Our Culture
We created Bison with a vision that families benefit from 3 simple concepts. Plan, Protect, and Prosper. Bison was founded by The Terry and Kim Pegula Family Office known as East Asset Management in conjunction with operating partner Teton Capital Partners founded by Brad Ball and his team of executives.
As Terry Pegula rose from petroleum engineer to Billionaire Oil and Gas Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, and Professional Sports Team Owner the family was amazed to see all the products, services, and capabilities that became available to them. Bison seeks to make these family office tools available to Bison clients.
View Our Leadership
Dean is a Director and wealth advisor at Bison Wealth. He moved to Brevard in Western North Carolina in 1992 where he worked for Carolina Financial Group (CFG), a boutique Investment Bank, specializing in Venture and Debt financing for middle-market companies. Dean joined Bison Wealth via Lakeview Capital Partners in 2019 as a Wealth Advisor after owning and operating St Marie Financial Advisors in Brevard, NC. St Marie Financial Advisor was a Financial Planning and Wealth Advisory firm Dean began in 2011. After graduating from Barry University in Miami and working for IBM in Boca Raton, FL, Dean moved to Birmingham, AL, and worked with Welch Financial Advisors, specializing in wealth advisory for high-net-worth clients. He began his Investment Advisory career with CFG to help friends and family with unique financial needs. After joining Edward Jones in 2008, Dean returned to his own firm in 2011 because it offered his clients options that Edward Jones did not offer at the time.
Dean earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designation in 2004 and also earned the Certified Exit Planner Advisor (CEPA) designation in 2019. Dean is on the board of SAFE, a women’s shelter in Transylvania County, and the Friends of the Ecusta Trail, a rail/trail formation board. He is the past president of the Brevard/Transylvania Chamber of Commerce as well as the recipient of the Business Person of the Year 2015 and the Ester Wesley Award in 2019. He enjoys his 3 boys and 2 grandchildren, traveling, Crossfit, and trying to outsmart the trout on NC rivers.