James M. Harris, III (Jay) has been providing comprehensive, holistic advice to his clients since 1990. After being with Wells Fargo Advisors Private Client Group for almost 10 years, Jay and his team joined the Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network and began James Harris & Company in May 2024.
Jay and his team focus on providing investment planning for private, family-held businesses and the families that operate them. Over the past three decades, Jay has learned that providing advice and services to family-held businesses under a comprehensive investment plan is often far beyond the capacity of any one professional advisor. It requires a well-coordinated, collaborative effort by a team of professionals from the legal, insurance, investment, estate, business, and tax disciplines to provide the scale of planning, advice, and resources needed.
James Harris & Company takes a similar approach as a family office. Like a family office, beyond basic financial services, Jay can provide his clients access to specialists at Wells Fargo Co. who can provide our clients with access to lending products and services through Wells Fargo affiliates.
As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, a Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®), a Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA®), and a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) Jay helps analyze every aspect of his clients’ financial lives – including assets, liabilities and cash flow, current insurance coverages, and investment and tax strategies – and executes approved plans designed to help achieve well-defined objectives. This also encompasses benchmarking progress towards reaching financial goals and making necessary adjustments to his recommendations. Jay takes a holistic and multidisciplinary approach that includes a deep dive into sophisticated wealth strategies, estate planning, wealth transfer, behavioral finance, family dynamics, tax management, and legacy planning.
Away from the office, Jay has been an active member of the Albany community for more than 20 years. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Cherie, and daughters, visiting the beaches of 30-A, and listening to live music.