A Team of Specialists
Zoop Alpha LLC (dba Zoop Alpha Advisors) is a registered investment adviser that brings together quantitative research, institutional asset management, and comprehensive financial planning under one coordinated model.
Why Zoop Alpha?
Many advisors focus on individual products rather than a coordinated plan. They provide portfolio management, not comprehensive financial planning. And they give everyone the same 60/40 portfolio.
Zoop Alpha is different. We deliver comprehensive planning — investments, taxes, insurance, and estate — together, through a coordinated team of specialists. Our investment advisory services are provided as a fiduciary for an advisory fee. Insurance products are offered separately by licensed insurance professionals, who may receive commissions; we disclose this compensation and the related conflicts of interest.
Meet the Team
Ron Piccinini, Ph.D.
Model Architect
The analytical engine behind every portfolio model, Ron brings institutional-caliber credentials rarely seen outside the world’s largest asset managers. A Ph.D. quantitative analyst and risk scientist, he develops and maintains four proprietary model portfolios with volatility-triggered repositioning, designed to help defend wealth when markets break and participate when they recover.
Edward Bertelsen
Chief Compliance Officer
Ed has spent decades as a chief compliance officer, and firms often call him in when compliance needs fixing. He oversees compliance, regulatory affairs, and advisor onboarding, making sure everything Zoop Alpha does meets SEC requirements and the fiduciary standard, with the transparency and rigor clients should expect.
Ed Smelich
Director of Advisors
Ed leads Zoop Alpha’s team of investment adviser representatives and is often the first advisor a family meets. He makes sure every conversation starts with listening: what keeps you up at night, and what you want your money to do.
Emily Evans
Director of Operations
Emily keeps the back end running smoothly so advisors can focus on clients. She makes sure the right systems are in place, communication keeps moving between every member of the team, and no one, client or advisor, falls through the cracks.
Tiffany Canfield
Onboarding Coordinator
Tiffany makes sure every new advisor gets set up powerfully from day one, and that their clients do too. From accounts and paperwork to the first welcome call, she turns a transition into a smooth start.
Robert Johnson
Founder
Robert started out as a U.S. Navy nuclear power plant operator, where you design for failure before it happens. He has worked in financial services since 1992, and he kept seeing the same thing: the wealthiest families get a family office, a whole team, and the best information. Everyone else gets a product and a pitch. Zoop Alpha exists to change that, giving everyday families access to the strategies and information usually reserved for the wealthiest people in the country. He and his wife, Hannah, also run an insurance agency and a tax strategy firm, supporting more than 100 advisors nationwide.
“In a nuclear reactor, you don’t hope the backup works. You design for the failure before it happens. That’s how we build retirement plans.”
LinkedInCoordinated Expertise
Altium Investment Strategies
Sub-Advisor & Asset Manager
Altium gives independent RIAs access to institutional-grade, defined-outcome strategies personalized to each client, fully liquid, and risk-optimized. They manage the quantitative options strategies and tail-risk-optimized portfolios through separately managed accounts (SMAs).
altiumstrategies.comStraxen
Quantitative Research & Modeling
Founded by Ron Piccinini, Ph.D., Straxen provides the heavy-tail risk modeling and optimization methodology that replaces broken bell-curve models. Their research demonstrates that tail risk correlates extremely well with maximum drawdown — minimize tail risk and you directly reduce worst-case loss.
straxen.comFirm Details
Legal Name
Zoop Alpha LLC
DBA
Zoop Alpha Advisors
SEC File Number
801-137254
Mailing Address
2660 E Diamond Ave, Mesa, AZ 85204
Zoop Alpha LLC is a registered investment adviser. Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training.