Five Star award winner Aaron Clarke, CFP®, AIF®

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Contact Me

Aaron Clarke, CFP^®, AIF^®

Wealth Advisor

Heritage Financial, LLC

7001 Heritage Village Plaza, Suite 190

Gainesville, VA 20155

Office: (703) 754-1233

myadvisor@heritagefinllc.com
www.HeritageFinLLC.com

Professional Approach

Aaron Clarke works with successful professionals, executives, and business owners navigating pivotal financial transitions. His clients are typically mid-career accumulators building wealth, senior leaders with complex compensation, families within 5-10 years of retirement, and entrepreneurs preparing for a business exit. What unites them is complexity and the desire for a trusted guide to turn financial success into lasting significance.

As a fiduciary financial planner, Aaron provides clarity in advanced tax planning, investment management, retirement income, and multi-generational wealth transfer. He helps executives manage concentrated stock and maximize benefits, business owners reduce taxes in pre-transaction planning, and families nearing retirement build sustainable distribution strategies. For accumulators, he creates paths from strong earnings to long-term independence.

Aaron’s commitment to transparent, client-first planning stems from his grandparents’ financial devastation in a Ponzi scheme - an experience that fuels his mission to protect and empower families. With a degree in financial planning from Virginia Tech and a team-based model that balances technical expertise with personal connection, he ensures every client receives thoughtful, customized guidance.

Warm, professional, and client-focused, Aaron helps simplify complexity, minimize taxes, and align wealth with what matters most - families, careers, and legacies for a fulfilling life.

Aaron is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary®. He has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Barron’s, MarketWatch, and other national outlets, and from time to time speaks to young advisor audiences about best practices in modern wealth management.

True to his belief in service and leadership, Aaron currently serves as President and Board Member of the Financial Planning Association of the National Capital Area.

Outside of work, Aaron enjoys strength training, golf, tennis, and exploring new cultures - having visited 25 U.S. states and 13 countries (favorite: Italy).

Call Me When: You’re a successful professional, executive, or business owner facing financial complexity - whether that’s preparing for retirement, managing stock and compensation packages, or planning the sale of a business. I add the most value when wealth isn’t simple: multiple accounts, tax concerns, concentrated assets, or family dynamics that require careful coordination. If you’re unsure how to turn years of hard work into lasting financial independence and impact, that’s where I thrive. I help simplify decisions, minimize taxes, and align wealth with the life and legacy you want to create.

In true Hokie fashion — "Ut Prosim"— "That I May Serve".

See Accomplishments

This award was issued on 10/15/2025 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 01/15/2025 through 08/01/2025. 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. 3811 Washington D.C.-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 156 (4 % of candidates) were named 2025 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2024: 3,408, 172, 5%, 10/16/24, 1/9/24 - 8/9/24; 2023: 2,627, 160, 6%, 10/17/23, 1/9/23 - 7/31/23; 2022: 2597, 159, 6%, 10/17/22, 1/10/22 - 8/26/22; 2021: 2091, 129, 6%, 10/17/21, 1/4/21 - 7/23/21; 2020: 2535, 115, 5%, 9/1/20, 1/27/20 - 8/21/20; 2019: 1956, 122, 6%, 10/1/19, 12/31/18 - 8/9/19; 2018: 1975, 100, 5%, 10/1/18, 2/1/18 - 8/24/18; 2017: 1417, 106, 13%, 10/1/17, 2/8/17 - 8/22/17; 2016: 1665, 208, 12%, 8/1/16, 3/2/16 - 8/30/16; 2015: 1837, 227, 12%, 9/1/15, 2/14/15 - 8/10/15; 2012: 449, 97, 22%, 10/4/11, 2/14/11 - 8/10/11.

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The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® (collectively, the “CFP® marks”) are professional certification marks granted in the United States by CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER Board of Standards, Inc. (“CFP® Board”). The CFP® certification is a voluntary certification; no federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold CFP® certification. The CFP® is recognized in the United States and a number of other countries for its (1) high standard of professional education; (2) stringent code of conduct and standards of practice; and (3) ethical requirements that govern professional engagements with clients. To earn the credential, each CFP® candidate must have a bachelor’s degree (or higher) from an accredited college or university and three years of full-time personal financial planning experience. In addition, candidates must take the CFP® Certification examination and complete a CFP® -board registered program or hold an accepted designation, degree or license. Every two years, CFP ® certificate holders must complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education. More information regarding the CFP® is available at http://www.cfp.net/default.asp.

Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) Designees can demonstrate that they have met educational, competence, conduct and ethical standards to carry out a fiduciary standard of care and serve the best interests of their clients. The Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) Designation is a professional certification that demonstrates an advisor or other person serving as an investment fiduciary has met certain requirements to earn and maintain the credential. The purpose of the AIF® Designation is to assure that those responsible for managing or advising on investor assets have a fundamental understanding of the principles of fiduciary duty, the standards of conduct for acting as a fiduciary, and a process for carrying out fiduciary responsibility. Fi360 is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for the AIF® Designation, making the designation part of an elite group of accredited designations recognized by FINRA.

All designees have agreed to adhere to Standards of Professional Conduct and are subject to a disciplinary process.

Designees renew their designation every 12 months by completing 6 specifically designed hours of continuing education, reaffirming adherence to the Standards of Professional Conduct and complying with self-disclosure requirements and client ethics.

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.