The Principals

The people behind
the name on the door.

Every principal at Palisade is an owner of the firm and a fiduciary to its clients. There is no one else — no sales force, no call center, no hand-offs. This is who you work with.

Robin DeSota

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer · AIF®

Robin has spent more than twenty-five years as an investment adviser, and has helped start or improve over six hundred retirement plans along the way. Named one of the top retirement advisers in the United States by the Financial Times in 2017, he serves on the Retirement Advisor Council and holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designation. He earned his M.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his B.A. from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Steve Burkett

Principal · CFP®, CRPS©, AIF®

Steve is a Certified Financial Planner™ with more than twenty years advising investors and plan sponsors, including the establishment of over four hundred employer retirement plans. He holds the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist© and Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designations, with prior tenures at national mutual fund companies and one of the country's leading retirement plan recordkeepers.

Scott Miller

Principal · AIF®

Scott has worked exclusively as a retirement plan consultant for more than twenty years, co-founding a Denver consulting firm and serving as an Area Vice President for a Fortune 500 company. He studied Actuarial Science, Statistics, Economics, and Business Administration at Central Michigan University and holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designation.

Karen Pride

Principal · CRPC®

Karen has advised investors since 1999, including years running her own Registered Investment Adviser firm. A Chartered Retirement Planning Consultant and IRS Registered Tax Preparer, she brings a planner's discipline and a tax lens to every client relationship.

Larry Sidney

Principal · CEPA

Larry brings nearly twenty years across education and financial advising, with a practice focus on business owners preparing for exit and clients who want their portfolios aligned with their values through sustainable investing. A Certified Exit Planner, he holds degrees from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from UC Berkeley — and once represented the United States as an Olympic alternate in skeleton.