John Lester serves as Vice President, Sales and Distribution of Pave Securities, LLC, the wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary of Pave Finance, Inc. He is responsible for overseeing distribution efforts and building relationships with advisors across Southern California and the greater West Coast. Having spent his early careers working with RIAs, John saw the opportunity to bring solutions to the operational complexity that modern independent firms face.

Prior to joining Pave, John spent his career in investment distribution across annuities, ETFs, and alternative investments. He began at Allianz as an Internal Retirement Consultant, wholesaling registered index-linked and fixed index annuities to wirehouses, independents, and banks. He credits that role, and the mentors around him, for shaping how he approaches the work and the conversations he most enjoys having with advisors. John went on to distribute rules-based ETFs at Pacer ETFs before joining Bluerock as an Associate Vice President, raising capital in the RIA and family office channel across a multi-state West Coast territory covering private equity real estate, private credit, and 1031/DST offerings.

John studied Economics, Money and Banking at Pennsylvania State University and holds the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation, Series 7 license, and Series 63 license. Outside of work, he stays active alongside his dog, Scotty, running, spending time at the beaches of Southern California and with family and friends.