Laura Varas founded Hearts & Wallets to provide the market information that leaders need to grow their businesses by strengthening connections between financial solutions and consumer needs. Drawing upon her life-long passion for observing markets worldwide, Laura is a thought leader who combines an in-depth knowledge of financial services with a proven ability to predict future trends.

Laura’s experience delivering business results in product, distribution and segment management roles provided the insight to create Hearts & Wallets’ must-have databases. At Fidelity, Laura led product management and development for Fidelity's equity funds in the retail and institutional retirement channels, covering over 100 funds and $150 billion in assets, and held leadership roles in stock plan services and other businesses. At Citibank, Laura spearheaded new branch openings and an advice software launch in South America. Her earlier experiences include roles at Colgate-Palmolive, Grey Advertising and Mercer Management Consulting strategy practice 

Laura holds a B.A. in economics from Yale University and an MBA in marketing, strategy and decision sciences from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She speaks Spanish, French and German. Laura is a competitive sailor, trained professional flutist and proud mother of three. She enjoys helping clients to achieve their best performances.

Yevgeniy Andrikanis is responsible for systems administration and back-end software development for Hearts & Wallets website and datamining applications, drawing on his expertise in software solutions and data-driven tools as well as his understanding of software architecture, data structure and algorithms. 

With over 8 years of experience at Hearts & Wallets, Yevgeniy’s expertise was honed at innovative companies, including YDesign, where he managed the ecommerce ecosystem; Syntec Inc., where he served as IT director; and Ask.com where he served as software engineer/team lead. He holds a degree in aerospace engineering from the Moscow Aviation Institute (State Technical University). Yevgeniy is fluent in Russian. He frequently visits antique shops, collects samovars, builds dioramas and enjoys spending time with his family, friends and his cat, Mickey.

Charles Collins delivers high-performance experiences to Hearts & Wallets Trends™ subscribers and users of Hearts & Wallets datamining applications.
With over 8 years of experience at Hearts & Wallets, Charles brings two decades of expertise in software development and user experience to his role at Hearts & Wallets.

Prior to joining Hearts & Wallets, he served as lead user experience developer for Localvore, a software platform that connects consumers with local producers and businesses. Before that, Charles applied his creativity and precision user experiences at Vermont Design Works, YLighting and Hartford Life. Charles holds a degree from Champlain College. When he isn’t traveling, hiking, or climbing, Charles can be found helping women learn to code through the Girl Develop It! and building resiliency in youth as a chaperone with The Chill Foundation.

Grace Patel applies her strong background in corporate communications, investor relations and institutional client management in financial services to support Hearts & Wallets Trends™ subscribers. She helps clients make products and services more compelling and competitively distinctive, using Hearts & Wallets databases, to strengthen market position.

Prior to joining Hearts & Wallets, Grace held various account management positions with Financial Dynamics, Edelman and Intermarket Communications, where she worked on a range of engagements, including crisis communications, ongoing media relations, investor perception studies and the development of quarterly earnings materials. Grace holds a BA in comparative literature from University of Pennsylvania. She also has a culinary arts degree from the International Culinary Center and has served as a private chef and food stylist. Grace enjoys experimenting in the kitchen with her twin daughters and is an avid tennis player. She is proficient in Mandarin and French.

Lynn guides all Hearts & Wallets publications and public relations. She works closely with Hearts & Wallets subject matter experts and journalists to craft compelling stories drawn from the Hearts & Wallets databases. 

Lynn has over 15 years of experience at Hearts & Wallets, building upon her expertise as a seasoned professional with decades of experience as a communications consultant and former journalist with The Boston Globe. Prior to joining Hearts & Wallets, she worked closely with many financial services and communications leaders, including Bank of America (Fleet), Comcast and Cox Communications. Lynn led public relations as Vice President of Leonard/Monahan, a recognized creative leader within the advertising industry. Earlier in her career, she managed the editorial team at FM Global, the world's largest business property insurer. She holds a B.A. in communications from Wake Forest University and an M.S. in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Ask her about her extensive fossil collection.

Amber Katris spearheads analysis for the Hearts & Wallets Portrait™ market sizing and Investor Quantitative™ Database, focusing on household finance, retirement funding, investment product ownership, and asset manager and money movement competitive tracking.

Amber has over 15 years of experience at Hearts & Wallets that builds on previous positions at accounting and finance at global corporations, including Quaker Oats and technology companies. She is a licensed CPA and has taught college-level business courses. Amber holds a B.S. in accounting from Purdue University and an MBA in marketing and finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She speaks some Spanish. Amber loves to travel. She has already visited 20 countries and plans to one day pack up her family of six in an RV to tour the 50 states.

Stephanie Keating focuses on building and delivering advice experiences that produce superior outcomes for customers, prospects and firms. With an emphasis on the Hearts & Wallets Inside Advice^® Database, she benchmarks current market practices and develops insights for experience designers and distribution executives that improve customer satisfaction and business results.

Stephanie brings over 30 years of financial services experience with expertise in financial planning, retirement, wealth management, sales, employee benefits, and learning and development. Most recently, she served in various leadership capacities for TIAA and has held leadership and line positions at leading financial institutions, including CIGNA Retirement & Investment Services (now Prudential) and Fleet Bank (now Bank of America). Stephanie holds a B.A. in history from Lake Forest University and an M.A. in history from the University of New Hampshire. Her favorite activities are enjoying a good book on the beach, giving lectures on Tudor-Stuart England and checking out the local music scene.

Beth Krettecos focuses on consumer attitudes that drive purchase decisions, guiding content and analysis on beliefs, behaviors and competitive buying patterns, including pricing, satisfaction and loyalty, for the Hearts & Wallets databases, especially Investor Quantitative™ Database.

With over 8 years of experience at Hearts & Wallets, Beth leverages her extensive expertise in consumer packaged goods marketing, technology and strategy consulting with leading companies, such as Colgate-Palmolive, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Cambridge Technology Partners. She holds a B.S. in business from the University of Virginia and an MBA in marketing, strategy and finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.  Beth, a New Jersey native, enjoys spending time and traveling with her husband and two children.

Rebecca Cunningham supports client customization and covers special interest topics in the Hearts & Wallets Investor Quantitative™ Database.

Rebecca has 30 years of market research experience in financial services, consumer packaged goods and healthcare. She specializes in research that informs strategic decision making across marketing, product development, sales and innovation. Rebecca holds a B.S. in cellular biology/neurophysiology and an MBA in marketing from the University of Maryland. Her hobbies include crochet, sewing and birdwatching. Rebecca enjoys supporting the musical and football pursuits of her two sons.

Jack Egan analyzes the three Hearts & Wallets databases to identify market trends and competitive buying patterns. He applies his strategic thinking and analytical skills to support clients.

A native of San Diego, Jack is an economics major at Yale University where he serves as captain of the nationally ranked Yale sailing team, having been recognized as college sailor of the year by a consortium of coaches in 2023.