Independent financial advisors working with Christian clients in Gastonia, NC

Brendan Petty is a financial advisor with Transamerica Retirement Advisors, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 15 years of industry experience. His career includes roles at Transamerica Life Insurance Company, MassMutual, and Mutual of Omaha. Transamerica Retirement Advisors serves participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRA owners through managed and advisory programs focused on asset allocation and retirement guidance, utilizing Morningstar Investment Management’s proprietary tools for portfolio construction and oversight.

Ryan Hammond is a financial advisor at Hammond Wealth Partners with one year of industry experience. He has held positions at Amplified Planning, The Vanguard Group, and Wells Fargo. Hammond Wealth Partners is a fee-only fiduciary firm providing discretionary investment management and financial planning mainly to individuals, families, and high-net-worth clients. The firm offers customized portfolios combining strategic asset allocation, tax-efficient management, and active tactical approaches based on multiple analysis methods, with clients able to impose reasonable investment restrictions.

Michael Fox is a financial advisor with T. Rowe Price Advisory Services, Inc. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 credentials and has 23 years of industry experience. Prior to joining T. Rowe Price in 2025, he worked for Hewitt Associates and Hewitt Financial Services LLC from 2011 to 2025. T. Rowe Price Advisory Services offers a retirement advisory program focused on individual investors and households, combining financial planning, retirement income planning, and discretionary investment management primarily through proprietary mutual funds and ETFs. The firm uses model allocations, tax-aware strategies, and an interactive online tool to deliver financial plans and manage accounts on a discretionary basis.

Aaron Moore is a Series 66 licensed advisor with Truist Advisory Services in Gastonia, NC. He has three years of industry experience, including roles at Truist Advisory Services, Truist Investment Services, and Truist Bank. Prior to his financial services career, he worked at David's Detailing. Truist Advisory Services provides investment consulting and advisory services to individuals, businesses, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations, utilizing a combination of discretionary manager relationships and consulting. The firm integrates inter-affiliate resources and employs AI-enabled tools in its research and manager selection processes.

Aaron Ruen is a financial advisor at Principal Advised Services with 11 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has worked at Principal Financial Services, Principal Life Insurance Company, and Wells Fargo in various capacities. His current roles include providing investment advice to retirement plan participants and advising on bank deposit products. Principal Advised Services offers investment advice and related services primarily to retirement plan participants and retail IRA clients, blending third-party methodologies and proprietary models. As part of the Principal Financial Group family, the firm integrates services across affiliated entities to provide access to proprietary products and algorithm-driven investment management.

Michelle Vargas, Certified Financial Planner™ is the President of Waymaker Financial Planning, a Fee-Only firm that provides transparent and accessible financial guidance. She enjoys helping clients navigate and plan all aspects of their financial life so that they will worry less about their future and free up more time to spend doing what they love. After earning a degree in Finance from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1990, she moved to Florida and started her career with Harcourt Brace Publishing. Her journey into personal finance began when she signed up for her 401K and wanted to learn about additional options to plan for retirement. This eventually led to working as a financial advisor and completing the extensive education requirements for becoming a CFP® in 1998. She believes her experience as a young professional searching for unbiased advice enables her to better serve Gen XY professionals because she remembers what it was like being in their shoes. As a former homeschool parent and the wife of a federal employee, she is passionate about helping women, homeschool families, and federal workers plan wisely for a comfortable financial future. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking in Colorado, barbecuing with family, and working in her garden.

Robert Stewart Jr. is a financial advisor at LVZ, Inc. with 22 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has worked previously at Harbour Investments, Inc. Since 2008, he has also been the owner and operator of Stewart Financial Group, an independent insurance agency. Additionally, he serves as an independent contractor on the Board of Equalization, handling property evaluation disputes. LVZ, Inc. serves over 2,400 client relationships through a team of 17 advisors managing approximately $1.125 billion in assets. The firm provides investment management, financial planning, and consulting services for individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, and qualified retirement plans, utilizing a range of portfolio styles and strategies.

