James earned his Accredited Asset Management Specialist™ (AAMS™) and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ (CRPC™) designations from the College of Financial Planning. Prior to becoming a Financial Advisor, he was a successful entrepreneur and business owner. This background led him to join Raymond James as a Financial Advisor due to the firm's core values of client-first, conservatism, independence, and integrity making it the premier alternative to Wall Street.

By necessity, successful individuals and families have more complex needs that require specific, tailored strategies for investment management and planning, cash management and lending, risk management, and estate and charitable planning.

Through his practice, you have access to the full resources of a multinational financial services firm, supported by a team of specialized professionals who can provide targeted input regarding your wealth. His practice includes working with individuals approaching or currently in retirement, with investable assets over one million dollars; entrepreneurs and business owners; manufacturers' retirement plans; and foundations.

He is hired as a fee-based advisor to run his client's financial life as if it were a business. He likens the client and Financial Advisor relationship to that of the CEO and CFO roles, holding a broad knowledge base and bringing in additional resources such as the client's tax and legal advisors. This relationship is complemented by client-first service based on scheduled contact, rapid response to problems, attention to details, and anticipating issues before they become urgent.

James's investment philosophy is simple: "Don't take more risk than necessary to meet one's goals, with emphasis on capital preservation and tax-aware investment strategies." He accomplishes this through a comprehensive four step approach: Understand, Design, Implement, and Manage.

In order to provide financial guidance, James believes in a personal relationship with each and every client: he wants to know about your background, family, lifelong goals as well as any short-term objectives, and your areas of interest, whether it is golf or grandchildren. As the relationship grows over time, a unique partnership develops with a strong level of trust we all want and expect.

Active in the community, James has been involved with the Greenville Rotary, Metropolitan Arts Council, United Ministries, Habitat for Humanity, United Way Young Philanthropists, and his church. A graduate of North Greenville University in Marketing, he received Clemson University's Arthur M. Spiro Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship when he attended Clemson. He also received the South Carolina Collegiate Entrepreneur Award, was a national runner-up for the North American Collegiate Entrepreneur, and was an award finalist for the InnoVision Technology Awards.

The South Carolina native lives in Greenville with his wife, a university public health professor, and their two young children. They are members of Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville.