James Chapman is a CFP® with 22 years of industry experience. He is currently with Aragon Family Office LLC, where he has worked since 2025, following a two-decade tenure at Equitable Advisors and Axa Advisors. Aragon Family Office, LLC is a SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals and high net worth clients with discretionary portfolio management and financial planning services. The firm’s investment approach is tailored to client objectives and risk tolerance, incorporating various strategies and maintaining regular account reviews.

Joel Barlow is a CFP® with 23 years of industry experience, currently advising at APEX Wealth Advisors LLC in Birmingham, AL. His prior roles include positions at Cantor Fitzgerald, LP and the American Financial Education Alliance. He is also a part owner of The Barlow Firm, which provides tax and accounting services. APEX Wealth Advisors offers investment management and financial planning to individuals, charities, and business entities, managing approximately $102.6 million in discretionary assets. The firm uses an asset-allocation approach with model portfolios and employs third-party sub-advisers, while providing comprehensive financial planning and estate-planning facilitation through a third-party technology platform.

Taylor Hart is a CFP® with 16 years of industry experience. He is currently with Steadmont Advisors, LLC and held previous roles at Bank of America N.A. and Merrill. Steadmont Advisors provides investment advisory services to individuals, trusts, retirement plans, and business entities. The firm combines fundamental and technical analysis, quantitative methods, and modern portfolio theory to manage diversified portfolios using both active and passive strategies, including equities, fixed income, ETFs, alternatives, and private investments.

James Mccormick III is a financial advisor at PMD Advisory with 23 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and has worked with firms including Cambridge Investment Research Inc. Outside of his advisory role, he is a partner in a consulting business based in Hoover, AL. PMD Advisory serves individual clients across wealth levels by providing financial planning, portfolio management, and retirement plan consulting. The firm uses a combination of fundamental and technical analysis in constructing portfolios, typically employing mutual funds and ETFs tailored to client objectives and risk tolerance.

Steven Dauphin is a financial advisor at Bonaventure Capital, LLC with 20 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with Bonaventure Capital since 1998. Dauphin is also a member of Fidelis Capital, LLC, where he provides investment consulting services. Bonaventure Capital offers investment advisory services to pooled investment entities and manages separately managed accounts for individuals, trusts, and corporations. The firm utilizes broad asset-class ETFs and listed-option strategies for SMAs and employs fundamental financial analysis and active monitoring for private equity and micro-cap fund investments.

Adam Kirklin is a financial advisor at Bluewater Wealth Advisors, LLC with six years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has worked at Bluewater Wealth Advisors since 2024. Kirklin also has a background with Kirklin Investment Management Company and Oakworth Capital Bank. Bluewater Wealth Advisors serves individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and business entities by providing discretionary wealth management, investment management, financial planning, and consulting. The firm employs a top-down macroeconomic process managed by an Investment Committee and offers both portfolio management and standalone planning services.

Stanley Funches Sr. is a CFP® and ChFC® with 27 years of industry experience, currently affiliated with LPL Financial in Birmingham, AL. He has worked with INTELUS Advisory Group, LLC and Level Four Advisory Services, among others, and has been involved in authoring investment-related content since 2019. LPL Financial provides advisory and brokerage services to a diverse client base including individual investors, retirement plan sponsors, institutions, and high-net-worth households. The firm offers a range of financial planning and asset management solutions supported by an in-house research team, combining large-scale advisory operations with various non-advisory product offerings.

Glen Barlow is a financial advisor at APEX Wealth Advisors LLC in Birmingham, AL, holding a Series 65 designation. He has one year of industry experience and has previously worked at RFG Advisory, Lewis Communications, and Jones Walker, LLP. APEX Wealth Advisors LLC provides comprehensive financial planning and discretionary portfolio management to individuals, high-net-worth clients, charities, and business entities. The firm manages approximately $122 million in client assets through a four-advisor team, using model portfolios with a focus on asset allocation and oversight of delegated trading.

Scott Walton is a financial advisor with Walton Financial in Birmingham, AL, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 33 years of industry experience. He has been with Walton Financial since 1999 and previously worked with Commonwealth Financial Network from 1999 to 2024. Outside of his advisory role, Walton is a co-author of a book with his spouse and is a part owner of BBQ Digest, Inc., a company that publishes cookbooks. Walton Financial provides financial planning and discretionary asset management services to individuals, including high-net-worth clients, as well as pension plans, charitable organizations, and corporate clients. The firm combines advisor-managed accounts with model portfolios and incorporates various analysis methods to tailor portfolios to client objectives.

Meredyth Hazzard is a financial advisor at BHK Investment Advisors with 40 years of industry experience. She has been with BHK Investment Advisors since 2006 and BHK Securities since 2005. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses. Outside of her advisory role, Hazzard serves as a board member of the Parkinson’s Association of Alabama and is a trustee for the Gary Kay Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust. BHK Investment Advisors manages approximately $756 million in client assets and offers portfolio management, investment consulting, and retirement plan consulting for individuals, corporations, pension and profit-sharing plans, foundations, estates, and trusts. The firm utilizes ETF-based global portfolio strategies with a mathematics-based asset allocation and provides both discretionary and non-discretionary account management.

