Top financial advisors working with clients approaching retirement in Waynesville, NC

Sebastien Gruaz is a Series 66-licensed financial advisor with Valic Financial Advisors, Inc., with three years of industry experience. Prior to joining Valic, he held roles at AGIA and various healthcare organizations including United Surgical Partners International and MD Anderson Cancer Center. Sebastien is also appointed as an agent to sell non-securities insurance products for AGIA. Valic Financial Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser and FINRA-member broker-dealer serving primarily U.S. individuals, including high net worth clients and employer-sponsored retirement participants. The firm offers portfolio management, financial planning, and discretionary unified managed accounts through a large network of advisors, leveraging centralized technology and model solutions.

Edmon Enfield III is a financial advisor at RBC Capital Markets with 23 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and has worked at both RBC Capital Markets and City National Bank since 2013 and 2018, respectively. RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC, serves individual investors, institutional clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, corporations, and charitable organizations. The firm offers a range of advisory programs that provide portfolio management, financial planning, custody, and brokerage services tailored to each client’s risk profile through in-house and third-party investment managers.

David Roper is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) with 32 years of industry experience. He is affiliated with Cambridge Investment Research Advisors and has been with the firm and its related entities since 1997. Roper also works as an independent insurance agent for various companies. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors serves a diverse client base including individuals, retirement plans, charitable organizations, and trusts by providing financial planning, investment management, and retirement advisory services. The firm offers a range of investment strategies through independent Financial Professionals, including proprietary models and access to third-party managers, with services tailored to client objectives across multiple platforms.

Mathew Underwood is a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Clearing, holding a Series 66 designation and 18 years of industry experience. He previously worked at Edward Jones for 12 years before joining Wells Fargo in 2020. Wells Fargo Advisors is a national securities firm offering investment advisory services, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting to individual, corporate, and institutional clients. The firm manages approximately $671 billion in assets and provides both brokerage and advisory solutions.

Eric Laorr is a financial advisor at Stifel with 11 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked at Stifel since 2019. Prior to that, he was employed at George K. Baum & Company from 2015 to 2019. Stifel serves a broad range of clients, including individuals and institutional entities, offering brokerage and investment advisory services supported by a proprietary investment analysis methodology developed by its Investment Strategy Group.

Willie Myles is a financial advisor with Equitable Advisors in Cary, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 16 years of industry experience. He has worked at Equitable Advisors since 2016 and previously at AXA Advisors, LLC. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as co-chairman of a fundraising campaign for the nonprofit Alpha Light Fund Inc., focused on renovating the House of Alpha. Equitable Advisors serves a diverse client base including individual, high-net-worth, retirement plan, corporate, charitable, and institutional clients, offering financial planning, broker-dealer services, insurance distribution, and access to third-party asset management programs. The firm operates as both an SEC-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer, leveraging LPL-sponsored programs and endorsed TAMPs to deliver advisory and brokerage solutions.

Stavroula Koutsfetsoulis is a financial advisor at Ameriprise with 25 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with Ameriprise and its affiliated entities since 2011. In addition to her advisory role, she is involved in fiduciary activities as an attorney-in-fact (power of attorney). Ameriprise is a large institutional firm that provides retirement-income planning services primarily to individuals with substantial investable assets. The firm combines research, modeling, and tax-efficiency analysis to deliver written recommendation reports through a centralized consulting team, focusing on tailored retirement income strategies.

Barbara Brewer is a financial advisor at RBC Capital Markets with 20 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 66 designation and has been with RBC Capital Markets Corporation since 2008. RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, serves individual investors, institutional clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, corporations, and charitable organizations. The firm offers various advisory programs with discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, custody, and brokerage services, tailoring strategies to clients’ Advisory Risk Profiles through a mix of in-house and third-party providers.

Richard Martin is a financial advisor at Cetera with 29 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 63 designation and has a background that includes nearly three decades at Avantax Advisory Services and eight years at Avantax Insurance Agency. Outside of his advisory work, he is the owner and sole proprietor of Martin & Pellegrin, CPAs, a tax preparation and accounting firm. Cetera Investment Advisers LLC is an SEC-registered firm that serves a broad client base including individuals, retirement plans, corporate and charitable clients, and institutional accounts. The firm provides a multi-manager platform offering discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and access to various program structures and third-party money managers.

Lee Chen is a financial advisor with UBS Financial Services in Pasadena, California, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 28 years of industry experience. He has been with UBS since 2009. Outside of his advisory role, Chen serves on the board of directors for the San Gabriel Country Club. UBS Financial Services serves individual, corporate, and institutional clients through brokerage and investment advisory offerings, combining proprietary capital market research with a broad range of financial planning and portfolio management solutions.