You have hopes and dreams and life goals for yourself and your family, and managing your finances is key to achieving them.

Handling your personal finances is ultimately your responsibility, but you don’t have to do it alone. A qualified financial planner, such as a certified financial planner (CFP) licensee, can help make the most of your financial resources, navigating the barriers that inevitably arise in every stage of life.

Our advice? Don’t skimp on the CFP designation. Those three letters indicate someone is qualified in financial and investment planning, and that they provide an honest fiduciary benefit to their clients. Not every financial advisor can say that.

The Soirée team worked with the CFP Board and internal research efforts to compile a list of financial planning firms in the city who have CFPs on staff. What you see here is that list to the best of our abilities. This list may not be exhaustive, although every effort was taken to make it so.

On the linked pages, read paid profiles of firms and individuals who chose to participate in this section so you can gain more knowledge of their abilities, philosophies, compensation structures and beyond.

AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL
Eric Ashburn
Bob R. Chambers
Brian Curry
Robin Elaine Gann
Carl M. Irico
Russell Kelso
Lester P. Matlock
Larry R. Root
G. Stephen White

APTUS FINANCIAL SERVICES
Sarah Catherine Gutierrez

THE ARKANSAS FINANCIAL GROUP
Rick Adkins
Kristina Bolhouse
Dr. Ralph Broadwater
Mary McCraw

BARRY M. CORKERN & CO INC.
Barry M. Corkern

BASS & BELL
Christopher Bell

BROWN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
Johnny Brown

CARRUS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Ryan Michael Carrus

CONGER WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Cynthia L. Conger
Abigail C. Hollar

CROSSCURRENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Roy W. Stephens

EDWARD JONES
Kelly Journey

ENCOMPASS FINANCIAL PARTNERS
David G. Kopittke

FIDUCIARY WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Edward P. Mahaffy
Rocklin D. Senavinin

FINANCIAL DECISIONS INC.
Karron E. Wages

FINANCIAL LEGACY MANAGEMENT
John W. Kelley
John B. Robinson
Alvin Rogers

GERBER PRIME CAPITAL INVESTMENT ADVISORS
Jason A. Gerber

HOWELL TAX EFFICIENT ASSET MOVEMENT
Frank B. Howell

IFRAH FINANCIAL SERVICES
Micah Brown
Stephen Henry DeSalvo
Bobby Harris
Frank M. Kelly
John Kelly
Kyle Pitts
Douglas J. Spencer

INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVISORS/APPLIED CAPITAL
John M. Mueller

ISPEN ADVISOR GROUP
T. Randall Price
Loren Marshall

KINARD WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Raymond Bertasi
Nathan Daniel Kinard

LEGACY CAPITAL
Joshua E. Danforth
Matthew Jones

LIFESMART FINANCIAL
William Howard Woodyard

MERIDIAN INVESTMENT ADVISORS
Marshall Moon
Jason Feilke

MERRILL LYNCH - PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH
Melissa W. Bradley
Edmond T. Burkett
James Kenny Gibbs
William D. Gorman
Trevor Holbert
Douglas W. Menz
Justin T. Mitchell
Pledge E. Monk
Hatim Smouni
Gilbert L. Weisbecker
Lanita Wheetley

MORGAN STANLEY
Jason Chacko
Joe H. Locke
Lanita Wheetley
Don Rodgers
Travis Teagues

NORTHINGTON INVESTMENT GROUP
Stephen M. Northington

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
Todd Christian Boswell

PLATINUM PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS
Eric Miller

RAYMOND JAMES & ASSOCIATES
Michael E. Kepesky

REGIONS BANK
Christopher E. Ritchie

RETIRE PATH
Dale Colclasure

SIMMONS INVESTMENT SERVICES
Chad Carlson
Nathan Green
Lisa Rabatin

SIMMONS TRUST DEPARTMENT
Sean Barron
Joe Clement
Jim Shenep

STEPHENS INC.
Cory Denise Grummer
William Hoffman
John Kornet
James R. Mitchell
Phillip Butterfield

THRIVENT FINANCIAL
John S. Knoernschild

TRANSITIONS WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Brad Seagraves
James C. Martin

UBS FINANCIAL SERVICES
Derek B. Cisne
David H. Gutierrez
Jeremy E. McDade
Hardy L. Winburn

UNITED CAPITAL FINANCIAL ADVISERS
Eric Hutchinson
Timothy Long

WELLS FARGO ADVISORS
Andrew Charles Crone
Sydney Gilbert
Morgan Keyes
Mike McKinney
Roger O’Quin

ZIEDERS ENTERPRISES
William Hoofman

Why a CFP?

CFP practitioners are licensed and regulated by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. By virtue of their CFP license, granted by the board, CFP professionals are held accountable to the board’s code of ethics for their financial planning activities.

Most CFP professionals are dedicated to using the financial planning process to serve the financial needs of individuals, families and businesses. All CFP professionals earn at least a four-year college degree and have completed a course of study in financial planning approved by the board. All CFPs are also required to have 30 hours of continuing education credit every two years, with at least two of those hours being an approved ethics course.

Learn the Lingo

CFP: Certified Financial Planner
CPA: Certified Public Accountant
PFS: Personal Financial Specialist
AIF: Accredited Investment Fiduciary
CLU: Chartered Life Underwriter
ChFC: Chartered Financial Consultant
MBA: Master of Business Administration