Margaret Dunn is a financial advisor at Steadmont Advisors, LLC with 28 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and previously worked at Bank of America, N.A. and Merrill for significant periods. Steadmont Advisors provides investment advisory services to individuals, trusts, retirement plans, and business entities. The firm employs a combination of fundamental and technical analysis, quantitative methods, and modern portfolio theory to manage diversified portfolios using both active and passive investment vehicles.

Jerry Callahan is a financial advisor at Tabula Rasa Advisors, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama, holding the PFS™ designation and Series 65 license with 25 years of industry experience. He has previously worked at Kassouf Wealth Advisors, LLC and Kassouf & Co., P.C. Mr. Callahan also provides accounting services as a shareholder of Pearce Bevill Leesburg & Moore, P.C. Tabula Rasa Advisors, LLC is a fee-only firm serving individual clients, including high-net-worth households, as well as institutional clients such as pension plans, trusts, and charitable organizations. The firm follows a passive, evidence-based investment approach using diversified model portfolios constructed from indexed mutual funds and ETFs.

Scott Cole is a Certified Financial Planner™ and holds a Series 65 license with 22 years of experience at Cole Financial Planning in Hoover, Alabama. He has served as an adjunct professor teaching financial planning courses and is a board member of GPN Alliance, Inc., which owns the Garrett Planning Network. Cole Financial Planning and Wealth Management provides financial planning and portfolio management services to individuals, high net worth clients, trusts, estates, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. The firm emphasizes asset allocation, long-term buy-and-hold investing, and periodic rebalancing, offering both discretionary and non-discretionary services tailored to client objectives and risk tolerance.

Ross Kennedy is a financial advisor at Zora Financial with nine years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has been with Zora Financial since 2016. Zora Financial provides comprehensive financial planning, investment supervisory services, and retirement-plan consulting to individuals, small businesses, and retirement plan sponsors. The firm emphasizes a planning-first approach grounded in Modern Portfolio Theory and offers educational workshops and tailored financial planning services for various client segments.

Melanie Dickinson is a financial advisor with PMD Advisory in Hoover, AL, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and possessing 18 years of industry experience. She has worked at Cambridge Investment Research Inc and United Planners Financial Services, and she is involved in consulting through her ownership in PMD Consulting. PMD Advisory serves both high-net-worth and non-high-net-worth individual clients, offering financial planning, portfolio management, retirement plan consulting, and access to third-party asset management programs. The firm uses a combination of fundamental and technical analysis with mutual funds and ETFs, providing discretionary and non-discretionary management tailored to client objectives and risk tolerance.

Ryan Weiss is a financial advisor at Ballast Wealth LLC in Birmingham, AL, holding a Series 66 designation and bringing 17 years of industry experience. He previously worked at DMC Group, LLC for 11 years and has managed Ballast Wealth since 2022. Outside of his advisory role, he is the managing partner of Wei(ss), LLC and Three Axis Capital, LLC, both real estate investment entities. Ballast Wealth LLC provides discretionary investment advisory and portfolio management services to individuals, trusts, estates, and small businesses. The firm focuses on customized, equity-centric portfolios and employs a primarily long-term investment approach that combines fundamental and technical analysis.

Eric Mcclain is a CFP® with 16 years of industry experience, currently serving at Approach Retirement Advisors, LLC since 2013. Prior to that, he worked at Wesban Financial Consultants, P.C. from 2010 to 2013. He is a minority member of Kairos Properties, LLC, a real estate investment and development entity, though he holds no operational role. Approach Retirement Advisors, LLC is a fee-only registered investment adviser managing approximately $227 million for about 140 clients, including individuals, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm employs diversified portfolio strategies and is notable for its use of derivatives and option-based overlay strategies through third-party sub-advisers.

John Strauss is a financial advisor at Strauss Financial Group with 17 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has worked at Strauss Financial Group and its related entities since 1988. Outside of advising, he is a managing member and co-owner of PPS LLC, an entity that owns the commercial building housing the firm. Strauss Financial Group serves a diverse client base including individuals, pension plans, trusts, and corporations, offering wealth and investment management, financial planning, and corporate retirement advisory services. The firm uses a committee-driven investment approach combining macroeconomic, fundamental, and quantitative analysis, and provides additional services such as affiliated accounting and tax support, digital estate planning, and corporate retirement plan advisory.

Harvey Smith is a Series 65-licensed financial advisor with Birmingham Capital Management Co., Inc. in Birmingham, AL, where he has worked since 1983, accumulating 33 years of industry experience. He is one of two advisors at the firm. Birmingham Capital Management provides discretionary investment management primarily to high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients, employing a large-cap, value-oriented approach focused on individual U.S. equities and fixed-income holdings with low turnover and long holding periods. The firm manages approximately $322 million in assets and operates with a two-principal investment team.

Graham Campbell is a financial advisor at Tabula Rasa Advisors, LLC in Birmingham, AL, holding the PFS™ designation with one year of industry experience. He also serves as a director at Pearce, Bevill, Leesburg, Moore, PC, a CPA firm. Tabula Rasa Advisors is a fee-only firm providing wealth management, financial planning, and retirement-plan advisory services to individuals, high-net-worth households, and select institutional clients. The firm employs a passive, evidence-based investment approach using diversified model portfolios primarily composed of indexed mutual funds and ETFs, and maintains close affiliations with the accounting profession.