Anna joined Columbia Trust Company in 2025, bringing two decades of extensive experience in senior fiduciary roles within several prestigious institutions. Before joining Columbia Trust Company, Anna held the role of Chief Fiduciary Officer at her previous institution, overseeing wealth management services with a focus on sophisticated wealth and tax planning for ultra-high net worth individuals, businesses, charities, and endowments. Anna has managed substantial client portfolios and executed complex trust administration and estate planning strategies.
Recognized as one of the leading figures in her field, Anna has been honored with several accolades, including being named among the "Top 50 Women Leaders of Los Angeles 2022", "America’s Top Ten Women of Distinction in 2022", and "The 10 Charismatic Women Leaders Inspiring the Business World in 2022". Her expertise has been acknowledged by various media publications, with her designation as Chief Fiduciary Officer in 2023 receiving particular acclaim.
Anna earned a Bachelor of Science Degree at Moscow University in Russia, before pursuing a Master’s Degree in Finance at the Moscow University of Statistics and Economics. Anna furthered her education by obtaining an MBA from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.
Certified as a Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) and registered as a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), Anna is actively involved in professional associations such as the Orange County Estate Planning Council, Orange County Women Lawyers Association, ACG OC Chapter, and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP OC), where she serves on the board of Directors.
Anna is multilingual, proficient in English, Russian, and holds moderate proficiency in German, enhancing her ability to connect with a diverse clientele and navigate international business environments effectively.
Fei’s experience includes providing tax compliance and domestic and international tax consulting services to closely held businesses such as partnerships, limited liability companies, C Corporations, and S Corporations. She has successfully represented many clients before the Internal Revenue Service and the California Franchise Tax Board to resolve tax notices and audit examinations.
Fei specializes in serving high net-worth multi-generational families and closely held business owners in areas related to estate and gift tax, post-mortem tax planning, fiduciary income tax, generation-skipping transfer tax, and business succession planning.
Fei provides tax compliance and consulting services for international investors on income and estate tax planning, strategic planning for investment in the U.S. real estate market, and pre- immigration tax planning.
Fei earned both a B.S. in Commerce with Concentration in Accounting and a M.S. in Taxation from the University of Virginia. She is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants and a member of the Orange County Estate Planning Council. Fei is fluent in both written and spoken Chinese.
Cindy Brittain is a partner in BakerHostetler’s Trusts and Estates practice, focusing on domestic and international estate and tax planning. Cindy has deep experience in international cross-border planning, advising large global families and their wealth transfer strategies. Her experience bridges private client and cross-border corporate integration. Prior to joining BakerHostetler, Cindy was the director of Inbound Wealth Advisory and a senior fiduciary officer at an international financial institution, where she assisted clients with their cross-border strategies. She worked with the company’s Delaware office to establish foreign trusts with interposed foreign corporations. Cindy also advised on pre-immigration planning, using eligible check-the-box corporations, defective section 351 transactions and non-qualified preferred stock for cost-basis step-up.
Renee Gabbardprovides her clients—including privately held businesses, high net worth clients, and charitable organizations—a wide range of legal services including all aspects of income, capital gains, gift and estate tax planning, charitable planning, advanced wealth and business succession planning, capital gains tax deferral techniques, acquisition, sale and liquidity planning, private corporate structuring, asset freeze techniques, family office planning, insurance planning, trust tax planning, and trust administration. Her experience includes business succession and wealth planning for high net worth families and families with concentrated stock, real estate, sports teams and/or privately held businesses. Renee provides these services by combining two disciplines, the Federal Gift and Estate Tax with the formation and taxation of privately held pass through entities such as limited partnerships, LLCs, and S Corporations.
Anna joined Columbia Trust Company in 2025, bringing two decades of extensive experience in senior fiduciary roles within several prestigious institutions. Before joining Columbia Trust Company, Anna held the role of Chief Fiduciary Officer at her previous institution, overseeing wealth management services with a focus on sophisticated wealth and tax planning for ultra-high net worth individuals, businesses, charities, and endowments. Anna has managed substantial client portfolios and executed complex trust administration and estate planning strategies.
