About US

Our Mission

Our mission is to bring peace of mind and quality of life to each and every one of our clients. Backed with nearly six decades of wealth management experience through some of the most turbulent markets in history, we have the toolset to help bolster your peace of mind.We pair the resources from one of the largest financial institutions in the country (Wells Fargo) with a personalized touch to wealth management you won’t find anywhere else. No two client portfolios are identical, which is why each account is managed individually – not by a computer software program.

Quality of life is how you define it! We love learning what quality of life means to you – your dreams, hopes, and aspirations for you and your family. Yellowstone Wealth Management believes individual management & true client discovery is the only way we can tailor a portfolio that is truly attuned to improving both your peace of mind and quality of life.

Meet Our Team

Steven Esposito

President, Managing Partner

For Steven Esposito, wealth management goes far beyond just being a profession. It’s a hallowed responsibility he and his team take seriously. He understands that the advice and guidance that he provides can determine whether or not his clients can truly have peace of mind along the way, with the quality of life they envision for themselves and their loved ones. He pioneered Yellowstone Wealth Management to restore the lost art of personalized wealth management to an industry that has adopted an assembly line mentality. Simply put, Steven believes software-based financial planning cannot truly craft a personalized portfolio that takes into consideration your unique circumstances. That’s why he creates and oversees every. single. portfolio individually!

Unlike most teenagers, Steven knew at the age of fifteen (1975) what he wanted to be for the rest of his life – a wealth manager on Wall Street. After working his way through college as a front-end manager of a grocery store, Steven graduated from DePaul University in Chicago with a BA in Finance in 1983 and started his career on Wall Street. Over the decades, Steven has established himself as a respected financial professional within the industry. That is why, when markets are in turmoil, Steven has appeared regularly on numerous media outlets such as WGN TV and Radio, WBBM Noon Business Hour, ABC Eye Witness News, Fox News, CBS, PBS, and Crain’s Chicago Business. The industry has taken notice – Steven has been recognized as a Forbes Best-In-State advisor every year (2019-2022) he has applied. His success ranks him in the top 2% of wealth management advisors nationwide. Steven is a committed partner who is always available to his clients in good times and in bad. Unlike many advisors, he strives to increase the number of client communications when markets are turbulent – not the other way around!

Why Independence? THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS! For years, financial institutions have approached Steven about the prospect of independence and none of them checked all the boxes – until now. Steven believes the Wells Fargo FINET program pairs all the benefits of the independent channel with one of the world’s largest financial institutions to provide all of the essential back office support, cyber security, and bank resources his clients deserve. That is why, after nearly 40 years in the wealth management industry, he feels now is the time and believes this is where the industry is heading.

A lifelong resident of the Northern suburbs of IL, Steven stays connected to the country and community through his support for organizations such as Tunnels to Towers, Mothers Trust in Lake Forest, Honor Flight, Northern Illinois Food Bank, and the 100 Club. Above all else though, friends and family are most important to him. You’ll find him spending time with them on the weekends, as well as traveling & volunteering. When you see him, ask how his dogs have been doing!

The Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors rating algorithm is based on the previous year’s industry experience, interviews, compliance records, assets under management, revenue and other criteria by SHOOK Research, LLC, which does not receive compensation from the advisors or their firms in exchange for placement on a rating. Investment performance is not a criterion. Self- completed survey was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria.

Stephanie Esposito

Chief Operating Officer & Managing Partner

As the Chief Operating Officer, Stephanie Esposito never, ever forgets why she has a job – the wonderful clients at Yellowstone Wealth Management. She pairs Yellowstone’s small-firm cordiality with world-class resources to provide a streamlined operational experience for both the advisors and clients. Peppy as she is professional and unafraid to take on any new task, Stephanie lifts up everyone who crosses her path!

For more than a decade at Morgan Stanley, Stephanie built talents for managing accounts, troubleshooting client issues, and interfacing with financial technology. After noticing the larger wirehouses were becoming less and less connected to the people they were serving, she joined with her father Steven to pioneer Yellowstone and hasn’t looked back since. If Steven’s personalized management style and industry expertise are at the head of Yellowstone, Stephanie’s passionate heart and cheerful demeanor are at the heart of Yellowstone.

Stephanie also gained valuable management experience by running ‘Heal Team 6,’ a non-profit organization which helped raise money for smaller charities that didn’t have the means or connections to raise large sums for their cause. As well, Stephanie holds a BA in Business from Lake Forest College.

Outside of the office, Stephanie has many great loves in life. There’s her dogs, Cooper the Maltese and McKenna the Yorkie. Country music is her favorite, and she makes frequent trips to Nashville to listen live. Finally, Stephanie especially loves the holidays and has got the Christmas Spirit in her heart year-round. During that time, she’ll join the people she calls her friends and family for trips to apple orchard, gingerbread house construction projects, and fun on the ski slopes.

Kate Baness

Director of Client Experience

Kate Baness knows that it takes critical thinking, persistence, and patience to uncover the path to success in the world of financial planning. In her role as Director of Client Experience at Yellowstone Wealth Management, she puts her belief that people should have honest, reliable, and fair resources to tackle life’s toughest challenges into practice. Kate draws on her expertise in relationship building towards the goal of Yellowstone’s mission – provide actually-individualized plans, white-glove service, and clear understanding in everything they do.

Before discovering a higher standard at Yellowstone, Kate gained experience in strategizing and pulling resources together for the clients’ benefit at the Walgreens Boot Alliance (corporate) as well as Northwestern Mutual. She keeps a level head in fraught situations, has a compulsion to solve problems, and is passionate about providing the clients with comprehensible financial education. In addition to all this, she also holds a BS in Business Administration from Valparaiso University and her Series 7 & 66 securities licenses.

Having seen the heartbreaking effects of food insecurity, the detrimental impact of pancreatic cancer, and the hardships of insulin deficiencies, Kate supports non-profits such as Feeding America, PanCAN, and the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute. She grew up in Columbus, OH before moving to the Chicago suburbs for school, where she now is raising a very active family. They do everything together - road trips to well-hidden eateries, frequent visits to parks, family game nights, and a constant stream of seasonal activities! When she manages to get some free time, Kate is a voracious reader, likes to ski, and can often be found making disc-golf chains go jingle-jangle.