Christopher Demarest is a financial advisor with Independent Advisor Alliance, LLC in Raleigh, NC, holding CFP® and Series 66 credentials and bringing 22 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Independent Advisor Alliance in 2017, he worked at LPL Financial and Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. He does not report other notable business activities outside of his advisory roles. Independent Advisor Alliance serves a diverse client base, including individuals, small businesses, charitable organizations, and retirement plans, offering a range of services such as asset management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting. The firm employs both discretionary and non-discretionary management strategies and leverages technology platforms to support comprehensive wealth management solutions.

Thomas Griffith is a CFP® with 11 years of industry experience, currently serving at Brookstone Capital Management LLC since 2022. His prior roles include positions at Insurance Advisor Associates, Inc., Gradient Investments, LLC, and Cardinal Retirement Planning, Inc. He is also the manager and insurance agent at H.E. Scheil & Associates, Inc., where he dedicates a significant portion of his time. Brookstone Capital Management provides fee-based asset management and financial planning to a diverse clientele, including individuals, retirement plans, corporations, trusts, and other entities. The firm offers discretionary portfolio management through its BCM Platform, employing strategic and dynamic asset-allocation models and a variety of investment strategies, including the use of ETFs, mutual funds, individual securities, options-enhanced strategies, and structured notes.

Frederick Freeman is a financial advisor at TIAA-CREF with 16 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has worked at firms including Merrill, Bank of America, Fidelity, and Wells Fargo before joining TIAA-CREF. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC’s Advice & Planning Services division offers financial planning, discretionary managed accounts, and broker-dealer services primarily to individuals with existing TIAA employer retirement relationships, as well as trusts, estates, partnerships, and small retirement plans. The firm combines point-in-time financial planning with ongoing discretionary management through model and customized portfolios.

John Kline is a financial advisor at Janney Montgomery Scott with 33 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has been with Janney Montgomery Scott since 2013. Outside of his advisory role, he owns short-term vacation rental properties in North Carolina and Florida, though the properties are professionally managed. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC is a large, dually registered broker-dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser managing about $110 billion in client assets. The firm serves a diverse clientele including individuals, families, trusts, corporate and retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations, offering brokerage, financial planning, consulting, and multiple advisory programs.

Jack Lord is a financial advisor with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC in Raleigh, NC. He holds a Series 65 designation and has been with Wealth Enhancement since 2026. Prior to joining the firm, he worked in education at several schools and holds a degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services provides financial planning, asset management, and retirement-plan consulting to individuals, high-net-worth clients, corporations, and retirement plans. The firm manages over $122 billion in regulatory AUM and employs a diversified investment approach that blends passive and active strategies overseen by an internal Investment Committee.

Marc Anstrom is a financial advisor with TIAA-CREF in Durham, NC, holding Series 63, Series 65, and Series 66 designations and over 31 years of industry experience. He has been with TIAA-CREF since 2013. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC’s Advice & Planning Services division serves individuals—including those connected to TIAA-administered employer retirement plans—as well as trusts, estates, partnerships, corporate entities, and small retirement plans. The firm offers financial planning, discretionary managed account programs, and brokerage services, operating with a fiduciary standard in its RIA services and acting as adviser to a donor-advised fund.

Rebecca Crumpler is a CFP®-certified financial advisor with five years of industry experience. She is currently with Commonwealth Financial Network and has previously worked at Credit Union Investment Services, SECU Life Insurance Company, SECU Brokerage Services, and State Employees' Credit Union. Commonwealth Financial Network is a national dual-registered broker/dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser serving a network of approximately 2,900 advisors and hundreds of thousands of clients. The firm provides a broad range of advisor support services, including managed-account programs, access to third-party asset managers, retirement consulting, and custody services.

John Ware is a financial advisor with Guardian Life in Raleigh, NC, holding the ChFC® designation and Series 63 and 65 licenses. He has 24 years of industry experience, including roles at Park Avenue Securities since 2012 and Guardian Life Insurance Company since 2010. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as executor for the estates of his parents and stepfather. Park Avenue Securities LLC, a subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, provides brokerage and investment advisory services to individuals, corporate and retirement plan sponsors, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm combines advisor-led discretionary management with model-based strategies and offers a range of financial planning and consulting solutions tailored by investment adviser representatives.

Lorraine Johnson is a financial advisor with Commonwealth Financial Network, holding a Series 63 designation and bringing 30 years of industry experience. She has worked at Commonwealth since 2017 and previously held roles at Royal Alliance Associates Inc., Triad Financial Advisors, Inc., and Principal Financial Services. Johnson serves as a board member of the North Carolina Supplemental Retirement Systems Board. Commonwealth Financial Network is a dual-registered broker/dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser supporting a national network of approximately 2,900 advisors and managing about $212.7 billion in client assets. The firm offers a broad platform that includes managed-account programs, third-party asset manager access, and custody services, combining internally managed model portfolios with external execution platforms.

