Meet the Team
James E. Braden, CPA
President
Mr. Braden, a Certified Public Accountant and Personal Financial Specialist, has spent most of his career working with privately owned companies and high net worth families. In addition to being President of Brownlie & Braden Advisors, LLC (the “Firm”), he is a co-founder of the Firm’s predecessor, Brownlie & Braden, LLC which was founded in 1997. The Firm became part of the Focus Financial Partners, LLC (“Focus”) partnership in July 2017. As such, the Firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus Operating, LLC (“Focus Operating”), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus. Focus also owns other registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, pension consultants, insurance firms, and other financial service firms.
Mr. Braden’s previous experience includes working with the accounting firm of Peat Marwick (now KPMG), as well as privately-held Lincoln Property Company, a national real estate developer based in Dallas. His expertise includes the areas of gift and estate taxation, business succession planning, income tax planning, investment and insurance due diligence, charitable planning and related issues confronted by the wealthy family.
Mr. Braden is an active private equity investor and currently serves on the board of managers of Terrace Energy, LLC, is past chairman of the board of directors of Graco Holdings, Inc. and previously served as a member of the board of directors of Waste Partners Environmental, Inc. Additionally, Mr. Braden manages the general partner of BKB Capital, Ltd., a private investment vehicle.
Mr. Braden is active in various civic and charitable organizations. He is immediate past president of the board of trustees of the Clayton Dabney Legacy Fund. He previously chaired the board of directors of the Clayton Dabney Foundation for Kids with Cancer, and continues to serve on its advisory board. He is also a previous member of the board of directors and treasurer of Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT). He is an active member of Park Cities Baptist Church, where he has chaired and served on various committees and is a member of the Fellowship of Deacons.
Mr. Braden currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Dallas Foundation. He is a member of the Dallas Estate Planning Council and the Fort Worth Business & Estate Council as well as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) and the North Texas Chapter of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning.
Mr. Braden is a magna cum laude graduate of Baylor University where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting and was the recipient of the Tenneco Accounting Scholarship.
Careers