Five Star award winner J. Preston Byers, CPA, CFP®

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

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J. Preston Byers, CPA, CFP^®

President

Clearbridge Wealth Management

7000 Central Pkwy Ste 1650

Atlanta, GA 30328

Office: 770-350-9605

Cell: 770-490-3890

pbyers@clearbridgewealth.com
www.clearbridgewealth.com

Professional Approach

Preston is the President and Founder of ClearBridge Wealth Management. He is a Certified Financial Planner™ and a Certified Public Accountant. He has over 30 years of experience and expertise in the financial planning and investment industry providing sound advice to individuals, families, and small businesses. Preston specializes in the areas of investments, income tax planning, estate and gift planning, retirement planning, and charitable gifting strategies.

Prior to founding ClearBridge, Preston was a Senior Vice President at one of Atlanta’s oldest private wealth management firms. In addition to his portfolio management duties, he was responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring complex financial plans for high net worth individuals and closely held businesses. Preston spent seven years with the consulting firms Ernst & Young, LLP. and Deloitte & Touche, LLP. He was responsible for managing Ernst & Young’s “Wealth Management Practice” and was a Financial Consultant for Deloitte & Touche.

Preston received his CPA designation in 1991. He is a member of the Financial Planning and Tax Sections of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a member of the Georgia Society of CPA’s. He is also a member of the Georgia chapter of the Financial Planning Association. He has an Accounting and a Business Administration degree from Furman University, and a Masters of Taxation from the University of Georgia.

Mr. Byers is a highly sought after speaker and educator, having addressed many corporate, professional, and social organizations regarding the need for comprehensive financial planning and investment strategies. He is on the Board of Directors and currently serves as the Treasurer for Camp Sunshine. He is also on the Board of Advisors for the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Preston and his wife Lisa live in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and have five children- Taylor, Colson, Trey, Parker and Lawson.

See Accomplishments

This award was issued on 9/1/23 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 11/14/22 through 5/31/23. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 3,209 Atlanta-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 237 (7% of candidates) were named 2023 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2022: 3285, 263, 8%, 9/1/22, 12/13/21 - 6/10/22; 2021: 3254, 265, 8%, 9/1/21, 11/30/20 - 6/25/21; 2020: 3314, 268, 8%, 9/1/20, 12/23/19 - 7/10/20; 2019: 3197, 285, 9%, 9/1/19, 12/10/18 - 7/23/19; 2018: 3248, 287, 9%, 9/1/18, 12/29/17 - 7/24/18; 2017: 2378, 301, 13%, 9/1/17, 12/30/16 - 7/14/17; 2016: 2210, 526, 24%, 8/1/16, 2/4/16 - 7/22/16; 2015: 3620, 546, 15%, 9/1/15, 2/4/15 - 7/22/15; 2014: 4433, 560, 13%, 9/1/14, 2/4/14 - 7/22/14; 2013: 2852, 592, 21%, 9/1/13, 2/4/13 - 7/22/13; 2012: 2660, 607, 23%, 9/1/12, 2/4/12 - 7/22/12.

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Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advice offered through ClearBridge Wealth Management, A Registered Investment Advisor and Separate Entity from LPL Financial.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria-required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria-considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance . Wealth Managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.