Maria E. Smith, Chief Executive Officer began her advisor career at Smith Affiliated Capital in 1984. In 2004, Maria founded Intuitive Strategies Consulting LLC, an independent consulting firm specializing in strategic business development, operational risk management, and forensic consulting. She returned to SAC in 2011 as Managing Director and a member of SAC’s Board of Directors. She is a principal owner of Smith Affiliated Capital Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Smith Affiliated Ventures LLC (SAV). Her core duties include the oversight of SAC’s risk management strategies as they relate to investments, operations, and SAC’s strategic growth. In addition to her duties at SAC, she has held several key board positions with the Investment Advisor Association in Washington D.C. and as a member of the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) Board for the CFA Institute, where she actively participated with regulators and industry professionals in developing global performance standards for the investment industry. She is a member of the Northeast Women in Public Finance as well as the New England Association for Financial Professionals. Maria earned a BA in Business Administration from Marymount Manhattan College and an Executive MBA from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College/CUNY.