Adam Roche is a Series 65-licensed financial advisor with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC in Raleigh, NC. He began his career in the financial services industry recently and has experience with WealthShield Partners, LLC, Medidata Solutions, and GreenPrint. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services serves individuals, high-net-worth clients, corporations, and retirement plans with financial planning, asset management, and retirement-plan consulting. The firm manages over $122 billion in assets through a large advisor network, emphasizing diversified, risk-class allocations that combine passive and active management and employ quantitative, momentum, and fundamental analysis.

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.

Elliot Williams is a CFP® and Series 65 registered financial advisor with two years of industry experience, currently with Cerity Partners LLC in Raleigh, NC. Prior to joining Cerity, he worked at Cook Wealth, LLC and HDWK LLC, among other roles in both the financial and non-financial sectors. Cerity Partners advises a diverse client base including individuals, families, trusts, business entities, charitable institutions, and institutional investors, managing approximately $166.2 billion in client assets as of 2025. The firm offers customized wealth management services, combining quantitative screening and manager selection with third-party strategies and direct security selection, and provides access to alternative and private market solutions for qualified clients.

Blake Cason is a ChFC® credentialed financial advisor with 12 years of industry experience, currently with Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC. Prior to joining Steward Partners in 2026, he worked for Edward Jones for 12 years. Outside of his advisory role, he owns a vacation rental property in Beaufort, North Carolina. Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC is an enterprise-scale SEC-registered RIA managing approximately $36.7 billion in assets. The firm serves individuals, including high-net-worth clients, as well as pension plans, corporations, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations, offering various investment advisory and financial planning services.

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.

John Rumsey is a financial advisor at Sanctuary Advisors, LLC in Raleigh, NC, holding a Series 66 designation with 16 years of industry experience. He previously worked at Bank of America N.A. and Merrill from 2010 to 2021 before joining Sanctuary Wealth in 2021. Outside of his advisory role, Rumsey serves on the advisory board of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, contributing to fundraising efforts. Sanctuary Advisors, LLC provides investment advisory and financial planning services to individuals, corporations, pension plans, trusts, and charitable organizations through a network of over 400 independent investment adviser representatives. The firm offers a variety of portfolio management solutions and utilizes multiple investment approaches while acting as a fiduciary when a written advisory agreement is in place.

James Shaughnessy II is a financial advisor with Truist Advisory Services, holding a Series 66 designation and bringing 19 years of industry experience. He has worked at SunTrust Advisory Services since 2016 and at SunTrust Investment Services, Inc. since 2015. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate and business clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm employs a combination of discretionary manager relationships and non-discretionary consulting, supported by AI-enabled research tools and inter-affiliate platforms, to deliver comprehensive investment solutions.

Lee Hopper is a financial advisor with Principal Financial Services in Raleigh, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and 29 years of industry experience. His career includes roles at Principal Life Insurance Company, The O.N. Equity Sales Company, and Financial Independence Planning Group, Inc. Hopper is also the owner and vice president of operations at Hopper Financial Group, Inc., a family corporation involved in accounting and expense management for him and a relative. Principal Securities provides brokerage and registered investment advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, retirement plans, trusts, and charitable organizations. The firm offers direct advisory programs, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and access to third-party money manager solutions through both adviser and promoter arrangements.

Christopher Murphy is a financial advisor with Commonwealth Financial Network in Cary, NC, holding CFP® and ChFC® designations and bringing 39 years of industry experience. His previous roles include positions at Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. and Paine-Webber Group. He is also owner and president of CMLZ, LLC, an entity created to operate a branch office. Commonwealth Financial Network is a dual-registered broker/dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser serving a national network of nearly 2,900 advisors and hundreds of thousands of clients. The firm offers a broad support platform including managed-account programs, access to third-party asset managers, retirement consulting, and custody services.

Mark Courtemanche is a financial advisor with AE Wealth Management, LLC in Cary, NC, holding the ChFC® designation as well as Series 63 and Series 65 licenses. He has 20 years of industry experience, including roles at Pinnacle Retirement Solutions, Capital Investment Group, and Outer Banks Financial. He is involved in facilitating estate planning document services alongside his advisory work. AE Wealth Management provides fee-based portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement-plan consulting to a diverse client base including individuals, corporations, trusts, and ERISA plan sponsors. The firm emphasizes model portfolio and direct asset management, operating at scale with standardized platform services.