Mary Mba

Mary Dean is the founder of Dean Roland Russell, LLC (branded as Dean Roland Russell Family Wealth Management), a San Diego–based fee-only financial-planning and investment-management firm that has served clients since 1985. She holds an MBA in Finance from UCLA and carries the CPA, PFS (Personal Financial Specialist), and CFP® (Certified Financial Planner) designations. She has passed the Series 65 exam and is registered as an investment adviser representative in California.

Dean built her practice around fee-only financial planning — where the adviser is compensated solely by clients rather than through product commissions — at a time when that model was still uncommon in the industry. Her stated aim as a student was to "combine the ethical with the practical," and her approach emphasizes deeply understanding each client's needs, then constructing and continuously monitoring customized financial structures. She describes the relationship in personal terms: "their concerns become my concerns as well."

According to the firm's own site, Mary Dean retired in June 2025. Leadership of the firm has since passed to Managing Partners Marc Roland (Portfolio Manager and Chief Compliance Officer) and Andrew Russell (Portfolio Manager) — the "Roland" and "Russell" of the firm name. The firm reports roughly $288–314 million in assets under management across ~560 discretionary accounts and a small team (office manager Jane Ingalsbe, portfolio administrator Elizabeth Dyson, and associate financial planner Juliana Guerra). Outside work, Dean has said she enjoys swimming, hiking, and sports, and has a daughter.

Mary Dean's work is wealth management for high-net-worth individuals and families, not startup/angel investing. Her documented approach:

• Fee-only fiduciary planning — compensated only by clients, avoiding commission conflicts; she was an early adopter of this model.
• Goal-based, whole-picture financial structuring — investments, taxes, executive compensation, IRA/retirement distributions, and charitable/legacy planning tailored to "personal goals, family dynamics, and charitable legacies."
• After-fee, after-tax, risk-adjusted returns via diversified, discretionary portfolio management for individuals and small businesses.
• No stated startup thesis, check size, or sector/stage focus exists — the "Seed Round" tag in the source record is unsupported.

No angel or venture portfolio companies could be verified for Mary Dean, and none should be assumed. The firm's business is managing diversified client portfolios (public securities), not making direct startup equity investments. Any startup "portfolio company" list here would be fabricated, so none is provided.