About
About Kristian R. Pfeffer
Kristian R. Pfeffer is a Master of Trust and Wealth Management candidate at Campbell University, a U.S. Army veteran, and a fiduciary-minded professional based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, focused on trust administration, estate and gift taxation, and wealth transfer for high-net-worth families.
Professional Summary
Safeguarding what belongs to others
I am a Master of Trust and Wealth Management (MTWM) candidate at Campbell University — the nation's only graduate program of its kind — with advanced training in trust administration, fiduciary principles, estate and gift taxation, investment analysis, and wealth-transfer planning for high-net-worth individuals and families.
I combine six years as a U.S. Army officer accountable for $15M+ in assets with entrepreneurial success building a $2.2M first-year real estate practice. The through-line is a fiduciary mindset shaped by military stewardship: safeguarding what belongs to others, managing risk, and earning the trust of the people I serve. Trust administration, fiduciary service, estate and tax planning, and wealth transfer are that same promise, kept.
Master of Trust & Wealth Management
Campbell University · Lundy-Fetterman School of Business · Aug 2026
- Investment Analysis
- Advanced Income, Estate, Gift & Fiduciary Income Taxation
- Fiduciary Principles
- Advanced Estate Planning
- Wealth Management Sales
- Legal & Regulatory Issues (Regulation 9, Uniform Trust Code, Prudent Investor Act, OFAC/BSA-AML)
Credentials & Licensure
Certification pathways
- CFP® — examination-eligible upon graduation
- CTFA & ATFA — certification pathways
- NC Real Estate Broker — active, issued 2020
- B.A., Political Science & International Relations — Florida Atlantic University, 2014
Graduate Capstone — TRST 760
Comprehensive estate plan for a blended, high-net-worth family
For my capstone, I served as the estate-planning associate for a hypothetical blended family holding a diversified ~$60M estate — a residence and vacation property, operating farmland, closely-held and publicly-traded stock, and a valuable inherited collection — with competing objectives across two spouses, children from a prior marriage, a disabled beneficiary, and a charitable goal.
I drafted a full estate plan and delivered a formal memorandum and presentation, coordinating tax minimization with the family's personal wishes. Representative techniques applied:
- Marital & credit-shelter planning — structuring the unlimited marital deduction and bypass trusts to defer and reduce federal estate tax across both spouses' estates.
- QTIP trusts — providing lifetime benefit to the surviving spouse while directing remainder interests (the vacation home and family farm) to the children, per stirpes.
- Special-needs planning — a third-party special-needs trust to provide for a disabled adult beneficiary without disqualifying her needs-based SSI benefits.
- Charitable strategies — gifting highly-appreciated stock and an inherited collection to a university, weighing outright gifts against a charitable remainder trust for income-tax and capital-gains efficiency.
- Basis & income-tax planning — leveraging the step-up in basis at death and analyzing dividend and rental income streams from the farm, closely-held stock, and rental property.
- Liquidity & titling — payable-on-death designations for immediate spousal access, and correcting asset titling (tenancy by the entirety, JTWROS, tenancy in common) to align with the plan.
Full memorandum available on request.
Professional Experience
Leadership, accountability, and client trust
- Built a book of business from the ground up through client acquisition and referrals, guiding families through the largest financial transactions of their lives and closing $2.2M in sales volume in the first year.
- Advise clients on asset valuation, market positioning, financing structures, and closing logistics — translating complex transactions into clear, actionable recommendations.
- Manage the full client lifecycle: prospecting, needs discovery, onboarding, relationship management, retention, and referral development — the same prospect-pipeline dynamics at the core of wealth management sales.
- Direct day-to-day operations including due diligence and compliance with state licensing, contract, and disclosure requirements.
- Accountable steward of 197 property lines valued at $15M+ — a fiduciary-style duty of care requiring meticulous documentation, account reviews, audits, and internal controls.
- Recovered $250,000 in lost government equipment and reduced excess property by $166,000 by coaching leaders and rebuilding a culture of accountability.
- Led 91 soldiers across 57 specialties supporting a 5,000-person brigade; maintained 95% readiness across 54 mission-essential vehicles.
- Authored the battalion safety SOP still in use today — a risk-management framework with zero accidents following implementation.
- Redesigned ammunition sourcing from push to pull, producing accurate forecasts and recapturing unexpended allocations — disciplined resource forecasting analogous to portfolio, asset allocation, and cash-flow planning.
- Analyzed and planned 32 operations orders and coordinated 115 ranges in 5 months across 7 organizations.
- Accountable for $7M in equipment in a combat environment; sustained zero losses of personnel or property across 30 combat convoy operations.
- Trained and advised 6 coalition brigades through key-leader engagements, building trusted relationships and influence across cultures and organizations.
Core Competencies
Areas of focus
Honors
Off the Clock
The long game, on and off the course
The habits that make a good fiduciary — discipline, patience, and a tolerance for the long, unglamorous middle miles — are the same ones endurance sport demands. I've spent my life chasing finish lines the slow, earned way.
Wealth transfer is a distance event, too. The plan that matters isn't the one that looks fast off the start line — it's the one still standing at mile 26, and the one a family inherits at the finish.
Follow the training on Strava →
Off my feet, you'll find me deep in the archives of xkcd — smart, geeky, and reliably funny. Good company for a rest day.