David Vaught, CFA

David has enjoyed an extensive career in law, finance, and public service.  He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the 82nd Airborne Division.  He received his J.D. degree cum laude from Southern Illinois University School of Law.  He has completed course work and a thesis on tax accounting for the DePaul University College of Law, Master of Law in Taxation Program.  David received his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1994, while working on the Illinois Treasurer’s $5 billion portfolio.  He has worked with investment clients for over 20 years, much of it with the investment advisory firm, Mitchell, Vaught & Taylor, Inc, which he founded in 1996, and now with Propel Financial Advisors that he co-founded in 2018.

From 2009-2012, he served as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget through four Illinois budgets.  His responsibilities included balancing the Illinois budget in the state’s fiscal crisis while also issuing Illinois bonds.  He worked with major underwriters and in answering questions from rating agencies and other investors to successfully issue billions in bonds during the worst recession in decades.  He also served as the Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in 2012.   He served for four years as Chairman of the Illinois Procurement Policy Board.  He has also served in fiduciary capacities as a trustee of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and the Illinois Finance Authority.   He has been elected three times to two different public school boards, last serving at Naperville District 203.

He is a private pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings.  He has flown safely as a pilot for over 50 years and is a member of the Naperville Businessmen’s Flying Club. He spends much of his time traveling the country with his four adult children and their growing families.