BIP Wealth (formerly Buckhead Investment Partners), one of the Southeast’s leading wealth management firms, announced the internal promotion of Kathi Ray, PHR, SHRM-CP, to the position of chief operating officer and the hiring of Samantha Phillips, CPA, as chief financial officer. The appointments come at a time of significant expansion for the firm, which has seen notable growth in its investment assets under management for clients.
 
“Kathi is already an invaluable part of our team and her promotion will significantly expand her role in our daily operations to the benefit of our firm and our clients,” said Mark Buffington, co-founder of BIP Wealth. “She’s been a big part of our recent acceleration and we look forward to her continued contributions as COO.
 
“We’re also very pleased to have Samantha join BIP Wealth as CFO,” he added. “Samantha has an appreciation for our focus on bringing private market investment opportunities to our clients and we’re confident that she’ll be a champion of sound and efficient financial practices and compliance initiatives.”
 
Ray was most recently a vice president at BIP Wealth. Prior to joining the firm, she served as chief of staff at Herndon Capital Management, where she managed the firm’s strategic initiatives and day-to-day operations. Ray has 20 years of industry experience and recently completed the Executive MBA program at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She brings a host of both institutional asset management and private wealth experience which spans multiple functional areas including marketing, client service, operations and human capital.
 
Phillips is a licensed CPA with 25 years of experience running financial organizations of varying size and complexity. She offers a strong foundation in public accounting coupled with significant exposure in the venture capital/investing space. Most recently, she worked as CFO with startups SalesWise and Excel Health, helping the former to double its revenue and the latter to grow its annualized revenue by 127 percent. Her career also includes executive-level finance positions at GeoDigital and Ventyx.
 
BIP Wealth is a fee-only registered investment advisory firm located in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. It oversees more than $850 million in investment assets for its clients consisting of families and individuals. BIP Wealth delivers highly personalized wealth management services for successful professionals, business managers, corporate executives, professional athletes and those planning for or already enjoying retirement. The firm has been recognized in the Financial Times’ Top 300 RIAs feature for multiple years.
 
BIP Wealth consists of 21 team members, including 12 advisors reflective of nearly 150 years of combined wealth-management experience.