Our Team

Mike is a Supervising Principal specializing in the Alternative Investment space. His experience encompasses direct real estate, 1031 exchange, DSTs, TICs, real estate funds, energy funds, life settlements, estate planning, hedge funds, direct private placements, private debt and private equity, among others. Mike is part of the Due Diligence team at Emerson Equity, and he also supervises over 15 Registered Representatives. In addition to his Supervisory duties, he runs a strong investment practice.

Mike’s real estate experience also includes starting a real estate development company where he developed projects valued over $50 million. Mike attended Colorado State University on a football scholarship where he played wide receiver for the Rams. After an injury, Mike came home and attended California State University, Fullerton where he received his B.A. in Advertising. Mike holds his FINRA series 22, 24, 63 and 82 securities licenses and carries his life and health insurance license. He currently lives in San Clemente with his wife Kendall while his 3 children are off to college.

Kevin is a highly-experienced investment professional who has been analyzing and managing public and private fixed income investments for more than twenty-five years.

Prior to establishing Irvine Advisors, Kevin was Co-Founder and Co-President of multi-billion dollar alternative fixed income investment manager Churchill Pacific Asset Management where he was responsible for portfolio management, capital raising, and deal structuring. His investment career began at Transamerica Investment Services where he was a fixed income analyst, trader, and portfolio manager. He then moved to Seneca Capital Management where he was an analyst and trader focused on high yield bonds and leveraged loans.

He holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 63, and 65 securities licenses and has been a Chartered Financial Analyst for over twenty years.

Kevin received his MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and his B.S. in Finance from California State University, Chico. He resides in Dana Point with his wife, Nadya.

Forrest has over 35 years of experience managing equities, fixed income, and alternative investments with MA Wealth Management, Ocean Park Capital, and Prudential Securities.

Prior to establishing Irvine Advisors, Forrest was the Director of Research at MA Wealth Management, where he developed asset allocation models and provided financial advice on traditional asset classes such as equity and fixed income, as well as alternative investments including real estate. Additionally, he provided stock market research and analysis to Ocean Park Capital, while managing a portion of their portfolio. While at Prudential Securities, Forrest served as an Account Executive for high net-worth clients. His specialties included CMOs, options, commodities, and fixed income investments.

Forrest currently has the following security licenses: Series 7, 22, 24, 63, 65. He also holds real estate and life insurance licenses. Forrest earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He lives in Aliso Viejo with his wife, Helen, and their three children.

Dan’s investment real estate career began in Southern California in 1990 working with real estate investors purchasing apartments and rental units for growth and income before attending both Law School and MBA school. While in graduate school he held a position within Wells Fargo’s Mortgage Division (formerly Norwest Mortgage) supporting builder-developers structuring take-out financing for $100M condominium projects. Shortly after graduation, Dan entered the securitized real estate industry working with high-net-worth clients and family office repositioning equity from “active” to “passive” real estate income utilizing 1031 Exchanges. In addition, Dan has worked with his clients to grow their real estate holdings investing into direct investment projects ranging from $10M to $80M. Further Dan has consulted with builder developers raising domestic and international equity and structuring debt to launch condominium and apartment projects in the upper Midwest market.

As an expert in the 1031 DST Exchange industry, Dan provides extensive due diligence on several 1031 Exchange investment properties enabling his clients nationally to make appropriate decisions and complete their tax deferred transaction(s). Finally, Dan works with his clients to evaluate which growth and income funds match their goals and investment criteria.

David has a deep understanding of finance, economic trends, and real estate investments. With over 30 years of experience helping clients, he understands their challenges and needs and works to make their life simpler. He focuses on 1031 exchange investments in DSTs, alternative investments, and single-tenant real estate transactions.

Prior to Irvine Advisors David co-founded and pioneered a commercial and residential real estate development and investment firm surpassing $2.3B in transactions. These investment opportunities were throughout the country with real estate development opportunities in the San Francisco Bay area and Chicago.

David holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from St. Mary’s College, Moraga, CA, and a Certificate in Financial Planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

Rena Morris provides investors with information focusing on alternative investment products that seek to achieve risk adjusted returns that meet or exceed investor expectations. Her real estate alternative investment focus has been enhanced by her past personal and professional real estate experience and my in-house team of analysts.

Licensed as a real estate broker since the 1990s ,and then transitioning to securities’ licensing sin 2004,she has a depth of experience in developing strategies to target wealth enhancement, diversification, and tax efficiency for a variety of her accredited clients.

She prides herself on patiently getting to know her clients and waiting for opportunities that are well-matched for their needs and entry points that are well-timed. Consideration is always given to wealth building, tax consequences & estate planning goals.

When strategic investment planning indicates a sale of real property. she discusses with clients and their real estate brokers in anticipation of a potential 1031 exchange into a syndicated real estate entity, such as a DST, to familiarize them with this option. Within the critical time parameters in mind, she assists with a strategy that embraces a range of measured approaches for consideration.

With more than 20 years of applied experience in real estate brokerage, underwriting, appraisal, pro-forma modeling, finance, and investments, JP Ledesma brings an abundance of knowledge to the Irvine Advsiors team. He is uniquely qualified and passionate about helping 1031 exchange investors source suitable replacement properties through a variety of investment structures, including Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs), tenancy-incommon (TICs), and 721 umbrella partnership real estate investment trusts (UPREITs), as well as direct real estate transactions. JP also specializes in other private alternative investment strategies, including, but not limited to, Opportunity Zones, private equity and debt real estate investment trusts (REITs), interval funds, preferred equity offerings, tax mitigation solutions, and other private placement investments designed to provide investors with passive, non-correlated, tax-efficient income and long-term appreciation.

In addition to his real estate investment experience, JP has an impressive record of serving his community in various elected and appointed positions. He was a member of the Mission Viejo City Council for 12 years and served as Mission Viejo’s youngest mayor. JP also served as a director of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (the redevelopment agency of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro). He was recruited to attend the exclusive California Civic Leadership Institute.

JP graduated from DeVry University with a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in electronics engineering technology. He is a licensed real estate broker in California and holds his Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) series 7 and 66 securities licenses. He has also passed the level 1 chartered financial analyst (CFA) exam.

In his free time, JP enjoys hiking on various nature trails with his wife and daughter, along with reading about history and public policy.

Doug has a background in Alternative Investments, Wealth Management & Insurance Solutions.Prior to joining Irvine Advisors, he was the Director of Business Development for 1031 Exchanges at an alternative investment firm. Doug also worked as a wholesaler for Cantor Fitzgerald where he provided the marketplace with non-traded REITs, Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs) and Opportunity Zones.

For the first time in his financial services career, he came across an investment solution he is truly passionate about, DSTs. This turnkey solution is an incredible opportunity for investors who may not have the time, energy, or real estate expertise to find and/ or manage a replacement property.

Doug received his bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University and holds FINRA licenses Series 7, 63, 65 & 24 as well as his California Insurance License. He currently resides in Orange County, CA.

Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Southern California Bachelors of Science in Management from Pepperdine University Series 7, Series 24, Series 53 and Series 66 registrations

Born and raised in Southern California and the youngest son of a real estate developer, Craig has always had an interest in the world of finance and real estate. Craig has over twenty years of financial services industry experience and has worked for some of the largest firms in the world including Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo and Citigroup Smith Barney. Craig has a Bachelors degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA.

Derek graduated & commissioned from the United States Naval Academy in 2016. He earned a BS in Quantitative Economics and played soccer for the Midshipmen where he garnered countless accolades, and has since been inducted into the Naval Academy Athletics Hall of Fame. He spent the next six years serving in the United States Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer leading hundreds of Sailors and managing multiple shipboard programs and the maintenance of highly integrated warfighting equipment. He went on to study for his Financial Management MBA at the Naval Postgraduate School in 2021.

Since making his exit from the Service in 2022, Derek has attained his Series 7, 24, 63 & 66 securities licenses while working as a Registered Representative. He currently resides in Aliso Viejo with his wife, Valerie, and their newborn son.