Shira Katsir is a CFP® professional with nine years of experience in financial advising, currently serving at Hightower Advisors since 2020. Her prior roles include positions at Stearns Financial Group and CAPTrust. Hightower Advisors provides investment advisory and planning services to a diverse client base, including individuals, institutions, and pooled investment vehicles. The firm emphasizes a manager selection approach with multi-manager solutions, combining affiliated and third-party managers, and offers services such as discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting.

Jane Yarborough is a CFP® with 32 years of industry experience, currently serving at Truist Advisory Services in Chapel Hill, NC. She has been affiliated with SunTrust Advisory Services and related SunTrust entities since 2006. Yarborough serves on the Board of Directors for Duke Memorial United Methodist Church’s Memorial Church Fund, a non-profit foundation account overseeing investment decisions for the church. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate and business clients, retirement plan sponsors and participants, and charitable organizations. The firm combines discretionary manager relationships with non-discretionary consulting and utilizes third-party platforms and AI-enabled research tools to support its investment strategies.

Joseph Pantoja is a financial advisor at MAI Capital Management, LLC with 19 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations. Prior to joining MAI in 2024, he worked at WCG Wealth Advisors, LLC for eight years and has been associated with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co and Treloar & Heisel, LLC for 20 years. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved with Treloar & Heisel, LLC, which provides fixed insurance sales and health, accident, and property & casualty insurance products. MAI Capital Management offers investment management, wealth management, retirement plan consulting, and family-office services to a diverse client base, including high-net-worth individuals, families, sports professionals, trusts, and institutional clients. The firm manages $72.3 billion in assets and provides a broad range of customized portfolio strategies and integrated financial planning services.

Tyler Mills is a CFP® professional with eight years of experience in the financial services industry. He is currently with Empower Advisory Group and Empower Financial Services, having previously worked at Personal Capital Advisors Corporation, T. Rowe Price, Bank of America, and Merrill Lynch. Mills is based in Durham, NC. Empower Advisory Group provides financial planning and investment management primarily to employer-sponsored retirement plan sponsors and their participants, as well as to certain retail brokerage clients. The firm emphasizes long-term portfolio returns and integrates its services with Empower’s recordkeeping and administrative platforms.

Michael Krisko is a CFP® professional with 23 years of industry experience, currently advising clients at Commonwealth Financial Network since 2013. He also spent a year at Ameriprise in 2013. Outside of his advisory role, he owns Michael Krisko, Inc., which conducts securities and insurance business. Commonwealth Financial Network is a dual-registered broker/dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser serving a national network of approximately 2,900 advisors and managing over $212 billion in client assets. The firm offers a wide range of managed-account programs, third-party asset manager access, and custody services, supporting both individual and institutional clients.

John Netherton is a financial advisor at Truist Advisory Services with 11 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has been with Truist Advisory Services since 2016 and Truist Investment Services since 2015. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved in agricultural activities through his sole proprietorship, Netherton Outdoors, which includes farming mushrooms and harvesting honey. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm utilizes a combination of discretionary and non-discretionary approaches, supported by third-party platforms and manager arrangements, with an emphasis on inter-affiliate integration.

Ryan Cook is a CFP® and ChFC® with 15 years of industry experience. He has been with Valic Financial Advisors since 2010 and also works as an agent with Agia. Outside of his advisory role, he owns a home in Nebo, North Carolina, which he rents out seasonally. Valic Financial Advisors primarily serves U.S.-based individual investors, including high-net-worth clients, as well as corporate and retirement-plan participants. The firm offers discretionary managed-account programs, financial planning, and brokerage services, utilizing Envestnet UMA models for portfolio construction.

Brian Futch is a financial advisor with Truist Advisory Services in Durham, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 26 years of industry experience. He has been with Truist Investment Services since 2005 and with Truist Advisory Services since 2016. Outside of his advisory role, he serves as president of a rental property management business where he oversees tax and insurance responsibilities. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations, utilizing a combination of discretionary and non-discretionary manager arrangements along with AI-supported research and inter-affiliate integration.

Darryl Lindsey is a financial advisor with Valic Financial Advisors in Durham, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 credentials and bringing 36 years of industry experience. He has been with Valic Financial Advisors since 2007 and also serves as an agent with Agia, focusing on non-securities insurance products. Valic Financial Advisors primarily serves U.S.-domiciled individual investors, including high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, as well as corporate and retirement-plan participants, offering discretionary managed-account programs, financial planning, and brokerage services.

Timothy Atkins is a CFP® professional with 17 years of experience in financial advising. He is currently with Commonwealth Financial Network and White Oak Financial Specialists, a private entity he owns that facilitates securities, advisory, and insurance business. Prior to these roles, he worked for Ic Advisory Services Inc and The Investment Center Inc for 12 years. Commonwealth Financial Network serves a national network of approximately 2,950 advisors and their clients by providing a range of advisory programs, technology, and operational support. The firm offers discretionary model portfolios and multiple program structures, including customized and personalized indexing options.

