Aaron Calhoun is a financial advisor at Merit Financial Advisors with four years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Yeomans Consulting Group, Inc. for six years. Outside of financial advising, he has operated a travel agency, Fairytales Unlimited Travel, assisting with domestic travel planning. Merit Financial Advisors is a multi-team registered investment adviser with 264 advisors serving over 20,000 clients across 66 offices. The firm offers coordinated wealth-management services and employs a long-term, diversified investment approach centered on centrally managed portfolios overseen by an internal Investment Management team.

Kim Churchill is a financial advisor at Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC with 11 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and previously worked at Cetera Investment Services LLC and Regions Bank. Churchill is based in Atlanta, GA. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC provides discretionary investment management, separately managed account access, performance reporting, and financial planning to individuals, trusts, pension plans, charitable organizations, governmental entities, and other institutional investors. The firm employs tailored strategic asset allocation frameworks and typically manages portfolios on a discretionary basis, utilizing third-party managers, affiliated model strategies, and maintaining ongoing advisor oversight.

Burns Lowry Jr. is a financial advisor with ACR Alpine Capital Research, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and bringing 30 years of industry experience. His previous roles include positions at Easterly Securities, John Hancock Funds, and James Alpha Advisors. ACR Alpine Capital Research provides discretionary portfolio management to institutional investors, intermediaries, and individual clients, employing a valuation-based investment approach focused on bottom-up equity analysis and opportunistic multi-asset strategies. The firm manages a diverse set of vehicles including mutual funds and private partnerships and maintains a high client-to-advisor ratio.

Jeffrey Buice is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 license, with 18 years of industry experience. He has been with Main Street Financial Solutions, LLC for 10 years and is also a minority owner of J.M. Buice Properties Inc., where he assists with back-office management on a part-time weekend basis. Main Street Financial Solutions serves a diverse client base including individuals, pension plans, trusts, and corporations, offering financial planning, wealth management, and retirement plan consulting. The firm employs an academic-based, multi-asset class investment approach, combining passive and active strategies tailored to clients’ objectives and risk profiles.

Daniel Kierath Jr. is a financial advisor with MissionSquare Retirement in Atlanta, GA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and five years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at Landmark Financial, Primerica Advisors, and TOCA Impact. MissionSquare Retirement serves state and local government employers, employees, and certain nonprofit entities by administering deferred compensation and qualified retirement plans, offering plan administration, recordkeeping, education, and Guided Pathways Advisory Services. The firm’s investment advice and model portfolios are developed by Morningstar Investment Management and delivered through a multi-team advisory structure to over 40,000 participants.

Samuel Thomas is a financial advisor at Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC in Atlanta, GA, holding a Series 65 designation with three years of industry experience. He previously worked at The Bank of New York Mellon and Core and Main. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC provides discretionary investment management, separately managed accounts, performance reporting, and financial planning to a broad client base including individuals, trusts, pension plans, charitable organizations, governmental entities, and institutional investors. The firm utilizes customized strategic asset allocation frameworks and commonly delegates to third-party managers while leveraging resources shared with its parent company, Fifth Third Bank.

Darius Hicks is a CFA® charterholder with 16 years of industry experience. He currently serves as a financial advisor at BIP Wealth, LLC and previously worked at Merrill and Bank of America, N.A. for eight years. BIP Wealth, LLC provides investment advisory and comprehensive financial planning to individuals, trusts, estates, and employer-sponsored retirement plans, managing approximately $5.29 billion across about 3,100 client relationships. The firm specializes in customized, diversified portfolios emphasizing low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, with additional strategies in private market investments through affiliated entities.

Michel Cowdery is a Series 66-licensed financial advisor with 21 years of industry experience. He has worked at BIP Wealth, LLC since 2018 and previously was with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. for one year. BIP Wealth, LLC provides investment advisory and comprehensive financial planning services to individuals, trusts, estates, and employer-sponsored retirement plans, managing approximately $5.29 billion across over 3,100 client relationships. The firm offers customized, diversified portfolios emphasizing low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, supplemented by individual securities and private market investments.

Roberto Arteaga Ascencio is a financial advisor at OpenArc Corporate Advisory, LLC with five years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at Merrill, Fidelity Investments, and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. He holds the Series 65 and Series 63 designations. OpenArc Corporate Advisory serves a diverse client base that includes individuals, trusts, nonprofit endowments, and retirement plans. The firm offers wealth management, financial planning, portfolio management, and retirement plan services using tailored strategies across a broad range of asset types, including private markets and digital assets.

Michael Pearson is a financial advisor at Balentine with 25 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has previously worked at SunTrust Advisory Services LLC and GFO Advisory Services, LLC. In addition to his advisory role, he serves as a public arbitrator for FINRA, acting as a neutral member on arbitration panels resolving industry-related disputes. Balentine serves entrepreneurs, families, high-net-worth individuals, foundations, and institutional clients, providing comprehensive wealth management, financial planning, investment management, and business advisory services. The firm employs a risk-based investment approach using a mix of active and passive strategies, manager due diligence, and a model-driven Global Tactical Asset Allocation program.

