Michael Holloway is a Certified Financial Planner® with 20 years of industry experience. He is currently with Cerity Partners LLC and has previously worked at Cook Wealth Management Group, LPL Financial, and UBS Financial Services. Holloway holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses. Cerity Partners advises a diverse range of clients, including high-net-worth individuals, families, trusts, business entities, and institutional investors, managing approximately $166.2 billion in assets as of December 31, 2025. The firm offers customized wealth management services with a focus on client-specific investment profiles, proprietary quantitative screening, and access to alternative and private market solutions.

Chad Weatherman is a Certified Financial Planner® with 11 years of industry experience, currently serving at Mariner Wealth Advisors since 2023. His prior roles include positions at Beacon Pointe Advisors, DMJ Wealth Advisors, and Millennial Wealth Design. Mariner Wealth Advisors serves a diverse client base including high-net-worth individuals, pension plans, trusts, and charitable organizations, offering investment management, financial planning, retirement consulting, and coordinated tax and family office services. The firm combines in-house research with third-party managers to provide customized portfolio solutions and maintains integrated tax and accounting services uncommon for a firm of its size.

Shawn Will is a financial advisor with Principal Financial Services in Raleigh, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 26 years of industry experience. He has been with Principal Securities Inc. since 2016 and has also worked with Principal Life Insurance Company since 2013. Principal Securities provides brokerage and registered investment advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, retirement plans, trusts, and active-duty military personnel. The firm offers direct advisory programs, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and access to third-party money manager solutions.

Derek Mccord is a financial advisor with Equity Services, Inc. (ESI Financial Advisors) based in Cary, NC. He holds a Series 66 designation and has two years of industry experience. Prior to joining Equity Services, Derek worked at National Life Group and MassMutual in various capacities. Outside of his advisory role, he is a product advocate for health and wellness products through Melaleuca, Inc. Equity Services, Inc. provides financial planning, consulting, and asset management to individuals, corporations, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and employer retirement plans. The firm employs multiple advisory platforms and uses third-party asset managers and model portfolios to offer a blend of long-term strategies and specialized investment options.

William Faircloth is a CFP® with 18 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has worked with Truist Advisory Services, Truist Investment Services, and Truist Bank since 2016, and previously was with BB&T Securities, LLC. from 2019 to 2021. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm uses a combination of discretionary and non-discretionary manager relationships and integrates inter-affiliate services, including affiliated broker-dealer and bank partnerships, to deliver its investment solutions.

Alexander Gracia is a CFP® and ChFC® with 23 years of industry experience. He has been with VALIC Financial Advisors since 2005 and also holds an agent position at Agia. He serves as a notary public for loan and disbursement documentation related to the WakeMed plan. 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. The firm offers discretionary managed-account programs, financial planning, and brokerage services, utilizing Envestnet-developed UMA models and serving approximately 294,000 clients through a network of over 1,200 advisors.

Vincenzo Catullo is a financial advisor at Truist Advisory Services with 29 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has worked in various roles within Truist and its predecessor entities since 2001. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporate and business clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations, implementing advice through a combination of discretionary manager relationships and non-discretionary consulting supported by third-party platforms and extensive inter-affiliate integration.

Paul Dowd is a ChFC® credentialed financial advisor with 24 years of industry experience. He is currently affiliated with Guardian Life and Park Avenue Securities, where he has worked since 2019. His prior experience includes roles at CapWealth Planning, Allstate Insurance Co., Principal Financial Services, GL Investment Services, and Valic Financial Advisors. He is also involved as an insurance broker outside of Guardian. Park Avenue® Wealth Management, a subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, offers brokerage and 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 provides access to proprietary and third-party investment solutions.

Santiago Vazquez is a financial advisor at First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. based in Raleigh, NC. He holds a Series 66 designation and has one year of industry experience, having joined First Citizens Investor Services in 2025. His prior work experience includes roles at Harris Teeter, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, BMW of Wilmington, Southern Cross Farms, and Subway. First Citizens Investor Services serves a diverse client base including individuals, pension plans, charitable organizations, and corporate entities. The firm offers a range of advisory and brokerage services, utilizing fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis to manage portfolios that include equities, fixed income, mutual funds, and ETFs.

Gregory Weiss is a financial advisor at First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. in Raleigh, NC, holding a Series 66 designation with 26 years of industry experience. He has been with First Citizens since 2003 and is also a partner at Weiss Property Holdings, LLC, a real estate investment business he has been involved with since 2020. First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. provides advisory and brokerage services to individuals, pension plans, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm’s approach includes IAR-led financial assessments and diversified investment allocation utilizing fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis.

