Northwestern Mutual
San Diego
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Leadership
Putting people first.
All of our leadership are dedicated to doing good for our clients, employees, and community.
Get to know our leadership team
Leadership at the San Diego office is dedicated to doing good for our clients, employees and community.
Thomas Stewart
CLU®, ChFC®
Managing Partner
Tom Stewart is the Managing Partner of Northwestern Mutual – San Diego, Oregon, and Southwest Washington. After joining Northwestern Mutual in 1992, he quickly distinguished himself as a leader and has consistently set the standard for excellence. Tom maintains his focus on the vertical and horizontal growth of the organization through the value system he built, development of new and veteran advisors and representatives, recruiting and selection, college marketing, and meaningful client relationships.
David Balfour
CFP®
Managing Director
David has been a San Diegan since 1991 and can't imagine a better place to live with his wife Liesa, and their four children, Payton, Jaxson, Andersen, and Hudsen. David specializes in helping young families like his own plan for their personal and financial futures, and in helping those nearing retirement transition into their next financial stage. David is the Managing Director for the Carlsbad office and has shown tremendous dedication to helping other financial representatives in his office grow their practices and help change the trajectory of people’s lives, including their own.
Matthew Benjamin
MBA, CLU®, CFP®
Managing Director
Matt Benjamin runs an integrated wealth management practice in Salem, Oregon. He specializes in solving complex problems for business owners and their executives. With a comprehensive financial planning process, his team helps provide clients with peace of mind knowing their financial lives are in order so they can focus on what they do best - run their business!
Garrett Bleakley
CLU®, CFP®
Managing Director
Garrett T Bleakley, Managing Director of Northwestern Mutual in La Jolla, has been providing financial solutions for over 20 years. Garrett started with Northwestern Mutual in 2001 as a College Intern. In 2011, Garrett opened the La Jolla office and became Managing Director. Under his leadership, Northwestern Mutual in La Jolla has been the leader in their category nationally numerous times. He is focused on growing the organization and developing both existing and new Financial Advisors and Financial Representatives entering the business.
Robert Caraveo
CFP®, RICP®, ChFC®, CLU®, CLTC®
Managing Director
We aim to create and implement a world class financial plan for our clients; focusing on building a strong foundation of protection and knowing how & where to maximize opportunities for growth and savings. Utilizing Robert’s advanced credentials, sophisticated planning software, & the extensive resources of Northwestern Mutual, Robert & his team help deliver a better tomorrow for their clients.
Chantel Bonneau Stewart
CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, RICP®, WMCP®
Wealth Management Advisor
Chantel Bonneau Stewart joined Northwestern Mutual in 2010. Although she started her practice in Los Angeles, today she runs a successful financial planning practice out of San Diego with clients all over the United States. In addition to collaborating with fellow advisors to educate clients on wealth management solutions, she also oversees strategy and development efforts for the organization.
Delaney Gallagher
District Director
Delaney Gallagher began his career in the Northwestern Mutual Los Angeles office. He eventually moved to San Diego and was appointed Managing Director of the Northwestern Mutual Carlsbad Office in 2019. In 2022, he transitioned to the role of District Director in the Downtown San Diego Office where he is focused on growing the organization and mentoring the largest group of new advisors in the network.
Ashley Hedum
Financial Advisor
Ashley began her career at Northwestern Mutual in 2018. Since then she has held numerous leadership roles in our San Diego network office while impacting clients all across the country. Her financial planning process focuses on the true priorities and goals of each client and helping them take action towards those goals with efficiency.
Hunter Hawkins
RICP®
Chief Growth Officer
Hunter Hawkins RICP, CLTC, is the Chief Growth Officer with the Stewart Network office in San Diego California. Hunter focuses on driving productivity, efficiency, and production in the Career Advisor space. With over 25 years of experience in Sales and Marketing, Hunter helps advisors, teams, and leaders think bigger about the business and work to create a compelling vision for their future. He joined Northwestern Mutual in 2010 and has spent the last 15 years consulting with some of the top performers in Northwestern Mutual. Hunter draws inspiration from his family, his wife Kathleen, two daughters Mia, 10, and Ava, 6, and son Orion, 3. Outside of his passion for developing future leaders, he loves traveling, cooking, reading, music, history and spending time with friends and family!
Kelsey Kravitz
Chief Recruitment Officer
Kelsey graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2010 and spent nearly 5 years working in the Boston tech industry in HR, recruiting, and operations. She moved back to LA in 2014 and continued her HR and recruiting career in entertainment before joining Northwestern Mutual West Los Angeles in December of 2016. In 2019, Kelsey relocated to San Diego where she joined Northwestern Mutual Carlsbad, and in 2022 she transitioned to the Downtown San Diego office to further her impact on the growth of the firm. In her role, Kelsey leads talent acquisition efforts, while simultaneously coaching and developing recruiting team members based in San Diego, Hawaii, and Oregon.
Ryan Reynolds
MBA
Director of Supervision
Ryan started with Northwestern Mutual in 2018 as the Director of Supervision. He has over 15 years of experience in the industry in sales and compliance with various licenses including S7,63, 9,10,24, 66, California Insurance license, and an MBA.
Brian Emmett
CFP®, CLF®, CLU®
Director of Supervision