Exploring Life & Business with Sean Kennally of Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley – The Pasadena Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Kennally.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I graduated from the University of Southern California in January 1979. In the Spring of 1979 I had a part-time job managing the Wine Cocktail Stand at the Universal Amphitheatre in the Hollywood/North Hollywood part of California. One night the sister of a friend came to the stand and asked me what I was doing and if I had ever considered becoming a Stock Broker. I hadn’t, but she said they were hiring at the Dean Witter Office in Santa Monica California. I went in for an interview, got the job and 46 years later I’m still with Dean Witter (now Morgan Stanley) and I moved to the Dean Witter Glendale Branch in 1996 and then to the Morgan Stanley Pasadena Branch in 2011.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Life is full of challenges and I’ve had my share. When I first started at Dean Witter it was during a period of double digit inflation and interest rates. Then in 1987 the Savings & Loan crisis hit the markets and the Dow Jones Industrials lost 22% of its value on one day, October 19, 1987. Then we had the Dot.com disaster of 2000 and the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. After a 50% decline in the markets, stocks recovered to new all-time highs by November 2007. Then the subprime mortgage mess of 2008-2009 took the markets down another 50%. I continued to plug along and grow my business, and then COVID hit in 2020. The markets have since recovered and now the concerns center around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and whether or not the markets are in a “bubble.” Through all of that, I’ve had a great career, I love my job, and at age 70 I have no plans to retire, even though I’ve done a good job of building my personal net worth to carry me through the end of life and provide a legacy from my only child, a 40 year old daughter.

As you know, we’re big fans of Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley – The Pasadena Group. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
From 1979 to 2018, I was a sole practitioner (Financial Advisor) at Morgan Stanley. My business centered around investing in municipal bonds, building individual stock positions, and building professionally managed mutual fund portfolios.

In January 2018 my personal and business life changed. I was introduced to my future succession plan. Even though I didn’t have any plans to retire, I was facing another Aortic Heart Valve replacement. My Aortic Valve was first replaced in 1990 through open-heart surgery. But that valve was starting to fail and a TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement) was done on May 1, 2018.

To prepare for any outcome, I was introduced to what would become the second most important woman in my life (behind my daughter Christina) and her name is Shirley Ceja-Tinoco.

Shirley’s sister Karla had been my CSA (Client Service Associate) since 2014. Karla knew that the one area of this business that I was lacking in was Financial Planning. Shirley had been with the firm since 2010 and she spent those first 8 years on a team that specialized in 401k’s. She had received her MBA in Finance from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and she was an expert in Financial Planning.

Because of rule changes with the DOL’s (Department of Labor) Fiduciary Standard (which applied to retirement accounts) and the SEC’s RegBi (Regulation Best Interest), most Financial Advisors were encouraged to become Fiduciaries and in order to do so, Financial Planning has become an integral part of our practice. Shirley handles all of that.

As stated previously, Shirley spent the first 8 years of her career at Morgan Stanley as a member of The Pasadena Group Team. The Pasadena Group Team consists of 5 Financial Advisors headed by Executive Director Richard Bratincevic and his son Jon Bratincevic. Both are Corporate Retirement Directors. Also on the team are Armen Shabanian, CFP, James Chan, CFA and Gladys Lugo and Leslie Fong. In 2020, The Pasadena Group invited me to join the “team” and it has been a great experience.

What I’m most proud of is the fact that my partnership with Shirley was recently recognized in the 2026 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams. Another little known fact is that in 2025 both Shirley and I achieved Senior Vice President titles at Morgan Stanley. I often comment that it took Shirley six years to achieve that title and it only took me 45 years. I tell clients that she’s a rising star and she’s pulling me along in her wake.

I think what sets us apart is that we almost always insist on having Shirley build a very robust and comprehensive Financial Plan for any clients or referrals that want to do business with us. From there, Shirley works with Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee to help with Portfolio Construction to help clients build wealth while managing the risk.

I didn’t mention it above, but also on Shirley’s and my team is our Portfolio Associate/Client Service Associate Mandy Cheung. Mandy is amazing and she’s just as responsible for the success Shirley and I are having as we help our clients build their wealth while managing the risk.

I work for Morgan Stanley. I have access to so many resources at this Global Wealth Management Firm. Our Firm can help us in every area of services that clients desire and with a variety of investment offerings.

I think what sets us apart from others is “me.” I still work 10-hour days and I’m often in the office on weekends. As I said previously, I really don’t have to work because I have built and grown the resources to see to it that I can maintain my current lifestyle. But I also want to create a legacy for my daughter and grandson and that, and the opportunity to work with Shirley, is what motivates me to show up every day and put in my best efforts.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
My first mentor was my first boss at the Dean Witter branch in Santa Monica, California. His name is Bob Honey. Bob is 87 now but he retired at the end of 2018 after spending 54 years at Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley. My goal is to see if I can have my career at Morgan Stanley go 54 years or longer.

I became Shirley’s mentor in 2018 when we first became business partners. Today she mentors me and she’s half my age.

As far as networking goes, since 1998 I’ve been a member of the USC Athletics Board of Councilors. I was also the President of the Trojan Club of the San Gabriel Valley from 2000 to 2020. So my advice would be to “volunteer” your time because it will help you stay young (at least mentally) and you get a chance to meet a lot of great like minded people who may one day become a valued client.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.morganstanleyfa.com/pasadenagroup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-kennally-6174471