Lara is a Managing Director, Private Wealth Manager and Portfolio Manager at Merrill Private Wealth Management. She is responsible for advising, crafting, and implementing investment strategies for high-net-worth families, individuals, foundations, and privately held businesses. Lara also leads the team’s investment committee. 

Before joining Merrill, Lara served as an investment specialist and Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Previously, she was a portfolio manager for several alternative investment mutual funds at Altegris Advisors, where she was also the firm’s head of investment strategy. Lara’s career dates back to 1999 and includes serving as a junior portfolio manager for an L.A.-based credit hedge fund and as an analyst at Goldman Sachs & Co. She holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA®) designation and is a member of several women’s investment groups. Lara also holds the California insurance license. She earned a B.A. in economics with a minor in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as an M.B.A. from the University of California at San Diego. 

In her free time, Lara is a Board Member for the Hollywood Food Coalition, an organization that provides and serves food insure people since 1987. Lara is also an advisory board member of the Unusual Suspects Theatre Company, a nonprofit that provides arts enrichment to underserved communities. Lara, her husband Chris, two children, and many rescue animals live in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. 

Named to the 2026 Forbes “America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors” list Published on February 4, 2026. Rankings based on data as of June 30, 2025.