Recognized as one of the leading figures in her field, Anna has been honored with several accolades, including being named among the "Top 50 Women Leaders of Los Angeles 2022", "America’s Top Ten Women of Distinction in 2022", and "The 10 Charismatic Women Leaders Inspiring the Business World in 2022". Her expertise has been acknowledged by various media publications, with her designation as Chief Fiduciary Officer in 2023 receiving particular acclaim.
Anna earned a Bachelor of Science Degree at Moscow University in Russia, before pursuing a Master’s Degree in Finance at the Moscow University of Statistics and Economics. Anna furthered her education by obtaining an MBA from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.
Certified as a Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) and registered as a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), Anna is actively involved in professional associations such as the Orange County Estate Planning Council, Orange County Women Lawyers Association, ACG OC Chapter, and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP OC), where she serves on the board of Directors.
Anna is multilingual, proficient in English, Russian, and holds moderate proficiency in German, enhancing her ability to connect with a diverse clientele and navigate international business environments effectively.
Fei Zhao’s experience includes providing tax compliance and domestic and international tax consulting services to closely held businesses such as partnerships, limited liability companies, C Corporations, and S Corporations. She has successfully represented many clients before the Internal Revenue Service and the California Franchise Tax Board to resolve tax notices and audit examinations.
Fei specializes in serving high net-worth multi-generational families and closely held business owners in areas related to estate and gift tax, post-mortem tax planning, fiduciary income tax, generation-skipping transfer tax, and business succession planning.
Fei provides tax compliance and consulting services for international investors on income and estate tax planning, strategic planning for investment in the U.S. real estate market, and pre- immigration tax planning.
Fei earned both a B.S. in Commerce with Concentration in Accounting and a M.S. in Taxation from the University of Virginia. She is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants and a member of the Orange County Estate Planning Council. Fei is fluent in both written and spoken Chinese.
Cindy Brittain is a partner in BakerHostetler’s Trusts and Estates practice, focusing on domestic and international estate and tax planning. Cindy has deep experience in international cross-border planning, advising large global families and their wealth transfer strategies. Her experience bridges private client and cross-border corporate integration. Prior to joining BakerHostetler, Cindy was the director of Inbound Wealth Advisory and a senior fiduciary officer at an international financial institution, where she assisted clients with their cross-border strategies. She worked with the company’s Delaware office to establish foreign trusts with interposed foreign corporations. Cindy also advised on pre-immigration planning, using eligible check-the-box corporations, defective section 351 transactions and non-qualified preferred stock for cost-basis step-up.
Renee Gabbard provides her clients—including privately held businesses, high net worth clients, and charitable organizations—a wide range of legal services including all aspects of income, capital gains, gift and estate tax planning, charitable planning, advanced wealth and business succession planning, capital gains tax deferral techniques, acquisition, sale and liquidity planning, private corporate structuring, asset freeze techniques, family office planning, insurance planning, trust tax planning, and trust administration. Her experience includes business succession and wealth planning for high net worth families and families with concentrated stock, real estate, sports teams and/or privately held businesses. Renee provides these services by combining two disciplines, the Federal Gift and Estate Tax with the formation and taxation of privately held pass through entities such as limited partnerships, LLCs, and S Corporations.
Kelly Cruz is an estate planning attorney based in Orange County, California with more than fourteen years of experience working with high net worth families and individuals. Kelly is a Partner and Director of Strategic Planning for Aspiriant, a national independent RIA with more than $12 billion of assets under management. Kelly also represents clients throughout California, including Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, as a Partner of her law firm, Primiani, Stevens, Cruz & Punim. Kelly has extensive experience serving affluent families and corporate executives with assets ranging from $5 million to $1 billion. Her work includes traditional trusts and wills, sophisticated wealth transfer techniques, real property transfers, business succession planning, philanthropy planning, valuation issues pertaining to wealth transfer planning, and federal gift tax returns. In her role at Aspiriant, Kelly works closely with client service teams to help clients make sound financial decisions by providing context and offering estate planning solutions that integrate estate planning, investments, taxes, cash flow, and family goals.
Kelly earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine (go Anteaters!), graduating cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She then went on to earn her J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law. She is a member of the California Bar Association, the State Bar of California, and STEP-Orange County.
