Elena Ladygina is a Partner, Senior Advisor, and Head of the New York City office at Veris. She serves as a voting member of the firm’s Investment Committee and Management Team. With two decades of experience, Elena provides comprehensive financial and investment guidance to individuals, families, and organizations, helping them align their financial assets with their values. She holds the CFA® Charterholder and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certifications and focuses on navigating the complexities of wealth management for high net worth clients. 

What led you to become an advisor with expertise in helping investors align their financial assets with their values?

Elena Ladygina: As an immigrant who was born in communist Russia, I have understood the value of opportunity since I was very young. I was 15 years old when I was first offered the chance to move from my parents’ home in Siberia to live and study in the United States. I ended up staying and completing my education in America and that opportunity changed the whole course of my life. 

When I was an undergraduate student at Wake Forest University, Maya Angelou was a professor there. Something she said had a profound impact on me throughout my life: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” That idea is at the core of who I am and how I think and operate as a person. Giving back to others has always been part of my mindset. I first decided to become a financial advisor because I enjoy helping people. I love helping my clients connect the dots so they can see and better understand their financial picture and then working with them to build a plan designed to achieve their most important goals.   

I began my journey as a financial advisor in 2005, and over the past 20 years, my focus has evolved alongside the markets. While my CFA® and CFP® credentials provide the backbone for the strategic and technical guidance I offer, my passion lies in purposeful investing. After seeing the profound effect that sustainable and impact investing can have on people and communities, I’ve focused my practice on helping clients connect their wealth to their wisdom. Whether I’m working with a family or an organization, my goal is to ensure your financial legacy reflects what matters most to you.

Today, my greatest personal satisfaction comes from helping clients use their portfolios to drive positive change. By aligning investment capital with deeply held values, we seek to create more than just returns, we seek to create opportunity. From fostering economic equity in underserved communities to enhancing the quality of life for others, I aim to help my clients ensure their financial success leaves a meaningful mark on the world.

Elena in conversation with Veris Senior Advisor Jane Swan and Senior Advisor Lori Choi in the firm’s New York office.

What are some of the things that you’ve learned over the course of your career that you wish more people knew? 

Elena Ladygina: I believe the biggest hurdle to financial success isn’t usually a lack of information, it’s the weight of the decisions. In over two decades being an advisor, I’ve seen brilliant people become paralyzed by the magnitude of their wealth and the complexity of the markets. They feel they have to solve everything at once, which often leads to doing nothing at all.

My philosophy is simple: Give yourself grace. As an advisor, I believe my role is to act as your objective personal CFO or a quarterback and to absorb the stress of the ‘how’ so you can focus on the ‘why.’ We don’t climb the mountain in one jump, we take one prudent, well-timed step at a time. Whether we are navigating market volatility, tax and estate strategy or aligning your capital with social causes you care about, the goal is to turn your overwhelm into a clear, actionable path forward. Financial success is about progress, not perfection.

Elena and Veris CIO Roraj Pradhananga speaking at Gratitude Railroad’s 2025 East Coast Gathering.

What brings you the most satisfaction in your role as an Advisor?

Elena Ladygina: What brings me the most satisfaction is helping my clients piece together the complex puzzle of their financial lives. There is a powerful moment when the big picture finally emerges, even if the pieces don’t fit exactly the way they thought they might. I enjoy helping my clients build a plan designed around what matters most to them in life, and I love talking to clients about the positive changes their investments are helping bring about in other people’s lives.

That keeps me inspired not only in my advisory work, but also in the ways that I give back in the community and in my board service. I believe serving on the Board of Trustees and chairing the Investment Committee for a major nonprofit senior housing provider in New Jersey allows me to apply that same sophisticated financial governance to a mission I care about. Whether I’m guiding a family or a large organization, I am inspired by the way strategic planning can create life-changing opportunities.

What are you going to for sources of hope or inspiration at this moment? 

I am intentionally choosing optimism. Our world faces significant challenges, both old and new, that we need to solve. I’m trying to focus on the things I can do and the steps I can take day by day to be part of the solution, and I always remember my own advice: making some progress is better than no progress.  

I am deeply inspired by the work we are doing alongside our clients to address systemic issues like racial and gender inequality. For example, I am inspired by the Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) on our platform that are putting capital in the hands of entrepreneurs often overlooked by traditional providers, giving them access to opportunities to do better for themselves and their communities.

I’m also moved by innovators like Apis & Heritage, who prove that innovation isn’t just about gadgets, it’s about systems. By shifting from an extractive model to an inclusive one that turns workers into owners, they aren’t just helping a business, they are rebuilding a community’s future. One step at a time, we are striving to prove that we can all do better tomorrow.”

There are so many unique and innovative ways to make a positive difference in our economy and our society. In my own life and in my work with my clients, I believe the path forward remains the same, taking one intentional step at a time. By focusing on progress over perfection, we can grow opportunities that allow us all to do better tomorrow. Together, we aren’t just managing wealth, we are building a more inclusive future.

Elena Ladygina is a finalist in the Women in Wealth Management (Individual) category of the 2026 Family Wealth Report Awards, which will be announced in April.1 

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

The information included herein is provided for informational purposes only, does not represent investment advice or recommendations, and reflects the views of the speaker. The references to specific investments are provided for illustrative purposes only, and no inference should be drawn as to whether such investments have achieved their intended goals.