

The Woldert Group at Morgan Stanley

Our Mission Statement
Integral. Intelligent. Involved.
We believe that our team plays an Integral part of helping you to achieve your goals and objectives. We believe in providing integrity, knowledge and professionalism to our clients, as this is paramount to building and maintaining strong, long- lasting relationships.
We begin each relationship with a thorough process of understanding our clients' short and long term goals and objectives. We work together to determine intelligent, individualized strategies designed to help achieve these goals.
We take a holistic approach to working with clients. We become Involved with CPA's, estate attorneys and other family members to help implement tax efficient strategies designed to help grow, preserve and to pass on multi-generational wealth. We are fully committed to helping you achieve your goals and objectives.
Awards and Certifications
- "Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®)" - James maintains his CIMA® designation which is the peak international, technical portfolio construction program for investment consultants, analysts, financial advisors and wealth management professionals. The CIMA® certification continues to be the highest level of advanced investment education for client-facing advisors. It demonstrates James's commitment and ability to service his clients in an impactful way.
- "Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA®)" - James maintains his CAIA® designation which is the globally-recognized credential for professionals managing, analyzing, distributing, or regulating alternative investments. The alternative investments that a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst is trained to assess include hedge funds, venture capital, private equity, funds of funds, derivatives, and real estate investments.
- "2024, 2025 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams" - We are honored to receive the recongition on the Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams list in Texas. Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams. Source: Forbes.com (2024-2025). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in June of year prior to the issuance of the award.
- "2023, 2024, 2025 Barron's Top 1200" - James has been included in Barron's ranking of the Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-By-State ranking for Texas. Selection for this list is based on a host of criteria, including the value of Assets Under Management, firm nomination, years of industry experience and best practices. Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State Source: Barron's.com (2023-2025) Data compiled by Barron's based on time period from Sept 2021 - Sept 2024.
- "2023, 2024 Chairman's Club" - James has been named to the Firm's prestigious Chairman's Club, an elite group composed of the Firm's top Financial Advisors. The appointment recognizes James's consistent creativity and excellence in providing a wide range of investment products and wealth management services to his clients.
Location
Meet The Woldert Group
About James Woldert
James works closely with clients and their other advisers throughout the entire wealth management process, helping with everything from tax strategies and diversifying concentrated holdings to estate and retirement planning strategies. James also designs, builds and manages our proprietary models, leveraging his deep knowledge and experience in traditional and alternative strategies to customize portfolios to meet the specific needs of each client.
What makes me Knowledgeable?
James has been helping clients to understand their options and achieve their goals for 22 years. Prior to working with Morgan Stanley, his experience includes positions at UBS and Smith Barney. James has been recognized by becoming part of the Morgan Stanley Masters Club.
James received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and completed a two-year program at the Wharton School of Business in which he attained the CIMA® designation. James was recently named to Barron’s 2023 Top 1200 Financial Advisors State-by-State and Forbes Best In-state 2023.
Getting to Know Me?
James is a member of The Story Houston; an avid supporter of Candlelighters, supporter of St. Jude’s Hospital, Wounded Warriors and the Salvation Army; is an Ambassador Member of Texas Children’s Hospital. James and his wife, Beth, call Houston home with their two sons, Freeman and Hudson. If he’s not in the office, he’s out on the baseball fields coaching Little League, playing tennis, or in the Texas brush country hunting with his family.
Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State
Source: Barron's.com (Awarded Mar 2023-2025) Data compiled by Barron's based on time period from Sept 2021 - Sept 2024.
Forbes America's Top Wealth Advisors & Best-In-State Wealth Advisors
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded April 2023) Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based on time period from 6/30/21 - 6/30/22.
NMLS#: 1288090
About Natalie Holden
Natalie is responsible for shaping and enhancing the client experience to ensure we provide the highest level of service. She helps develop and implement investment recommendations in collaborating with the rest of the team.
What makes me Knowledgeable?
Natalie has been in the financial services industry for over 15 years. Prior to joining The Woldert Group, she was the Business Development Manager for Morgan Stanley in Houston and the Regional Vice President for Touchstone Investments, a asset management firm for 11 years. She has earned many accolades including being nominated to participate in Morgan Stanley’s Leadership Readiness Programs and National Business Development Manager Council. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a Master of Business Administration from Xavier University.
Getting to Know Me?
Outside of the office, Natalie serves on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Masters Network, a local non-profit that provides professional development for executive women in Houston. Natalie and her husband, Jared, are the proud parents of their son Jared Jr, “JJ”. They are active members of the Briar Club and are creating great family memories together there. They also enjoy traveling and running together.
About Elese Jackson
Elese plays a key role in marketing and is responsible for supporting our team and acting as a client concierge—providing our clients with everything they need. She makes sure clients have accurate, up-to-date information and helps them maintain their accounts and their cash flow needs. Elese is often the first person clients (or team members) call when they have questions. Her goal is to ensure that each client has the best possible experience in every interaction.
What makes me Knowledgeable?
Elese has been working in the financial services industry for 20+ years, spending the bulk of her career with Morgan Stanley. Prior to this, her positions included roles at Charles Schwab & Company and JP Morgan Chase. Elese has earned many accolades including the Outstanding Service Award (2007), being named to the National Service Advisory Council (2014-2016) and being a member of the Platform Transformation Initiative Council (2015-2017). Elese holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston.
Getting to Know Me?
Elese is a mom, an active member of her church, Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church. She volunteers her time to support various Houston-area service organizations. In her down-time, she is an avid reader and loves to travel.
About Everett Nelson
As a registered client associate, Everett acts as a direct liaison between the client and the firm resources, which provides him the ability to execute a plethora of client requests in an efficient and time-sensitive manner; while additionally affording him the opportunity to build and maintain strong relationships with our client base. Everett intentionally leverages his Morgan Stanley resources and internal relationships to help ensure client accounts are kept in strong administrative and financial standing with respect to account documentation and day-to-day cash flow needs. Everett works to keep clients continually informed of account and product-related firm initiatives so they may take advantage of the many benefits offered to them through Morgan Stanley’s comprehensive wealth management offerings.
What makes me Knowledgeable?
Everett has been working at Morgan Stanley for 3 years following college graduation. Everett’s experience as a registered client associate is multifaceted as it has consisted of work with high-net-worth individuals, institutional and corporate clients. Everett holds a bachelors degree from Texas A&M University-Mays Business School.
Getting to Know Me?
Everett enjoys spending as much time as he can with his friends and family -- as such you can find him with his college buddies on the golf course, on a ranch in South-Central Texas, enjoying college football wherever possible, or travelling back and forth between San Antonio and Houston to see his family.

