Leon Jiang is a financial advisor at Focus Partners Wealth, LLC with one year of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has worked at HUB Investment Partners, Millennium Advisory Services, and other organizations prior to joining Focus Partners. His background includes roles outside traditional finance, such as experience in the food service industry. Focus Partners Wealth, LLC serves individuals, high-net-worth families, family offices, and institutional clients with wealth management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting. The firm employs a long-term, tax- and fee-sensitive investment approach using a combination of active and passive strategies, third-party managers, and private funds.

Benjamin Albright is a CFP® professional with one year of experience at Beacon Pointe Advisors, LLC. Prior to joining Beacon Pointe, he spent nine years at The Family Firm and has served in the U.S. Marine Corps since 2008. Beacon Pointe Advisors, LLC provides wealth advisory, consulting, financial planning, and retirement-plan services to individual and institutional clients. The firm uses a combination of asset-allocation modeling and third-party independent managers, employing both active and passive strategies across public and private asset classes.

Alicia Kong is a financial advisor with VOYA Financial Advisors, Inc., holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 28 years of industry experience. She has been with VOYA since 2014. Outside of her advisory role, she serves on several educational advisory boards, including as chairman of the Howard County Public School Academy of Finance Advisory Board and as a volunteer with the Howard County Junior Achievement program. VOYA Financial Advisors serves a diverse client base including individual, institutional, and high-net-worth clients, offering financial planning, portfolio management, and retirement plan consulting through multiple program structures, primarily using non-discretionary, recommendation-based advice.

Robin Gibbons is a financial advisor with VOYA Financial Advisors, Inc. who holds a Series 66 designation and has 29 years of industry experience. Prior to joining VOYA in 2019, Gibbons worked at Mass Mutual Investors Services, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and Metlife Securities. Outside of financial advising, Gibbons operates as an independent insurance agent specializing in fixed insurance products. VOYA Financial Advisors, Inc. serves a diverse client base that includes individuals, institutional clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm offers a range of services including financial planning, portfolio management, and plan-sponsor consulting, primarily delivering advice through non-discretionary, recommendation-based arrangements alongside various wrap and third-party money manager programs.

Sucharu Arora is a financial advisor with Truist Advisory Services, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and bringing 19 years of industry experience. He has been with SunTrust Advisory Services and related affiliates since 2013. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm employs both discretionary and non-discretionary approaches, leveraging third-party platforms and AI-enabled research tools to support manager selection and investment oversight.

Geoffrey Carey is a CFA® charterholder with 24 years of industry experience. He has been with Brown Investment Advisory & Trust Company since 2001. Brown Advisory provides investment management and advisory services to a diverse range of clients, including high net worth individuals, endowments, foundations, pension plans, and corporations. The firm employs a bottom-up, fundamental research approach to construct concentrated portfolios and offers a variety of strategies, including sustainable-investment integration and access to private funds and venture programs.

Skyler Hutcheson is a financial advisor at CWM, LLC with a Series 65 designation and five years of industry experience. His prior work includes roles at Carson Group and FAI Wealth Management. He serves on the board of directors for the Central Maryland Chamber of Commerce. CWM, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals, families, foundations, endowments, corporations, and institutions through a network of over 600 advisors. The firm offers portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement-plan services using model portfolios overseen by an in-house Investment Committee and a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

Michael Thompson is a financial advisor at Truist Advisory Services with 17 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 63 and Series 66 designations and has worked at various Truist-related entities since 2011, including BB&T Bank and BB&T Investments. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm offers asset allocation analysis, fiduciary support, and a manager-selection program, utilizing a combination of discretionary and non-discretionary approaches supported by third-party platforms and AI-enabled research tools.

Frances Makino is a financial advisor with Independent Financial Group, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 credentials and bringing 38 years of industry experience. She previously worked at Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc. for 33 years and has been involved with Howard Community College for nearly four decades. Outside of advising, she teaches a basic personal finance course for Howard County Parks & Recreation. Independent Financial Group, LLC provides investment advisory and brokerage services to a diverse client base including individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, and retirement plans. The firm employs a combination of firm- and third-party models to develop client strategies, using both passive and active investment exposures across standard risk profiles.

Mark Ulicny is a CFP® with 25 years of industry experience, currently serving at Prime Capital Financial. His prior roles include positions at Private Client Services, Cetera Advisor Networks, United Capital Financial Advisers, and Girard Securities. He is also involved as an insurance agent with PCRM, LLC, focusing on fixed insurance products. Prime Capital Financial is an SEC-registered enterprise advisory firm serving individuals, trusts, corporations, and retirement plans with services that include asset management, financial planning, and family office offerings. The firm utilizes a range of investment strategies and provides tax planning and consolidated reporting through its affiliated accounting subsidiary and family office practice.

