Partner and Portfolio Manager

Brian P. Alderson, CPA, CFA

Brian works with the investment team at Providence Capital Advisors as a portfolio manager. In this role he is responsible for individual security analysis across all portfolio strategies.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Brian was a manager at Ernst and Young LLP in New York. He provided audit services to public and private clients in the alternative investment space with a focus on the hedge fund industry.

Brian received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting from the Pennsylvania State University in 2010. Brian is a Certified Public Accountant and a CFA^®charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of North Carolina.

Tax Analyst

Julie Baress, CPA

Julie is a Tax Analyst at Providence Capital Advisors. She works with the Financial Planning team to evaluate each client’s individual planning needs and specific tax considerations.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Julie worked at Elliott Davis where she prepared tax returns for individuals, corporations, and partnerships.  Julie earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master of Accounting from North Carolina State University.  Julie is a Certified Public Accountant and is working towards becoming a Certified Financial Planner.

On the weekends, Julie enjoys going for hikes with her husband Corey and their dogs Blaire and Piper.

Senior Wealth Advisor

Jill Bork

Jill is a Senior Wealth Advisor at Providence Capital Advisors. In this role, Jill partners with clients to identify, prioritize and meet a broad range of personal financial goals. Her areas of expertise include wealth transfer and estate planning, strategic income tax planning, retirement and cash flow planning.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Jill worked on the Executive Advisory Services team at Bank of America where she provided comprehensive wealth planning and tax services to the Bank’s senior executives, including financial, charitable, retirement, estate, education, and tax planning. Prior to her time in Executive Advisory Services, Jill was a Trust Officer at US Trust Company of Delaware focusing on complex trust and estate matters for high net worth clients.

Jill received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a finance concentration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and received her master’s degree in Trust and Wealth Management from Campbell University.

Jill lives in Weddington with her husband, Kyle, and their two children, Hiatt and Nora.

Senior Wealth Advisor

Marcie Haines, CPA, CFP®

Marcie Haines is a Senior Wealth Advisor at Providence Capital Advisors. In her role, Marcie provides clients with objective advice to assist them in achieving their personal financial goals. Marcie offers a broad range of expertise across several financial planning areas including: estate and wealth transfer, philanthropy, retirement, education and insurance, all with the intent to minimize income and estate tax when possible.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Marcie spent twenty-one years working on the Executive Advisory Services (EAS) team at Bank of America. EAS is a team of advisors that helps the senior executives of Bank of America identify, prioritize and meet personal financial planning goals; offers tax return preparation and planning; and helps navigate compliance of both internal and external regulatory requirements. During her tenure with EAS, Marcie spent seven years as a Tax Analyst with the responsibility of leading the tax compliance/planning relationship for the senior executives. In 2007 Marcie accepted the position of Executive Financial Advisor, a leadership role within EAS primarily responsible for providing customized comprehensive financial and tax planning to the senior executives of the company. Marcie worked closely with each executive and their team of advisors to ensure proper implementation of the various planning opportunities.

Prior to joining Bank of America, Marcie spent 3 years in public accounting as part of the tax department, focusing on tax compliance needs for high net worth families.

Marcie received her Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science in Accounting at East Carolina University. She is a Certified Public Accountant (2000) and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (2002) professional.

Marcie is married to Robert, a scout for the Carolina Panthers, and they have three children, Eli, Madelyn and Jacob. She enjoys watching her children play sports, traveling, spending time with family/friends and various volunteer activities within the community, including her church and the schools where her children attend.

Co-Founder and Principal

Brian S. Jones, CFP®

Brian is a co-founder and principal of Providence Capital Advisors, and serves as the Director of Financial Planning. In this role, he offers strategic financial guidance to clients in virtually every area of personal finance. His areas of expertise include asset management, strategic tax and income planning, retirement and social security strategies, banking and lending, insurance, long-term care, education, and estate planning.

Prior to co-founding Providence Capital Advisors, Brian served as the Director of Financial Planning at Willingdon Wealth Management. Brian joined Willingdon in 2009, became a principal of the firm the same year, and played a key role in helping Willingdon quadruple in assets under management during his six year tenure.

Brian began his career in financial services in 2000 with Bank of America after receiving his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During his nine years at Bank of America, Brian managed a banking center, was a Client Manager in the Premier Banking and Investments group and a Financial Advisor with the Wealth Management Division. Brian received his CFP^® designation in 2006.

