Top Financial Advisors in Charlotte, NC

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To open an account with Bragg Financial Advisors, Inc., you will need at least $1 million in investable assets, though some accounts require a $3 million minimum investment. The fee-based firm has certified financial planners (CFPs), chartered financial analysts (CFAs) and certified public accountants (CPAs) on staff.

The firm’s client base is largely made up of individuals, many of whom have high net worths. It also serves investment companies, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable groups and other organizations.

Bragg Financial Advisors, Inc. is one of the few firms on this list that charges commissions when an advisor makes trades for a client’s portfolio. Certain advisors at the firm may also sell financial products. However, the firm is a fiduciary, so it must act in your best financial interest at all times. 

Bragg Financial Advisors, Inc. Background

Bragg Financial Advisors, Inc. was founded by J. Frank Bragg Jr. in 1997. It is now principally owned by Benton Bragg, Phillips Bragg, John Bragg III and Steve H. Scruggs. The firm’s staff averages about three decades of experience in finance.

Bragg Financial Advisors offers retirement planning, estate planning, higher education planning and individual charitable-giving services. Retirement-minded investors should note that Bragg’s advisors have specific experience working with pension and profit-sharing plans, 401(k) plans and 403(b)s.

Bragg Financial Advisors, Inc. Strategy

Whether you want to maximize returns or minimize risks, Bragg Financial Advisors, Inc. says it has a portfolio that will match your particular needs. The firm offers clients seven portfolio models to choose from, ranging from a portfolio titled “Aggressive Allocation With Emphasis on Capital Appreciation” to one called “Conservative Allocation With Emphasis on Capital Preservation and Income.”

Bragg relies heavily on its own calculations and research to determine clients’ asset allocations. The firm is consistently focused on the long term and its advisors make investments with the mindset that they will not be sold for at least a year.

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Biltmore Family Office is a fee-only firm with more than $2.5 billion in assets under management (AUM). The firm works with high net worth individuals, other individuals, trusts, estates, foundations, other charitable organizations, LLCs, corporations, pensions and profit-sharing plans. 

The firm sets a $10,000,000 account minimum.

Biltmore Family Office Background 

The firm was created in 2008 by Chris Cecil, founder, and the operating partners who are Rael Gorelick, Nicole Gerkey and Michael Farrell. The firm provides the following services: financial planning, portfolio management, pension consulting and selection of other, third-party, advisors. 

Biltmore Family Office Investment Strategy 

Biltmore Family Office uses a unique mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis to determine portfolio allocations for its clients. Each client's unique positioning will be determined and the allocation of assets could be across private placement, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), actively managed accounts or direct securities. 

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Colony Family Offices, LLC is a fee-only advisory firm that has been registered with the SEC since 2013. The firm provides comprehensive financial and investment management services to ultra-high-net-worth families. To work with the firm, a family generally needs a collective account balance of $10 million. 

Colony Family Offices, LLC Background 

Colony Family Offices is wholly owned by Eric D. Ridenour, who currently serves as managing director. The Colony Trust Company also exists to focus on providing trust and estate planning services to its clients. 

The home office team includes certified financial planners (CFPs), a chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified public accountants (CPAs) and even a chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA).

Colony Family Offices, LLC Investing Strategy 

Colony Family Offices aims to build investment portfolios driven by passive and active passive strategies for long-term growth. But the firm also states, “We will likely recommend and implement tactical allocations in order to seek to capitalize on short-term investment opportunities or defend against market risks or dislocations.”

Based on your needs and goals, the firm may invest your assets in equity, fixed-income, mutual funds or private investments like hedge funds. 

In addition, the firm can provide the following services separately upon request: 

• Investment Policy Statement Creation and Maintenance
• Asset Allocation Strategies
• Ad hoc Investment Research
• Consolidated Performance Reporting

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Carolinas Investment Consulting, LLC is a fee-based firm with a general minimum account size of $100,000. 

The firm's advisory team features certified financial planners (CFPs) and certified public accountants (CPAs).

The firm’s advisors may offer you insurance policies and securities in addition to investment services. Commissions they can earn on these sales present a potential conflict of interest. However, the firm’s fiduciary duty legally binds its advisors to always act in your best interest.