Bruce Traub is a CFP® professional with 26 years of industry experience, currently serving as an investment adviser representative at 724 Capital, LLC since 2023. He has also been associated with Ministry Partners Securities LLC since 2013. Outside of his advisory roles, Traub leads a Kingdom Advisors study group focused on educating financial professionals about applying biblical principles to their business. 724 Capital serves individual and high-net-worth clients, corporations, and employee benefit plans by providing portfolio management, financial planning, and pension consulting. The firm employs a variety of analytic approaches and investment strategies, including discretionary account management and third-party money manager allocations, with regular portfolio monitoring and reporting.

Kevin Riggs Apolinar is a financial advisor at Behavior Shift with three years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has previously worked at Edward Jones and currently serves as a Personal Financial Counselor for Magellan Federal. Outside of his advisory work, he is a part-owner of Good Finds Company, a retail business that sells curated merchandise at local market events. Behavior Shift provides investment management and financial planning services to individual clients, including high-net-worth individuals, using a fee-only structure. The firm combines Modern Portfolio Theory with behavioral finance concepts and offers faith-based investment options, serving a client base that includes non-U.S. residents.

William Caldwell III is a CFP® professional with four years of industry experience, currently serving at Guidestone Advisors in Dallas, TX. Prior to this role, he worked at GuideStone Financial Resources for five years and held positions at Whole Foods, Patton House, Breaking Free Ministries, and King Soopers. Guidestone Advisors, LLC provides investment advisory and financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and employer-sponsored retirement plans. The firm uses model portfolios that primarily include affiliated GuideStone Funds and incorporates a faith-based investing policy in its recommendations.

Jared Fruth is a financial advisor at Northwest Asset Management with four years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Securities America, Inc., KMS Financial Services, Inc., Oppenheimer Funds, and John Paul Mitchell Systems. Northwest Asset Management is a registered investment adviser managing approximately $3.6 billion for nearly 3,000 clients, including individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charities, and corporations. The firm employs a customized, fiduciary approach using Modern Portfolio Theory and strategic asset allocation, combining fundamental and technical analysis to build diversified portfolios with periodic rebalancing.

Edwina Martin is a Series 65 licensed financial advisor with two years of industry experience, currently with Waverly Advisors, LLC. She previously worked at 9258 Wealth Management for five years and was employed at Teradata Corp for eleven years. Martin also serves as assistant director of tax planning at 9258 Tax and Planning, a non-investment related business. Waverly Advisors is a multi-team registered investment adviser managing portfolios for individuals, retirement plans, and pooled investment vehicles. The firm combines traditional equity and fixed-income strategies with alternative and private-market allocations, offering a range of investment management and financial planning services.

Craig Mcdaniel Jr. is a financial advisor with Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC in Columbia, SC. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 13 years of industry experience. He has been with Capital Investment Group, Inc. and The McDaniel Corporation since 2012. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved in life insurance sales and serves as an independent agent for annuities and related products. Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC provides investment advisory and supervisory services to individuals, retirement plans, corporations, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm offers customized investment management through discretionary mandates, third-party managers, and private-label model portfolios, using a blend of analytical methods with ongoing portfolio monitoring.

David Hart is a financial advisor with Martin Wealth Management, LLC in Irvine, CA. He holds a Series 65 credential and has 15 years of industry experience. Hart previously worked with Safeguard Investment Advisory Group and LifePro Asset Management. He is also a Certified Financial Fiduciary and volunteers as an instructor with the Foundation for Fiduciary Education, providing unbiased fiduciary financial education to the public. Martin Wealth Management offers investment advisory services primarily to individuals and high-net-worth clients by co-advising and directing accounts to a third-party money manager, Matson Money. The firm focuses on client onboarding, documentation, and ongoing review of third-party manager accounts rather than direct asset management.

Sarah Currier Barrella is a CFP® professional with 26 years of experience in financial advisory services. She currently works at Santander Securities LLC and Santander Bank, NA, having previously held positions at TD Bank and Citizens Securities, Inc. Barrella is based in Boston, MA. Santander Securities LLC serves a broad retail client base with approximately $3.14 billion in regulatory assets under management across 10,800 client relationships. The firm offers investment advisory services, portfolio management through wrap-fee programs, and financial planning, operating both as a registered investment adviser and a FINRA-registered broker-dealer.