Brian serves on the board and as treasurer for Memory & Movement Charlotte, a non-profit practice specializing in providing care for patients with Alzheimer’s, Dementia and Parkinson’s and support for their caregivers. Brian is also the Trustee of the Nicholas Caspero and Tomiko Vasey Foundation, a private Foundation that primarily supports educational, religious and medical research causes. Both Brian and his wife Lindsay are native Charlotteans. Lindsay is an oil painter and active community volunteer currently serving on the boards of the Sedgefield Middle School PTA and the CMS Foundation. Brian and Lindsay have a daughter, Ella and a son, William.

Client Services Associate

Jackie Joseph

As a Client Services Associate at Providence Capital Advisors, Jackie provides client-related, operational, administrative and executive support to the internal PCA team.  She also assists in supporting the clients of Providence Capital Advisors through customer-service related tasks and responsibilities.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Jackie worked in operations and administration management in the real estate and financial services industries, spending 11 years as an office administrator with BDO USA, LLP in Charlotte, NC. Prior to her time with BDO, Jackie worked as an administrative services manager with Cushman & Wakefield in New Jersey.

Jackie resides in the Charlotte-area with her husband Ty. She enjoys Jeopardy, a good suspense novel and traveling as often as time permits.

Client Services Manager

Meredith C. Miner

Meredith is the Client Services Manager at Providence Capital Advisors.  Meredith supports the internal PCA Team with integrating client solutions across the firm’s various platforms while also managing the day-to-day operational tasks and customer-service related responsibilities assigned to the PCA Client Services Team.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Meredith spent 10 years working with Experian Information Solutions as a Relationship Manager and Sales Associate for the Strategic Client Program, and she has a strong background in sales and consumer credit data.  She also spent time working with local Charlotte businesses, Myers Park Mortgage and Thermal Techniques. 

Meredith received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.  On weekends, she spends time riding horses and cheering on her kids from the sidelines of a soccer field.  She, and her husband, Travis, reside in Charlotte with their two children, Finn and Cregan.

Client Services Associate

Carol Mitchell

As a Client Services Associate at Providence Capital Advisors, Carol provides client-related, operational, and cross-functional support to the internal PCA team. She also assists in supporting the clients of Providence Capital Advisors through relationship management and customer-service related responsibilities and activities.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Carol spent the past 14 years at home raising her two children, Sophia and Ella. Her previous work experience includes 10+ years at Bank of America where she worked in product development and strategic marketing for eCommerce. As a product and marketing manager she developed and implemented growth initiatives to support various lines of business, while managing internal customers relationships within the consumer bank.

Carol is a native Charlottean. She enjoys traveling, camping, and spending time with family and friends.

Investment Operations Manager

Dennis Park

Dennis works with the investment team at Providence Capital Advisors as an Investment Operations Manager.  In this role he is responsible for trade execution, performance reporting, and managing the firm’s custodian and brokerage relationships. 

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Dennis served as the CFO of MAK Capital, a multi-strategy opportunistic hedge fund based in New York.  His responsibilities included management of the fund accounting and operations groups as well as working with the research and trading team on process improvement.  Dennis received his undergraduate degree in Management & Society from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000.  He is an avid skier who would like to add some international destinations in the future.

Principal and Director of Financial Planning

Stephen P. Ratcliffe, CFP®

Stephen is a principal and Director of Financial Planning at Providence Capital Advisors.  In his role, Stephen works to fully understand client goals and objectives and then offers strategic financial guidance in developing comprehensive and customized plans.  His areas of expertise include asset management, insurance, strategic tax and income tax planning, retirement planning, social security strategies, education and estate planning. 

Prior to joining the firm in 2016, Stephen was a Wealth Management Advisor with Northwestern Mutual for 15 years.  Stephen received is CFP® designation in 2004 and is also a ChFC® and CLU.

Stephen stays active in the community by volunteering with several local charities.  Since 2012, Stephen has led an effort to support the Salvation Army Angel Tree program by raising money and purchasing gifts for those families in our community that need a little extra help during the holiday season.

