Shamyia Smith

Stanley Liu is the principal of DocEmpowered, LLC, a fee-only financial advisory firm based in Baltimore, MD. He holds a Series 65 designation and has one year of industry experience. Prior to founding DocEmpowered in 2023, he worked for eight years at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In addition to his advisory role, Mr. Liu practices part-time as a non-invasive cardiologist. DocEmpowered, LLC provides comprehensive financial planning and consulting primarily for physicians and their adult household family members. The firm emphasizes long-term, passive investment strategies based on Modern Portfolio Theory and behavioral finance, offering project-based and ongoing services without discretionary management or custody of assets.

James Funck is the sole advisor at Baltimore Avenue Investments, LLC in Towson, MD, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses with 23 years of industry experience. He has worked at Investors Security Co Inc since 2002 and founded Baltimore Avenue Investments in 2012. Baltimore Avenue Investments provides discretionary portfolio management and financial planning services to individual and high-net-worth clients. The firm employs a combination of charting, fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis with both long- and short-term strategies, including short sales, margin transactions, and options writing.

Diepriye Briggs is a financial advisor at Gramel Capital Management LLC with 18 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and has worked at Gramel Capital Management since 2008, with prior experience at Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. and OGR Investment & Trust Co Ltd. Briggs also serves as a director of a Nigerian investment adviser. Gramel Capital Management serves individual investors, pension and profit-sharing plans, corporations, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations by providing financial planning and discretionary portfolio management. The firm’s approach focuses on fundamental security analysis and a generally conservative strategy tailored to each client’s financial situation, risk tolerance, and time horizon.

Hi, I’m Matt. My job as a financial planner is to make your life simpler. To help you efficiently and effectively narrow down your options, so you can make the right decisions. And be confident in those decisions for the long-term. Financial planning and investment management are often muddied by unnecessary complexity (usually in an effort to sell you something). It doesn’t need to be this way. I began my career in the financial services industry in 2003 as an analyst with the due diligence law firm Snyder Kearney, LLC (Columbia, MD). At Snyder Kearney, I reviewed public and private securities offerings and evaluated national securities sponsoring companies, focusing on real estate investments and non-traditional investment products. It was there that I realized that I wanted to know more about the practice of law and a lot more about the pretty co-worker in the cubicle next to me, Sylvie. I earned my law degree in 2007 from the University of Baltimore School of Law and married Sylvie in 2008; further proof that education and personal relationships are the investments that produce the best returns. After law school, I practiced law with the firm David Albert & Associates, LLC (Bethesda, MD), focusing in estate planning and administration, guardianship administration, taxation of estates and trusts, and business formations. There, I recognized that helping clients through complicated and often stressful issues was intellectually stimulating and emotionally fulfilling. In 2010, I opened Patuxent Financial Partners, LLC, registered as an Investment Adviser with the State of Maryland in 2017. Here, I leverage my legal background to provide clients with value-added insight in the overlapping areas of estate and financial planning. More importantly, as a personal financial planner and small business owner, I can build lasting relationships with clients and their families; these connections make my work fulfilling, because client success becomes intertwined with my own. I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner and hold the FINRA Series 65 securities registration. Raised in Columbia, Maryland, I graduated from McDaniel College with a bachelor's degree in English. Outside of the office, I enjoy running, reading, and hiking with my wife, son, and our mutt hound, Kodi.

Gabriel Trasatti is a financial advisor at Trasatti Wealth Planning, LLC in Baltimore, MD, with 15 years of industry experience. He holds the PFS™ and Series 66 designations and has led his independent firm since 2004. His background includes advanced financial planning and accounting credentials. Trasatti Wealth Planning provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management to individuals, families, charitable institutions, foundations, and corporate pension or profit-sharing plans. The firm offers customized investment strategies with continuous monitoring and formal quarterly reviews, integrating holistic planning across retirement, tax, estate, and cash-flow matters.

Thomas Reilly is a financial advisor at Pine Tree Financial Services, Inc. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has three years of industry experience. He has been associated with Pine Tree Financial Services, Inc. since 1982. Pine Tree Financial Services, Inc. is an independent registered investment adviser that manages balanced equity and fixed-income portfolios for individuals and small businesses. The firm emphasizes investing in companies with durable revenue streams and growing profitability, manages all accounts on a non-discretionary basis, and serves a client base that includes significant non-U.S. exposure.