings his extensive experience and big-picture perspective to guide each client with an extra measure of personal attention.

Daniel follows a disciplined, long-term investment approach. Perspective of the past, plan for the future, and diligence to take action exemplifies his strategy. He utilizes Morgan Stanley’s broad-based platform and intellectual capital to build customized portfolios tailored to a client’s risk and investment objectives.

He monitors progress with the goal of keeping each strategy aligned with a client’s evolving needs and accounts for targeted “what-if” scenarios. Daniel is proud to put his client’s interests above everything else, proactively calling upon Morgan Stanley's and outside experts in fixed income, lending, retirement and insurance – for creative strategies and a value-added experience that optimizes both sides of a client’s balance sheet.

Daniel first started in the financial services industry with Merrill Lynch after graduating from Emory University in 2007. While attending Emory, Daniel played Varsity baseball. Daniel is also an active member of the local community having served as a mentor in the PAL program (Big Brother/Big Sister) through Jewish Family & Career Services. As a result of his dedication to the organization, Daniel was asked to join the Board of Directors for JF&CS in 2019. He also coaches youth baseball in his spare time – most recently taking the Gold Medal with Team USA in the 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel. He also serves on the planning committee for the annual Chron’s and Colitis Foundation Charity Golf Tournament. Daniel currently resides in Brookhaven with his dog, Tyson.

Like Chris, Daniel is a CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR (CRPC^®) and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP^®) certificant, a designation awarded by the College of Financial Planning.

Ellie is a partner on the SKKZD Group and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. Ellie has had extensive lending and financial planning experience throughout her 20+ years in the financial industry. Ellie’s goal is to help support clients’ complete financial lives via an impactful, well-executed financial plan and a thoughtful investment strategy aligned with the long-term needs and goals of her clients.
Ellie began her career with UBS Financial Services in the prestigious Private Client Group Associate program in New York City after graduating from Vanderbilt University. After her successful completion of the associate program, Ellie became the Divisional Lending Strategic Analyst in the Central Division for UBS. In this role, Ellie was responsible for building the lending businesses in branch offices across the Southeast. Following her tenure in lending, Ellie was asked to spearhead the Financial Planning Analyst program in the Southeast region, where she experienced firsthand how a thorough personal financial plan could help guide clients’ financial health. Ellie fell in love with financial and estate planning strategies, and in November 2007, she joined the Zerden Group to bring her experience to clients to support their overall financial lives. In 2009, Ellie and her former partners left UBS to join Morgan Stanley where she has spent the last 16 years.
Ellie begins each client relationship with a consultative approach reviewing assets, liabilities, insurance, and estate documents while also assessing annual savings and spending strategies her clients utilize. Ellie takes pride in assisting clients in addressing opportunities they may have overlooked in their current financial strategy.
Ellie is a member of Peachtree Presbyterian Church. She lives in Sandy Springs with her husband and two children. Ellie would say that the best part of her job is helping her clients achieve a financially stress-free life.

Carla has provided personal wealth planning and investment advisory services to families in the Southeast for over twenty five years with a high degree of integrity and client commitment, .

A clear understanding of each client's unique financial situation and objectives is at the core of Carla's disciplined advisory process. Then, in collaboration with the SKKZD Group at Morgan Stanley, she develops and manages a customized wealth management strategy for each client. Regular conversations and portfolio performance reviews deepen the relationship with her clients.

Carla has developed a keen understanding of the unique financial interests and objectives of high achieving women and has led many forums for senior executive and professional women.

Prior to returning to Georgia to start her wealth management practice in 1996, Carla was an international business executive for over fifteen years living in Paris and Boston, and traveling extensively in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

She is a graduate of the University of Georgia and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst^® (CIMA^®) designation awarded by the Investments & Wealth Institute™ and taught in conjunction with the Wharton School.

Carla lives in Buckhead and enjoys international travel, practicing yoga, bridge and Atlanta's performing arts.

Former community leadership roles include:
Trustee:
- March of Dimes (GA)
- Ovarian Cancer Institute
- First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta Pre-School
- Atlanta History Center, President's Advisory Board
- Emory University's Manuscripts, Archives & Rare Books Library
- Cobb Energy Center, Director’s Advisory Board

Chair:
- Cathedral of St. Philip, Outreach Committee Tanzania Mission

Holder of Series 7, 65 and 66 FINRA Registrations since 1996, Carla is also a licensed agent for variable life and annuity insurance and long term care insurance.

Tim Hourihan is the Portfolio Management Associate for the SKKZD Group, a wealth management team located in Atlanta, GA. Tim works closely with clients to help them streamline their financial lives, integrating the extensive resources and capabilities of Morgan Stanley wealth management. He is skilled in developing strategies that reflect a client’s short-term needs along with long-term goals, prioritizing simplicity and efficiency for clients and their family members. Tim’s knowledge of Morgan Stanley allows him to channel solutions effectively; he offers a tailored approach grounded in a sincere interest in clients and their long-term financial well-being.

Tim began his financial services career in 2010 with Merrill Lynch after graduating from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Finance. Tim started his career as a Financial Solutions Advisor on the newly launched Merrill Edge Advisory platform. After two years of providing ongoing retirement planning guidance, he moved into a specialist role with the Transition Management Team.

Working in a consultative role, Tim facilitated the onboarding of high-profile wealth management advisory teams to the firm. Primarily working out of the Century City, CA office with teams in the private banking and investment space, Tim gained valuable knowledge on how to address the complex wealth management needs of Ultra-High Net Worth clients and their families.

After spending close to four years in different roles, Time decided to move to Atlanta to pursue building his own wealth management practice. In an effort to help better serve the needs of his clients and their families, he decided to join the SKKZD Group in late 2017 and transitioned to Morgan Stanley in 2020.

Tim lives in the Brookhaven area of Atlanta with his dog, Rory, and in his free time enjoys playing golf and traveling.

Like Chris and Daniel, Tim is a CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR (CRPC^®) certificant, a designation awarded by the College of Financial Planning.

Shannon has been a part of the SKKZD Group for the last 17 years. Shannon serves as the team’s service and administrative manager. In addition, Shannon works very closely with many of our business clients in their ongoing management and financing. Shannon earned a BA in Psychology and Political Science from Miami University in Ohio. She currently lives in Alpharetta with her husband, Tommy, and her three children, Luke, Tyler and Paige.