Leslie Gaddis is a CFP® professional with seven years of industry experience, currently affiliated with Commonwealth Financial Network in Durham, NC. Gaddis has worked at Commonwealth Financial Network and Lifetime Asset Management since 2018. Outside of advisory services, Gaddis co-owns LifeTime Tax Management, LLC, a firm providing tax preparation services. Commonwealth Financial Network is a registered investment adviser serving a national network of approximately 2,950 advisors and their clients. The firm offers various advisory programs and supports affiliated advisors with operations, technology, investment management, and compliance services.

Jacob Hollifield is a financial advisor at Fifth Third Securities, Inc. based in Raleigh, NC, holding Series 65 and Series 63 licenses with two years of industry experience. Prior to joining Fifth Third Securities in 2023, he held roles at Fifth Third Bank, Best Buy, and Yogurt Mountain. Outside of his advisory work, he engages in freelance photography. Fifth Third Securities, Inc. serves a diverse client base including individuals, high-net-worth clients, and institutions through investment advisory and brokerage services. The firm offers multiple program types via the Passageway platform, utilizing third-party portfolio managers and a range of strategies from mutual funds and ETFs to separately managed accounts and tax-overlay services.

Janelle Aldridge is a financial advisor with First Command Advisory Services in Wake Forest, NC. She holds a Series 66 designation and has 16 years of industry experience. Her previous roles include positions at Cantella & Co., Inc., Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Northwestern Mutual, and LPL Enterprise. First Command Advisory Services is an SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals, corporate, and charitable clients, with a particular focus on active-duty service members and their families. The firm offers financial planning and multiple wrap-fee asset management programs utilizing model portfolios and third-party managers selected by a centralized Investment Management Team.

Philip Shelton is a financial advisor at Empower Advisory Group with one year of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and previously worked at Edward Jones. Empower Advisory Group provides financial planning and investment management primarily to employer-sponsored retirement plan sponsors and their participants, as well as to certain IRA and retail brokerage account holders. The firm integrates its services with Empower’s recordkeeping and administrative platforms, offering point-in-time financial plans and optional managed account solutions.

Debra Allen is a financial advisor at First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. in Raleigh, NC, holding a Series 66 designation with 22 years of industry experience. She has worked at First Citizens Investor Services since 2004 and at First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company since 2003. First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. provides advisory and brokerage services to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, and corporate entities. The firm employs a client-focused process using fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis to manage portfolios across various asset classes.

Kimberly Benfield is a financial advisor at Truist Advisory Services with 25 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 66 credentials and has been with Truist since 2017, including roles at Truist Investment Services and Truist Bank. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, businesses, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm offers asset allocation, fiduciary support, and a manager-selection program, using both discretionary and non-discretionary approaches supported by third-party platforms and AI-enabled research tools.

Gabriel King is a financial advisor with First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. in Raleigh, NC. He holds a Series 66 designation and has three years of industry experience. Prior to joining First Citizens Investor Services, he worked at Coastal Federal Credit Union and CUSO Financial Services, LP, and spent six years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. provides advisory and brokerage services to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm employs a client-focused process that incorporates fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis to allocate assets across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, and ETFs.

Michael Palczuk is a Series 66-licensed financial advisor with Principal Financial Services in Raleigh, NC, having 24 years of industry experience. He has worked at Principal Securities Inc. since 2016 and at Principal Life Insurance Company since 2014. Outside of his advisory role, Palczuk serves on the finance and fundraising committees at St. Catherine of Siena Church and provides firearms training through the MakeReady Firearms Training Academy. Principal Securities offers brokerage and registered investment advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, retirement plans, trusts, and military personnel abroad. The firm provides financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and access to third-party money manager programs under various advisory and promoter arrangements.

Lang Mac Bain is a financial advisor at First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. in Raleigh, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials with 10 years of industry experience. He has worked at First Citizens Investor Services since 2016, including roles overlapping with First Citizens Bank during the same period. First Citizens Investor Services serves individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, and corporate/business clients with advisory and brokerage services. The firm employs IAR-led financial assessments and a combination of fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis to manage portfolios across various asset classes.

Tabitha Concepcion is a CFP® credentialed financial advisor with 12 years of industry experience, currently serving at Truist Advisory Services. Her career includes roles at Truist Investment Services, BB&T, and SunTrust Advisory Services. Outside of her advisory work, she co-owns Red Barn Naturals, a farm producing natural and organic personal care products from goat milk, and owns The Homestead, an agricultural production business. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, corporations, retirement plan sponsors, 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.