Carolinas Investment Consulting, LLC Background

George Edmiston, Jr. founded this firm in 2000 and has remained the owner ever since. The firm’s financial advisors average about 20 years’ experience in personal finance.

Typical clients of the firm include individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable institutions, foundations, endowments, estates, trusts, and corporations and business entities. The services available to each client vary depending on the clients’ needs. Some of the firm’s principal offerings are retirement planning, succession planning, trust and estate creation and investment management.

Carolinas Investment Consulting, LLC Strategy

Carolinas Investment Consulting, LLC espouses a long-term investing approach. The firm determines clients’ asset allocations based on this long-term approach and on each client’s individual risk tolerance. Carolinas Investment Consulting also takes liquidity into account, so its clients can earn short-term income alongside anticipated long-term growth.

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To be a client of Novare Capital Management, you’ll need at least $500,000. The firm serves individuals and high-net-worth individuals as well as pensions, profit sharing plans, charities and other businesses. The fee-only firm has a number of financially certified individuals on staff, including certified financial planners (CFPs), chartered financial analysts (CFAs) and a chartered financial consultant (ChFC).

Novare Capital Management Background

Novare Capital Management was founded in 1999 by principals William Baynard, Jr. and Don Olmstead. The principal owners are Baynard, Jr., Don E. Olmstead and The Baymen Group, LLC.

The firm provides cash flow planning, retirement planning, trust and estate creation, education tuition planning and tax minimization services to individuals, families, businesses and charities.

Novare Capital Management Strategy

Advisors at Novare Capital Management go through a multi-step process to create your financial plan. Throughout this process, you and your advisor will determine your personal goals, risk profile, time horizon, liquidity needs and current financial status. Once all of that is defined, the firm will determine the proper asset allocation for your goals and needs.

Novare Capital Management Strategy says that it believes diversification across multiple asset classes is necessary for long-term success. The firm typically invests its clients’ assets in individual and preferred stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds and master limited partnerships. Novare may also use alternative investments like private equity firms, hedge funds and real estate.

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New Republic Partners offers investment management, advisory, consulting and other services to affiliated pooled investment vehicles, separately managed accounts of various advisory clients and other persons and entities.

The firm, which handles client assets on both a discretionary and non-discretionary basis, also provides cash management, estate planning, financial planning, philanthropy and charitable giving services to high-net-worth clients.

Professional designations represented on the advisory staff include chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified financial planner (CFP), chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA) and the C(k)P certified 401(k) professional designation.

New Republic Partners Background

Thomas Hoops, an attorney who founded New Republic Partners, is the firm's CEO and chief operating officer. 

The firm's website lists the John M. Belk Endowment, the M.C. Belk Pilon family interests and the Springs-Close-Bowles family as "founding families."

New Republic Partners is owned by NRP, LLC. 

New Republic Partners Investment Strategy

New Republic Partners aims to generate superior long-term investment returns and achieve client objectives with globally diversified portfolios that contain exposures to private markets, that complement public market investments and that include sources of return which are less correlated to traditional asset classes.

The firm, which utilizes both passive and active strategies, generally favors active management within assets classes with the greatest level of inefficiency. Those inefficient asset classes are often characterized by high levels of manager performance dispersion. New Republic Partneers also invests directly in private companies and such ventures typically involve a partnership with a strong management team that needs capital to grow. 

The uses existing manager and company relationships of the firm across a wide range of asset types and sectors in order to:gain access to best-in-class fund managers that have historically been oversubscribed and hard to access, find attractive co-invest opportunities and source proprietary deals. 

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Linden Thomas Advisory Services, LLC is based out of northern Charlotte. The fee-based firm serves mostly high-net-worth individuals, though it also works with a handful of non-high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans, trust accounts and charitable organizations.

Regardless of the type of client you are, Linden Thomas calls for a minimum initial investment of $400,000. However, under certain circumstances, the firm may decide to waive or reduce this requirement.

The staff at Linden Thomas features a few advisory certifications. These include chartered financial analysts (CFAs) and certified financial planners (CFPs).