Benjamin Hostetler is a financial advisor at Integrity Alliance, LLC with 10 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has worked at firms including Lion Street Financial, Commonwealth Financial Network, and Virtus Wealth Solutions. Hostetler is also the owner of Hostetler Financial LLC, a financial advisory firm. Integrity Alliance is a large advisor network serving individual investors, corporations, and qualified retirement plans. The firm offers portfolio management, financial planning, and various program options, utilizing multiple platforms and investment approaches to support a broad client base.

Craig Smith is a financial advisor with Principal Financial Services in Bethesda, MD, holding a Series 66 license and 19 years of industry experience. He has worked at several Principal entities since 2011 and serves as a bank officer at Principal Bank and Trust Company. Outside of his financial advisory role, he provides wedding officiant and pre-marital counseling services. Principal Securities offers brokerage and registered investment advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, retirement plans, trusts, and charitable organizations. The firm emphasizes access to direct advisory programs, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and third-party money manager solutions.

Caroline Szivos is a financial advisor at Chevy Chase Trust Company with one year of industry experience. She holds Series 65 and Series 63 licenses and previously operated ArtfulPrint LLC for 14 years. Chevy Chase Trust Company serves high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutional clients by providing discretionary and non-discretionary investment management, personal trust and financial planning services, and institutional custody. The firm employs a thematic investment approach focused on secular trends and sector themes, emphasizing longer-term holdings and combining fiduciary trust and custody functions with investment management.

Craig Elliott is a financial advisor with Empower Advisory Group, holding Series 63 and Series 66 designations and 20 years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at T. Rowe Price, Bank of America, and Merrill. Empower Advisory Group provides financial planning and investment management primarily to employer-sponsored retirement plan sponsors and their participants, as well as Empower Premier IRA and certain retail brokerage clients. The firm delivers services through an integrated model tied to Empower’s recordkeeping and administrative platforms, emphasizing long-term portfolio returns and annual rebalancing.

Robert Crandall is a financial advisor with Principal Financial Services, holding a Series 63 designation and over 42 years of industry experience. He has been with Principal Securities Inc. since 2004. Outside his advisory role, he is involved in fixed insurance activities including life, disability, annuities, and long-term care insurance. Principal Securities provides brokerage and registered investment advisory services to a diverse client base, including individuals, retirement plans, trusts, charitable organizations, corporations, and active-duty military personnel. The firm offers financial planning, retirement consulting, and access to third-party money manager programs under various advisory and promoter arrangements.

William Sterling III is a financial advisor with Commonwealth Financial Network in Columbia, MD, holding a Series 66 designation and 25 years of industry experience. His prior work includes 13 years at PNC Investments Inc. and three years at Cypress Wealth Management. Outside of his advisory role, he is the owner of Sterling III Capital, LLC, a commercial real estate management entity. Commonwealth Financial Network serves a national network of approximately 2,900 advisors and manages about $212.7 billion in client assets. The firm provides a broad adviser-support platform with discretionary and nondiscretionary managed-account programs, third-party asset manager access, and custody and clearing services.

Joseph Walsh is a CFP® with 11 years of industry experience, currently serving as a financial advisor at T. Rowe Price Advisory Services, Inc. He has been with T. Rowe Price since 2014. T. Rowe Price Advisory Services, Inc. offers a retirement-focused advisory program that combines goals-based financial planning, retirement income planning, and discretionary investment management for individual investors and households. The firm uses model portfolios invested exclusively in T. Rowe Price mutual funds and ETFs, with tax-aware rebalancing and Monte Carlo–based financial planning tools.

Charles Beal is a ChFC® credentialed financial advisor with 29 years of industry experience. He has been with Truist Advisory Services since 2016, having previously worked at SunTrust Investment Services. Truist Advisory Services offers investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, business clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm employs a combination of discretionary and non-discretionary manager relationships and utilizes third-party platforms and AI-enabled research tools to support its investment approach.

Claire Weil is a financial advisor at Focus Partners Wealth, LLC with 31 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has worked at firms including The Colony Group, LLC, GYL Financial Synergies, LLC, Wells Fargo Advisors, and Prudential Equity Group, LLC. Outside of advising, she manages a rental property in Scotland, handling tax reporting and occasional maintenance coordination. Focus Partners Wealth serves individuals, high-net-worth families, family offices, and institutional clients, offering wealth management, financial and tax planning, and retirement plan consulting. The firm employs a long-term, tax- and fee-sensitive investment approach that integrates active and passive strategies, third-party managers, and private funds under an enhanced open architecture framework.

Lauren Rathsack is a financial advisor at Wealthspire Advisors with a Series 65 designation and one year of industry experience. Prior to joining Wealthspire Advisors in 2025, she worked at Janney Montgomery Scott and InFocus Financial Advisors. She is involved with the Baltimore Estate Planning Council. Wealthspire Advisors serves a diverse client base including individuals, corporations, retirement plans, nonprofits, and trustees, offering wealth management, financial planning, and trust administration services. The firm employs a customized, relationship-driven approach with institutional-style asset allocation and utilizes a variety of investment vehicles and third-party platforms to manage client portfolios.