Tyler Knapp is a CFP® professional with six years of industry experience, currently serving as an advisor at Merit Financial Advisors in Alpharetta, GA. His prior experience includes roles at Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments, Morgan Stanley, and The Vanguard Group, among others. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and provides both investment and fixed insurance advice. Merit Financial Advisors is a multi-team registered investment adviser with over 260 advisors serving approximately 20,000 clients across 66 offices. The firm offers coordinated wealth-management services with a focus on long-term, diversified portfolios managed through centrally overseen models and customized by advisors.

Charles Crowley IV is a financial advisor at BIP Wealth, LLC with 16 years of industry experience. He holds the CFP® and Series 66 designations. His prior work includes roles at Veracity Capital LLC, Mercer Global Advisors Inc., Commonwealth Financial Network, and Atlanta Financial Associates. He maintains licenses for life, health, and sickness insurance but is not currently active in selling fixed insurance products. BIP Wealth, LLC serves individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, and employer-sponsored retirement plans, managing approximately $5.29 billion across 3,100 client relationships with a multi-advisor team. The firm offers comprehensive financial planning and customized, diversified portfolios emphasizing low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, alongside private market investment opportunities through affiliated entities.

Glen Carpenter III is a CFA® charterholder and financial advisor at ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc in Atlanta, GA, with 16 years of industry experience. He has been with ZWJ Investment Counsel since 2007. ZWJ Investment Counsel manages approximately $3.86 billion in client assets across about 925 relationships, providing investment counseling and discretionary portfolio management for individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, pension and profit-sharing plans, and other entities. The firm’s investment approach emphasizes discretionary equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios tailored to each client through written investment policy statements and incorporates fundamental and financial analysis with both long- and short-term holdings.

Matthew Johnson is a financial advisor with Synovus Securities, Inc. in Atlanta, GA, holding a Series 66 designation and two years of experience at Synovus following prior roles at Ameriprise Financial. His background includes five years in full-time education before entering the financial services industry. Synovus Securities serves a diverse client base including individual and high-net-worth investors as well as institutional clients. The firm offers investment advisory and brokerage services across multiple programs and utilizes both discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management on the Envestnet platform.

Michael Love is a financial advisor at Beacon Global Advisor Network, LLC with three years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has previously worked at Austen Morris Associates and Ten Cent Investments 5. Beacon Global Advisor Network, LLC provides investment advisory and planning services to individual clients, including both non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, through a network of about 60 independent advisors. The firm offers discretionary portfolio management, modular financial planning, and retirement consulting, with a focus on tailored portfolios using mutual funds, ETFs, individual equities, and fixed income.

Steven Cross is a financial advisor with Lifemark Securities Corp. in Marietta, GA, holding a Series 63 designation and bringing 39 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Lifemark in 2018, he worked at Foresters Equity Services, Inc. and has been an independent insurance agent since 1985, specializing in life, health, disability income, and long-term care insurance. Lifemark Securities Corp. provides fee-based investment advisory and financial planning services primarily to individual investors and sponsors of participant-directed retirement plans. The firm offers various managed account programs and emphasizes suitability-driven advice tailored through risk assessments, with accounts managed on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis.

Jeffrey Jones is a CFP® professional with 28 years of industry experience, currently serving at Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC since 2015. He has also worked with LPL Financial since 2013. Outside of his advisory roles, Jones is a silent investor in a family-owned e-commerce coffee distributorship. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC manages approximately $6 billion in client assets with a team of over 150 advisors, serving individuals, trusts, estates, retirement plans, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm employs a goals-based, client-centered planning approach supported by proprietary software and combines behavioral economics with fundamental and technical analysis to construct long-term portfolios.

Anthony Welch II is a CFP®, CFA®, and holds a Series 65 license, with 13 years of industry experience. He has been with SignatureFD, LLC since 2018 and previously worked at Ned Davis Research Group for ten years. SignatureFD serves individuals, business entities, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and retirement plans, providing wealth management, retirement plan management, and consulting services. The firm manages client portfolios primarily on a discretionary basis using mutual funds, ETFs, and independent managers, and is vertically integrated with an accounting firm and affiliated private investment funds.

Hugh Singletary IV is an advisor with Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC based in Marietta, GA. He holds Series 65 and Series 63 licenses and has one year of industry experience. His prior work includes roles at LPL Financial, Trinity Wealth Securities, and Florida Financial Advisors. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC provides investment advisory and financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, retirement plans, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm employs a goals-based financial advising discipline using proprietary quantitative metrics and integrates passive and active investment strategies.

Brendan Keelan is a CFA® charterholder with eight years of industry experience. He is currently an advisor at NewEdge Wealth and has held prior roles at Roswell Housing Authority, Keelan Capital L.L.C., Edge Capital Group, LLC, and Edge Advisors. He serves on the board of the Roswell Housing Authority, which oversees affordable and public housing in Roswell, GA. NewEdge Wealth primarily serves ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as foundations, endowments, and other institutional or charitable clients. The firm offers comprehensive advisory services and employs an investment process that emphasizes asset allocation and investor behavior, utilizing a range of strategies including proprietary investment solutions and alternative exposures.