Fee-Only Fiduciary · Pasadena, CA
Nirav Desai
Founder, Qubera Wealth Management. RSU tax planner for California tech employees. Quantitatively trained. Financially rigorous. No gut calls.
Background
M.S. Computer Science
University of Southern California (USC)
MBA, Finance & Real Estate
UCLA Anderson School of Management
14+ Years Advising
Tech professionals and high earners
20+ Investment Properties
Personal ownership. Same skin in the game.
Fee-Only & Fiduciary
No commissions. Legal obligation to your interests.
Why I built a practice around RSU planning
I started investing at age 16 — before I had a professional credential, before I had a formal framework, before I knew what a fiduciary was. I bought my first stock because I was genuinely curious about how business worked and how wealth compounded over time. That curiosity has never left.
My academic path was unusual for a financial advisor. I studied Computer Science at USC, where I learned to think in systems, models, and quantitative frameworks — to ask what the data actually says, not what convention says. I then went on to complete an MBA in Finance and Real Estate at UCLA Anderson, where I added the financial instruments and structures needed to translate that analytic rigor into real-world planning strategies.
"I come at RSU planning the way an engineer approaches a system: map the inputs, understand the constraints, model the outcomes, and eliminate unnecessary tax at each decision point."
Before founding Qubera Wealth Management, I worked in technology and data analytics. That background matters here. California tech employees with RSU compensation don't have a simple financial situation. They have a compensation structure with unusual mechanics — ordinary income on vest, variable lot-level cost basis, cliff and graded schedules, interaction with ESPP and options — that most generalist advisors don't handle with the precision the situation requires.
I built this practice to address that gap. Not as a broad wealth management firm that happens to see tech employees, but as a practice built from the ground up around equity compensation, RSU tax strategy, and the specific challenge of turning a concentrated position in your employer's stock into durable, diversified wealth — without paying more tax than necessary along the way.
Today I own more than 20 investment properties personally. My retirement assets are invested in the same strategies I build for clients — including the tax offset strategies I recommend, the exchange fund structures, and the concentrated stock plans. When I advocate for a strategy, it's because I've used it myself and built it from first principles, not because it generates a product commission.
Qubera Wealth Management is based in Pasadena, California. We serve clients nationally, with particular depth in California RSU and equity compensation planning — where the combined state and federal tax burden on vesting income is among the highest in the world.
If your RSUs are vesting and you don't have a specific tax reduction strategy in place, the default is writing the IRS — and California — a very large check. That's a solvable problem. Let's talk about it.
Three things that set this practice apart
Quantitative, not intuitive
Every recommendation I make is backed by a model — a spreadsheet, a lot-level analysis, a tax projection. I don't tell clients to "diversify their RSUs" without first modeling the precise tax cost of doing so at different points in time, under different income scenarios, with and without offset strategies deployed. The numbers drive the plan.
Specialty, not breadth
Most financial advisors are generalists. RSU tax planning — specifically for California employees at the highest marginal rates — is a specialization. It requires deep familiarity with vesting mechanics, California tax law, Oil & Gas partnership structures, exchange fund eligibility rules, QOZ fund timelines, and depreciation planning. That's what this practice does.
Direct access, not a team
You work with me directly — not a junior associate, not a rotating team, not a call center. When you have a question about a vesting event, you reach Nirav. This is a deliberate choice. RSU planning requires continuity and institutional knowledge about your specific situation. That's only possible when one person knows your file from front to back.
Fee-only. No commissions. Ever.
As a registered investment advisor, I operate under the fiduciary standard — a legal obligation to act in your interest, not my own. Most financial professionals operate under a lower "suitability" standard. The distinction matters when it comes to RSU strategy: Oil & Gas investments, exchange funds, and QOZ funds all carry economic incentives for advisors who earn commissions. I don't.
Compensation is fees from clients only — never product commissions, referral fees, or revenue sharing from any investment or strategy recommended.
All material conflicts of interest are disclosed in writing before any engagement begins.
Recommendations are made based on your specific situation — not based on what generates the highest fee, the highest commission, or the simplest execution for the advisor.
ADV Part 2 brochure — which discloses services, fees, and all conflicts in plain language — is available below and updated annually.
Noted in
Yahoo Finance
Qubera Wealth Management Launches F.I.R.E System for High Earners Seeking Financial Independence
Press release, September 2022 — Newsfile Corp.
U.S. News Financial Advisors
Nirav Desai — Verified Financial Advisor Listing
SEC-sourced data. Listed under Pasadena, CA financial advisors.
Money.com
Best Financial Advisors in California (2026)
Listed among California's verified fee-only fiduciary advisors.
Start with a conversation.
No pitch. A direct conversation about your vesting schedule, your current tax exposure, and whether there's meaningful planning to do before your next vest date.
Schedule a Free Consultation