Linden Thomas Advisory Services, LLC Background

Linden Thomas Advisory Services was established in 2017, although it didn't begin managing client assets until 2018. The firm is under the ownership of Linden Thomas Financial Group, LLC, a financial services holding company. The firm's founder and managing principal is Stephen Thomas.

The firm features a number of advisory offerings across investment management, financial planning and retirement plan services. These include:

• Portfolio customization
• Ongoing investment monitoring
• Retirement planning
• Estate planning
• Tax planning
• Employee benefits planning
• Education fund planning
• Risk management

Linden Thomas Advisory Services, LLC Investing Strategy

Modern portfolio theory (MPT) is an award-winning philosophy that Linden Thomas uses as a basis for all of its investment decisions. MPT attempts to maximize returns and minimize volatility for a given level of risk through a diversified asset allocation. In the case of Linden Thomas, diversification occurs on a global scale, and it invests in various small-, mid- and large-cap stocks as well as bonds.

In order to ensure your original asset allocation remains intact, Linden Thomas' staff will keep a close eye on how your portfolio performs. Depending on how much these returns affect your portfolio's composition, the firm may decide to rebalance your assets.

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Kingfisher Capital, LLC is another of works primarily with individuals both with and without a high net worth. It also services clients who are pensions, profit-sharing plans, charities and other businesses. You'll need at least $1 million in investable assets in order to work with Kingfisher.

This firm is considered fee-based, as certain advisors may receive commissions from selling insurance products to clients. As a result, the firm is subject to a potential conflict of interest. However, the firm is a fiduciary and is legally obligated to act with the best interests of clients in mind at all times. A fee-only firm does not receive commissions and is not subject to this same conflict.

Kingfisher Capital Background

Founded in 1989, Kingfisher Capital is one of the older firms on our Charlotte list. H.K. Hallett and Alex Miles are the firm's principal owners.

Kingfisher provides a wide range of financial services to its clients. They consist of the following three groups:

• KingfisherINVEST
• KingfisherWEALTH
• KingfisherCONSULT

INVEST focuses on investment management, whereas CONSULT focuses just on planning and consulting. WEALTH entails more comprehensive financial planning.

Kingfisher Capital Investment Strategy

Kingfisher Capital's investment strategies focus on the individual wants, needs and financial objectives of each client. They take a holistic approach, also helping client craft their goals and create investment strategies that work for them, no matter their financial background or situation. The firm also offers several investment strategies, including equity, fixed income, and global asset allocation.

Advisors at Kingfisher use a range of investments to populate client portfolios. These include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), derivatives and alternative investments. They may also use third-party money managers. Kingfisher uses a top-down approach to identify investments that have the potential to perform. It then uses a bottom-up approach to pick individual investments based on fundamental methods of analysis.

MBL Wealth, LLC is a fee-based advisory firm registered with the SEC. It provides investment advisory services to the following types of clients: individuals, high-net-worth individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, businesses and retirement plans. To open an account with the firm, clients must have at least $5 million. This minimum may be negotiable based on the discretion of the firm. 

Professional designations across the firm's team include certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial analyst (CFA), chartered life underwriter (CLU), chartered financial consultant (ChFC), accredited estate planner (AEP), registered health underwriter (RHU) and certified investment management analyst (CIMA).

MBL Wealth Background 

MBL Wealth was founded in 2020. The firm is fully owned by MBL Advisors Holding, LLC (which is majority-owned by MBL Wealth CEO Luther Lockwood). Jonathan Dry acts as chief strategy officer, Brian Gift acts as chief investment officer and Billy Morton acts as president and CCO. 

The firm offers wealth management services, a selection of other advisors, financial planning services and retirement plan consulting services. 

MBL Wealth Investment Strategy 

MBL Wealth uses the following approaches in its investment strategy: macroeconomic analysis, fundamental analysis and technical analysis. 

The firm puts together and executes strategies that are long-term and goal-driven based on clients' particular needs (such as objectives, risk profile, specific tax circumstances, liquidity needs, etc.). The firm strongly believes in using modern portfolio theory (MPT) to maximize expected returns for a given level of risk and/or minimize risk for a given level of expected return. MBL Wealth also makes sure to focus on asset class diversification when building portfolios.