Kathleen McQuade is a Certified Financial Planner® with three years of industry experience, operating as the sole advisor at her independent firm in Laurel, MD. She has been managing her practice since 2010 and holds a Series 65 license. Her firm provides fee-only financial planning and consulting services to individual clients, focusing on investment, retirement, insurance, education, and estate planning. The practice employs a long-term, buy-and-hold investment approach, primarily recommending no-load, low-cost, tax-efficient mutual funds with asset allocation as the key factor in portfolio returns.

Stanley Liu is the principal of DocEmpowered, LLC, a fee-only financial advisory firm based in Baltimore, MD. He holds a Series 65 designation and has one year of industry experience. Prior to founding DocEmpowered in 2023, he worked for eight years at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In addition to his advisory role, Mr. Liu practices part-time as a non-invasive cardiologist. DocEmpowered, LLC provides comprehensive financial planning and consulting primarily for physicians and their adult household family members. The firm emphasizes long-term, passive investment strategies based on Modern Portfolio Theory and behavioral finance, offering project-based and ongoing services without discretionary management or custody of assets.

Robert Clark is a CFP® professional with 25 years of experience in financial advising. He has been the principal at Clark Company since 2017 and previously worked at National Planning Corporation for 12 years. In addition to his advisory work, Clark provides income tax preparation and fixed insurance services for clients. Clark Company offers asset and portfolio management, comprehensive wealth planning, and tax preparation for individuals, trusts, businesses, and employer-sponsored retirement plans. The firm employs customized investment strategies and generally operates on a primarily non-discretionary basis, combining investment advisory services with insurance and tax services.

Hi, I’m Matt. My job as a financial planner is to make your life simpler. To help you efficiently and effectively narrow down your options, so you can make the right decisions. And be confident in those decisions for the long-term. Financial planning and investment management are often muddied by unnecessary complexity (usually in an effort to sell you something). It doesn’t need to be this way. I began my career in the financial services industry in 2003 as an analyst with the due diligence law firm Snyder Kearney, LLC (Columbia, MD). At Snyder Kearney, I reviewed public and private securities offerings and evaluated national securities sponsoring companies, focusing on real estate investments and non-traditional investment products. It was there that I realized that I wanted to know more about the practice of law and a lot more about the pretty co-worker in the cubicle next to me, Sylvie. I earned my law degree in 2007 from the University of Baltimore School of Law and married Sylvie in 2008; further proof that education and personal relationships are the investments that produce the best returns. After law school, I practiced law with the firm David Albert & Associates, LLC (Bethesda, MD), focusing in estate planning and administration, guardianship administration, taxation of estates and trusts, and business formations. There, I recognized that helping clients through complicated and often stressful issues was intellectually stimulating and emotionally fulfilling. In 2010, I opened Patuxent Financial Partners, LLC, registered as an Investment Adviser with the State of Maryland in 2017. Here, I leverage my legal background to provide clients with value-added insight in the overlapping areas of estate and financial planning. More importantly, as a personal financial planner and small business owner, I can build lasting relationships with clients and their families; these connections make my work fulfilling, because client success becomes intertwined with my own. I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner and hold the FINRA Series 65 securities registration. Raised in Columbia, Maryland, I graduated from McDaniel College with a bachelor's degree in English. Outside of the office, I enjoy running, reading, and hiking with my wife, son, and our mutt hound, Kodi.

Gabriel Trasatti is a financial advisor at Trasatti Wealth Planning, LLC in Baltimore, MD, with 15 years of industry experience. He holds the PFS™ and Series 66 designations and has led his independent firm since 2004. His background includes advanced financial planning and accounting credentials. Trasatti Wealth Planning provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management to individuals, families, charitable institutions, foundations, and corporate pension or profit-sharing plans. The firm offers customized investment strategies with continuous monitoring and formal quarterly reviews, integrating holistic planning across retirement, tax, estate, and cash-flow matters.

Jeffery Holmes is a financial advisor at Investream with seven years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has worked at firms including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Holmes is also a licensed real estate agent. Investream is a single-advisor independent investment adviser serving individual and high-net-worth clients, providing portfolio management and customized Investment Policy Statements. The firm utilizes a multi-method investment approach, including fundamental and technical analysis, options strategies, and both discretionary and non-discretionary account management.

William Tilghman is the sole advisor at Tilghman Wealth Management, LLC in Arnold, MD. He holds a Series 65 designation and has four years of industry experience, including time at Markin Asset Management, LP. Prior to his financial career, he worked in several roles including at Annapolis Yacht Sales and Compass Languages. Tilghman Wealth Management offers personalized financial planning and investment management to individuals, families, trusts, estates, and family-owned businesses. The firm employs a fee-only advisory model and utilizes tailored investment strategies that include individual securities, mutual funds, ETFs, and separately managed accounts with risk management techniques such as dynamic asset allocation and the use of derivatives.

Gregory Fridley is a financial advisor at Society Investment Management in Baltimore, MD, holding Series 63 and Series 65 designations with three years of industry experience. He has worked at Financial First Advisors since 1991 and has managed his own business, Taxbusters, since 1990. Society Investment Management provides personalized financial planning and discretionary investment management to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and small businesses. The firm operates on a fee-only basis, emphasizing growth and income investment strategies while incorporating tax preparation and electronic filing as part of its advisory services.

Christopher Mamunes is a financial advisor at Railroad Street Wealth Management, LLC with 29 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has led his independent firm since 2014. Railroad Street Wealth Management provides customized investment management and periodic financial planning to individual and high-net-worth clients. The firm manages approximately $20.4 million across 55 client relationships, using a tactical, rules-based investment process that combines technical analysis with a relative-strength framework to guide portfolio construction and risk management.