Contact James Woldert
The Power of Partnerships
About Maricris Felicidario
Private Bankers partner with Financial Advisors to develop a specialized approach for managing clients’ cash flow, liquidity, and financing needs, leveraging our comprehensive suite of cash management and lending solutions.
Maricris began her career in financial services in 1997, and joined Morgan Stanley in 2015 as an Associate Private Banker. Prior to joining the firm, she was a Senior Wealth Management Banker at Merrill Lynch. She also served as a Premier Client Manager at Bank of America.
Maricris lives in Houston, Texas. Outside of the office, she enjoys writing, photography, and traveling.
Portfolio Insights
Retirement
- 401(k) Rollovers
- IRA Plans
- Retirement income strategies
- Retirement plan participants
- Annuities
Investing
- Asset Management
- Wealth Planning
- Traditional Investments
- Alternative Investments
- Impact Investing
Family
- Estate Planning Strategies
- 529 Plans / Education Savings Planning
- Long Term Care Insurance
- Special Needs Planning
- Trust Services
Business Planning
- Succession Planning
- Business Planning
- Qualified Retirement Plans
Philanthropy
- Endowments
- Foundations
- Donor Advised Funds
- Impact Investing
Financial Wellness
- Reduce employee stress,
- Improve retention and engagement, and
- Set themselves apart by offering comprehensive financial wellness benefits.
For more information, please see the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Client Relationship Summary.
2Alternative Investments are speculative and include a high degree of risk. An investor could lose all or a substantial amount of his/her investment. Alternative investments are appropriate only for qualified, long-term investors who are willing to forgo liquidity and put capital at risk for an indefinite period of time.
3Morgan 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.
4Morgan 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, charitable giving, philanthropic planning and other legal matters.
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.
6Morgan 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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