Stephen is a native of Charlotte and his wife, Allison, is from High Point.  They have 3 children, Graham, Colin and Kate.  Stephen loves spending time with his family and enjoys playing golf and tennis and coaching his children’s athletic teams.

co-founder and principal

Thomas M. Searson, CFA

Tom is a co-founder and principal of Providence Capital Advisors and serves as the Chief Investment Officer. In this role, he directs the investment process at Providence Capital and is responsible for overseeing security selection within the portfolios.

Prior to co-founding Providence Capital Advisors, Tom served as Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Willingdon Wealth Management for 10 years.   

Prior to beginning his investment career, Tom worked for Ernst and Young LLP in Chicago providing audit services for public and private clients across all industries.

Tom received his undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame in 1998. He received his Masters in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2004 with a concentration in investment management. Tom is a CFA® charterholder, and a member of the CFA Society of North Carolina.  During his time with Ernst and Young LLP, Tom was a Certified Public Accountant.

Tom’s wife, Stacey, is a Family Practice physician in Charlotte. They have two children, Ellie and Jack.

Research Analyst

Jeff Serbin

Jeff is a Research Analyst at Providence Capital Advisors. Jeff works with the investment team and is responsible for individual security analysis across all portfolio strategies.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Jeff held roles in HR, Operations, and Supply Chain for Amgen, Honeywell, and Owens Corning. These experiences offered Jeff broad exposure to a number of industries including Aerospace, Bio-technology, Building Materials and Chemicals.

Jeff received his Bachelors in Business Administration from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business in 2014. He received his Masters in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 2020. He also received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business with concentrations in Investments and Corporate Finance in 2021. Jeff is currently a Level II candidate in the CFA program.

On weekends Jeff likes to spend time outdoors with friends and family. In the colder seasons he enjoys watching football, specifically the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Partner and Senior Wealth Advisor

Melissa S. Wall, CPA, CFP®

Melissa is a Senior Wealth Advisor at Providence Capital Advisors.  In this role, she works with new and existing clients in various aspects of financial planning.  Melissa has a broad range of expertise across financial planning topics, with a particularly deep level of expertise in strategic tax planning.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Melissa worked on the Executive Advisory Services team at Bank of America, where she provided holistic financial and tax guidance to the corporation’s senior leadership.  Melissa served primarily as the tax advisor for her clients, evaluating and making recommendations on stock concentration planning, tax-efficient charitable planning, education funding strategies, retirement sufficiency, and estate planning.  Prior to joining Bank of America, Melissa began her career in Deloitte’s Private Client Advisors group focusing on tax compliance for partners of the firm, business owners, and multi-generational families.

Melissa completed her undergraduate work in accounting at Wingate University and received her Master of Professional Accountancy from Clemson University. She is a Certified Public Accountant and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.  Melissa has served as an adjunct professor of accounting, and is currently a member of the Wingate University Business Advisory Council.

Melissa has a passion for servant leadership and has volunteered locally at the Loaves and Fishes pantry and internationally with Habit for Humanity in El Salvador. On Saturdays, you can find her running, coaching youth soccer or cheering on the Clemson Tigers.  Melissa is married to Steve, an administrator at Charlotte Country Day School, and they have two children, Declan and Ellie.

Partner and Senior Wealth Advisor

Chris Wrenn, CFA, CFP®

Chris is a partner and Senior Wealth Advisor at Providence Capital Advisors. In this role, he helps clients identify and prioritize their goals while developing customized plans to accomplish those objectives. Chris also supports the firm’s efforts pertaining to the management of employer-sponsored retirement plans and the implementation of alternative investments for clients. His areas of expertise include asset management and investment strategy, employer-sponsored retirement plans, and strategic tax and insurance planning.

Prior to joining Providence Capital Advisors, Chris served as an Associate Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual. In this role, he devised and implemented investment strategies that complemented the financial planning initiatives of the firm. His duties included portfolio construction, investment selection, and client consultation, as well as operational tasks including trade execution and compliance. Through this experience, Chris garnered a unique understanding of both the investment management and financial planning areas of the practice, which serves him well in his role as Senior Wealth Advisor at Providence Capital Advisors.

Chris graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne University in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in finance. He is a CFA^® charterholder and member of the CFA^®Society of North Carolina as well as a CERTIFIED FINACIAL PLANNER™ professional. Chris lives in Charlotte with his wife, Danielle, their daughter Eloise, and twin sons Liam & Levi.