Corey Overcash is a CFP® and ChFC® with 11 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has been with Valic Financial Advisors since 2014 and also holds a position as an agent with Agia, where he works with non-securities insurance products. Valic Financial Advisors primarily serves U.S.-domiciled individual investors, including high-net-worth clients, as well as corporate and retirement-plan participants. The firm offers discretionary managed-account programs, financial planning, and brokerage services, utilizing Envestnet UMA models and maintaining a large network of advisors.

Thomas Griffith is a CFP® and holds a Series 65 license with 10 years of industry experience. He is currently with Brookstone Capital Management LLC and has prior experience at Insurance Advisor Associates, Inc., Gradient Investments, LLC, Cardinal Retirement Planning, Inc., and H.E. Scheil & Associates, Inc., where he also manages insurance-related business activities. Brookstone Capital Management is an SEC-registered adviser providing fee-based asset management and financial planning through a turnkey asset management platform and wrap-fee programs. The firm serves a diverse client base including individuals, retirement plans, corporations, charitable organizations, other registered investment advisers, sovereign wealth funds, and banking institutions, delivering investment management primarily on a discretionary basis using a variety of strategies and model portfolios.

Jonathan Carter is a financial advisor with Valic Financial Advisors in Durham, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and nine years of industry experience. He has worked at Valic Financial Advisors since 2017 and previously held roles at Primerica Financial Services and Primerica Advisors. Outside of his advisory work, he is involved as an agent with AGIA, focusing on non-securities insurance products. Valic Financial Advisors primarily serves U.S. individuals, including high net worth clients and employer-sponsored retirement participants. The firm offers portfolio management, financial planning, and discretionary unified managed accounts using Envestnet’s platform and third-party model managers, supported by a large network of advisors and centralized technology solutions.

Thomas Overcash Jr. is a financial advisor with Valic Financial Advisors in Durham, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and bringing 39 years of industry experience. He has been with Valic Financial Advisors since 1997 and also serves as an agent with Agia, where he is involved in non-securities insurance products. Valic Financial Advisors primarily serves U.S.-based individual investors, including high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, as well as corporate and retirement-plan participants. The firm offers discretionary managed-account programs, financial planning, consulting, and brokerage services, utilizing Envestnet-developed UMA models for portfolio construction and management.

Nahed Alsous is a financial advisor with Valic Financial Advisors in Durham, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 22 years of industry experience. She has been with Valic Financial Advisors since 2003 and also serves as an agent with Agia, focusing on non-securities insurance products. Valic Financial Advisors primarily serves U.S.-domiciled individual investors, including high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, as well as corporate and retirement-plan participants, offering managed-account programs, financial planning, and brokerage services.

Richard Kagan is a financial advisor with Commonwealth Financial Network, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 44 years of industry experience. He has been with Commonwealth since 2000. Outside of his advisory role, Kagan serves as CFO and shareholder of two non-investment related companies, Adessence Marketing, Inc. and Right Brain Media, and is also a squash coach. Commonwealth Financial Network is a registered investment adviser supporting a national network of approximately 2,950 advisors and their clients through a range of advisory programs and services. The firm provides operations, trading, technology, compliance, and practice-management support, with discretionary portfolio construction and model portfolios managed by its Investment Management and Research team.

Thomas Miller is a financial advisor with Truist Advisory Services, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 38 years of industry experience. He has worked with SunTrust and its successor firms since 2005. Miller serves on the Board of Directors at the Chapel Hill Country Club, where he oversees club administration and activities. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations, utilizing a combination of discretionary manager relationships and non-discretionary consulting supported by third-party platforms and AI-enabled research tools.

Haleh Moddasser is a financial advisor at Hightower Advisors with 14 years of industry experience. She holds the Series 65 designation and previously worked at Stearns Financial Services Group for nine years before joining Hightower Advisors in 2020. Hightower Advisors provides investment advisory and planning services to a diverse range of individual and institutional clients. The firm’s approach emphasizes manager selection and multi-manager solutions utilizing both affiliated and third-party managers, combined with proprietary research and portfolio construction techniques.

David Castro is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 designation with 15 years of industry experience. He is currently with Focus Partners Wealth, LLC and has previously worked at Goldman Sachs Wealth Services, Kovitz Investment Group Partners, and other firms. Focus Partners serves individuals, high-net-worth families, family offices, and institutional clients with wealth management and advisory services. The firm employs an enhanced open architecture investment approach combining active and passive strategies, third-party managers, and private funds, and offers services including financial planning, retirement consulting, and access to affiliated private funds.

Michelle Disney is a CFP® with 18 years of industry experience, currently serving as a financial advisor at Allworth Financial, L.P. in Durham, NC. Her prior experience includes roles at Adams Chetwood Wealth Management and Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments. Disney holds the Series 66 designation. Allworth Financial is a fee-based SEC-registered adviser serving a diverse client base including individuals, qualified retirement plans, trusts, charitable organizations, and corporate clients. The firm employs a range of customized portfolio strategies and uses technology to manage held-away employer retirement accounts, with notable ownership ties to private investment vehicles and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.