Top advisors focused on young professionals in Alabama

Dustin Woodham is a financial advisor with Cetera who holds a Series 66 designation and has 18 years of industry experience. He has been with Cetera Investment Advisors LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC, and Regions Bank since 2014. Cetera Investment Advisers serves a diverse client base including individual, high-net-worth, institutional, and retirement-plan clients through a network of over 6,800 independent advisors. The firm offers a range of portfolio management, financial planning, and fiduciary services, utilizing a combination of advisor-managed accounts, firm-sponsored model portfolios, and third-party managed solutions.

James Harris III is a financial advisor at Stifel in Birmingham, AL, with 29 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and has been with Stifel since 2015. His prior experience includes roles at Sterne Agee Leach Inc. and AIG Sunamerica Capital Services, Inc. Stifel serves a broad range of clients, including individuals, institutional clients, and charitable organizations, providing both brokerage and investment advisory services. The firm uses a proprietary investment methodology developed by its Investment Strategy Group to support asset allocation, retirement, and estate planning analyses.

Stephen Dunbar III is a financial advisor with Equitable Advisors in Atlanta, GA, holding a Series 66 designation and 19 years of industry experience. He has been with Equitable Advisors since 2010, previously associated with AXA Advisors, LLC during the same period. Outside of advising, he writes a monthly financial column for Kiplinger and is involved as an owner and investor in a family-run baking business. Equitable Advisors serves individual investors, retirement plan sponsors, corporations, and charitable organizations, providing financial planning, retirement-plan support, and access to asset management through LPL programs and third-party asset managers. The firm operates a hybrid referral and implementation model that combines advisory and brokerage services tailored to clients’ goals, risk tolerance, and time horizons.

Leslie Layne is a financial advisor with Edward Jones in Hoover, AL, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses. She has seven years of experience at Edward Jones following previous roles at PRUCO Securities and The Prudential Insurance Company of America, as well as ten years at State Farm Insurance and its management corporation. Leslie has served as a panelist in a FINRA dispute resolution arbitration case in Alabama. Edward Jones is a full-service wealth management firm serving individual and institutional clients, offering a range of advisory programs and investment strategies. The firm manages over $1 trillion in assets with a nationwide network of more than 23,700 advisors.

Gavin Taylor is a Series 66 licensed advisor with Primerica Advisors, based in Chipley, FL, and has four years of industry experience. He previously worked at Park Avenue Securities and Guardian Life Insurance Company and spent seven years with the Department of Defense, where he also worked part-time as an engineer. He is a partner in GCK Family Enterprises, LLC. Park Avenue Securities serves a broad retail client base, including individual and high-net-worth investors, charitable organizations, and corporate clients, offering brokerage and advisory services alongside financial planning and retirement consulting. The firm employs a range of proprietary and third-party investment strategies and supports various account-level services such as lending solutions and donor-advised funds.

Donald Harris is a financial advisor at Beaird Harris with 29 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has been with Beaird Harris Wealth Management, Inc. since 1996, as well as Beaird Harris & Co P.C. since 1989. Outside of his advisory role, he serves as a managing officer and trustee for several trusts and management companies. Beaird Harris Wealth Management, LLC is a fee-only, SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals, high net worth clients, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, pension plans, and business entities. The firm employs Modern Portfolio Theory with diversified asset-class exposure primarily through low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, and it offers alternative investments and tax-managed strategies.

Katie Strother is a CFP® with 10 years of industry experience, currently serving as a financial advisor at Curi Capital, LLC. She previously worked at Park Ridge Asset Management for seven years before joining Curi Capital and its affiliated entities. Outside of her advisory role, Strother is involved in her community as a nursery room leader at Peace Church and as a varsity girls soccer coach at Wilson Christian Academy. Curi Capital serves individuals, families, institutions, and charitable organizations with a range of wealth management, asset management, and retirement plan services. The firm employs a long-term, fundamental investment approach and combines in-house strategies with external managers to support its clients’ financial goals.

Jill Raderstorf is a financial advisor at Aptus Financial, LLC in Columbus, Ohio, holding a Series 65 designation with one year of industry experience. Her prior roles include positions at Hamilton Capital, LLC, Fifth Third Bank, and Ohio Innovation Fund. She also serves as an unpaid advisor for Accelerating Angels, an early-stage venture investment firm focused on high-growth, women-owned businesses, where she assists with due diligence processes. Aptus Financial provides flat-fee financial planning and advisory services to individuals, employer-sponsored plans, and organizations, primarily serving early- to mid-career professionals, business owners, and medical/dental trainees. The firm emphasizes a passive, long-term approach centered on tax-aware asset allocation and low-cost index funds and ETFs, operating as a fiduciary adviser without discretionary portfolio management.

We’re built for families! We focus on bridging generations to connect families and their finances. As Baby Boomers, you created more wealth than any generation before you. Now in your retirement years, the economic expansion that aided your careers doesn’t feel as robust. You worry about your savings lasting a lengthy life expectancy. You also worry that your children and grandchildren will be the first generation to not have it better than the generation before them. Our goal is to solve both problems. Our structure allows us to provide the same great advice whether you have a lifetime of savings or you are just starting out. That means we can work with multiple generations, and where appropriate, find opportunities to coordinate across generations while maintaining privacy and independence. I am a millennial myself with over a decade of experience helping retirees with personal finances. That combination of youth and experience gives me an advantage over many of the advisors out there. My youth, to retirees, means I am likely to be around for the entirety of your retirement. All those plans you made with your advisor, will be executed by the advisor that helped you plan them. If that includes an inheritance, good news because I want to work with your heirs too! To a younger generation, you get an advisor you can relate to who doesn’t treat your problems as less significant because you don’t have the same level of assets. Just because I’m young, doesn’t mean I’m green! I was previously the Practicing Partner of a wealth management firm focused solely on retirees. As the lead portfolio manager, I oversaw almost $500 million in client portfolios. That experience means I’ve guided and advised clients through every stage of a successful retirement. It also means I know what a successful retirement looks like. As I’ve always said, best laid plans begin with the end in mind, so my experience serves just as well early in your journey to financial independence. I started my own firm because I saw an increasing need to reconnect families and their finances. Grandparents are providing child care, children are providing elderly care, and everyone is chipping in to pay for education. As much as ever families need each other, and our program is specifically designed to be prepared when they do.

Michael Grinnell is a Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. Since joining the firm in 2015, he has brought a problem-solving approach influenced by his background in Mechanical Engineering, earned from Santa Clara University. Michael concentrates on business development, marketing, and engaging with the next generation of clients. His areas of expertise include education planning, family wealth management strategies, legacy planning, liquidity management, personal retirement planning, portfolio management services, and small business strategies. He holds several professional designations, including Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA), and Personal Investment Advisor (PIA). Outside of work, Michael enjoys a range of outdoor activities such as fishing, golfing, hiking, hunting, music, rock climbing, running, skiing, surfing, and tennis. He is actively involved in the community through organizations like St. Anthony Organization and The Covenant House California.