Mike Hughes is the LPL Registered Principal of Palo Alto Capital Management, which he established as an independent financial services firm affiliated with Wells Fargo Financial Network in January of 2010. On July 13, 2020, Mike and Palo Alto Capital Management moved to LPL Financial.
Mike entered the financial services industry as a financial consultant with Shearson/American Express in 1983 after graduating from San Jose State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and an MBA in Finance. Prior to entering the financial services business, Mike served as an Air Traffic Controller in the United States Air Force.
Throughout his career in financial services, Mike has also enjoyed teaching. He taught “Securities and Investing” at the College of San Mateo for 10 years, and held the position of National Sales Trainer for PaineWebber in the late 1980s.
Mike is an avid hiker who has enjoyed great hiking trips throughout the world over the years, including the Inca Trail in Peru, the Dolomites region of the Alps in Italy, the Cariboo Mountains in Canada, and the Grand Canyon “rim to rim.”
Mike and his wife, Joan, who also works for Palo Alto Capital Management, live in San Mateo and have 3 grown children.

Joan was born and raised in Fresno, California. She attended UCLA and UC Santa Barbara where she received her B.A. in communication studies. Prior to entering the financial services industry in 2010, Joan worked in medical sales with Kendall and Becton Dickinson for a combined 20 years. She has been active for many years in volunteer work in educational, sports, and fine arts programs and enjoys exercising, traveling, hiking, music and gardening.

Joan and her husband, Michael, have 3 grown children and live in San Mateo CA.