Jonathan Mathews is a CFP® professional with four years of experience in financial planning. He is the sole advisor at Nautical Financial Planning, an independent firm he has led since 2018. Mathews also works as a tax advisor with Block Advisors, providing personal and business tax preparation and planning. Nautical Financial Planning offers fee-only, hourly and project-based financial planning and consultation to individuals, couples, families, and business entities. The firm focuses on globally diversified, low-cost, tax-efficient passive investments and provides clients with guidance on asset allocation, custodial setup, and periodic portfolio reviews without managing assets directly.

Fletcher Perkins is a CFA® charterholder with 21 years of industry experience. He is the sole advisor at ACARA Capital Management, LLC, where he has worked since 2018. Prior to that, he was a personal trader from 2015 to 2018. ACARA Capital Management serves individual and high-net-worth clients with discretionary portfolio management and occasional custom portfolios. The firm employs concentrated equity strategies alongside ETFs, fixed income, and other asset classes, using a combination of fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis.

Michael Hocker is a Series 65-licensed financial advisor with CTG Wealth Management LLC, where he has worked since 2023. He has two years of industry experience and previously held positions at the Defense Acquisition University from 2013 to 2019. CTG Wealth Management LLC provides fee-only investment management and financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and charitable organizations. The firm manages discretionary portfolios using a combination of passive and active strategies and serves a significant non-U.S. client base, which introduces cross-border considerations into its planning and custody decisions.

Stephen Lee is the principal of Lee Financial Group, Inc. in Columbia, MD, and holds the CFP® designation and Series 63 license. He has 45 years of industry experience and has been associated with Raymond James Financial in various capacities since 2004. Outside of financial advising, he is the owner of a law office focusing on wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, and serves on the advisory board for River Hill FBLA, providing student mentoring. Lee Financial Group offers individualized financial planning and wealth management advice to individuals and families, including high-net-worth clients, trusts, and charitable organizations. The firm provides written financial plans through a data-gathering process and offers follow-up consultations, with investment recommendations based on fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis.

Heath Harris is the sole advisor at Compound Advisory and holds Series 65 and Series 66 licenses with 18 years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at Oliver Wealth, Hayden Royal, CITIGROUP, and Wells Fargo Advisors. Compound Advisory LLC is a recently formed investment adviser that offers portfolio management services using a multi-method investment approach, combining charting, cyclical, fundamental, modern portfolio theory, quantitative, and technical analysis. The firm provides tailored model allocations and manages a range of permitted investments including mutual funds, fixed income, real estate funds, equities, ETFs, and non-U.S. securities.

Lorie Scheibel is the principal of Smarter and Wise, an independent financial advisory firm, with 15 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked at firms including Cambridge Investment Research Advisors and Lincoln Financial Advisors. Scheibel also serves as adjunct faculty at Anne Arundel Community College and operates as an independent insurance agent. Smarter and Wise provides financial planning and discretionary wealth management to individuals nearing retirement, high-net-worth clients, and sponsor-level retirement plans. The firm employs a planning-first approach centered on a comprehensive RetireSmarter process, incorporating risk modeling and ongoing portfolio management, and offers specialized investment real estate planning alongside retirement plan advisory services.

Matthew Wyskiel is the sole advisor at Skill Capital Management in Baltimore, MD, holding a Series 63 designation with four years of industry experience. He has been with Skill Capital Management since 2007, serving as its founder and sole owner. Skill Capital Management provides discretionary portfolio management to individual clients, primarily using Vanguard index mutual funds to offer diversified exposure across U.S. and international equities and U.S. investment-grade fixed income. The firm manages separate accounts with standardized model portfolios and rebalances client allocations quarterly.

David Merkel is a CFA charterholder and principal of Aleph Investments, LLC, an independent advisory firm he founded in 2010. He has 15 years of industry experience. Outside of his advisory work, he maintains AlephBlog.com, a website providing educational content for investors since 2007. Aleph Investments manages discretionary portfolios primarily for individual investors, as well as charitable organizations and small pension clients. The firm employs fundamental equity analysis and a risk-conscious fixed income approach, offering strategies including a yield-oriented balanced portfolio and customizable accounts, with features such as hedged equity options and client-imposed ethical restrictions.

Kendell Phillip is a financial advisor at Lockstep Financial LLC with five years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Maverick Trading and Northrop Grumman. Lockstep Financial LLC is an independent advisory firm serving individual and high-net-worth clients with financial planning and discretionary portfolio management. The firm employs a primarily passive investment approach using index funds and ETFs, supplemented by fundamental and technical analysis, and manages held-away assets through third-party platforms.

John Gillick is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 license with Commonwealth Financial Network, where he has worked since 2021. He has two years of industry experience and previously held roles at The Colony Group, Randstad LP, Cresa, and Deloitte LP. Commonwealth Financial Network is a registered investment adviser that supports a national network of approximately 2,950 advisors and their clients by providing advisory programs, technology, investment management, and compliance support. The firm offers a variety of program structures and discretionary model portfolios managed by its Investment Management and Research team.

John Fremont Smith is a financial advisor at Friends Wealth Management with 25 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has worked at firms including Ameriprise Financial, Voya Investment Management, and Calamos Advisors. He is also a licensed insurance agent. Friends Wealth Management provides portfolio management and comprehensive financial planning to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and business entities. The firm employs a variety of analytic approaches and manages accounts directly, offering both discretionary and non-discretionary services tailored to client-specific investment policies and risk tolerances.