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As a Financial Advisor and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^TM practitioner with UBS, John provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management. He believes that the most successful plans are created with elements of both art & science. The science of planning is crafting a recommendation that is well grounded in fact. It requires technical knowledge and skilled data analysis. The art of planning is creatively preparing a plan that meets your own unique needs. The Live Oak process begins with listening to you. The result is a customized plan - one that we will help you implement, monitor, and adjust over time.

John has a special interest in helping his clients plan for retirement income that will last a lifetime. Excellent plans for sustainable retirement income should not only answer the question, "Can I retire?" they should also answer the question, "How do I retire?"  He works with his clients to create a road map for retirement income. As part of this road map, he focuses on creating sustainable, tax-efficient income, special strategies to maximize Social Security and pension income, and planning for family legacy needs. As a final step, financial and retirement income plans are coordinated with a client's investment portfolio to ensure plan success.

John is a 2000 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has Bachelor's degrees in economics and political science. Away from the office, John and his family love the outdoors. It is quite possible you will find them getting their hands dirty in their backyard vegetable garden, camping, or throwing a frisbee. They are dedicated members of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, where John serves on the Deacon Leadership Council and chairs the Administrative Deacons.

John and his wife, Pattie, and their daughters, Allie (2007), Brooke (2009), Josie (2011), & Payton (2015) live in Chapel Hill.

• Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors, 2023The Forbes rating is compiled by Shook Research and awarded annually in April based on information from a 12 month period ending June of the prior year.

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bachelor's Degrees in Economics and Political Science

• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

• CA
• FL
• MA
• ME
• NC
• NV
• NY
• OH
• TX
• VA

Esha is originally from Madison, Mississippi and came to North Carolina in 2010 for college where she graduated from Duke University.  In her time at Duke, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Venice, Italy, where she met her now-husband, Walter.  

Esha joined the team at UBS in March of 2017 as a Client Service Associate.  She has since obtained her Series 7 & 66 licenses, as well as Life, Accident and Health, Medicare Supplement/Long Term Care, and Variable Annuity Licenses.  Most recently, she has earned her CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation and moved to the Senior Wealth Strategy Associate position.  She enjoys getting to know her clients on a personal level and finds that building trust is key to a successful relationship between clients and their financial planning team.  

Esha loves living in the Durham-Chapel Hill area. She enjoys spending her evenings and weekends swimming, walking her rescue dog Otis, playing video games, hiking the area’s nature trails, exploring the culinary scene of Durham and Chapel Hill, and learning new things about the Triangle region.

• Duke University, BA, English
• Duke University, Executive Certificate in Financial Planning: 2020

• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

Karen graduated from Colorado State University in 1999 with a degree in Restaurant Resort Management.  After college she found herself in Ann Arbor, Michigan where her interest in finance began at a small independent broker dealer working in their back office.  In 2002, she became licensed and went to work as a Registered Client Service Assistant for a Senior Vice President at Smith Barney.  After taking time away from her career to raise a family she began working for UBS in 2018.  Karen's responsibilities include opening and maintaining accounts, processing client requests and providing excellent customer service.

Karen lives in Pittsboro with her three kids and enjoys the outdoors and her animals.