Christopher P. Bray, JD, CPA
Chris is a national author and speaker on estate, gift, income tax, financial planning, and succession planning topics. He has been invited to speak for the AICPA Advanced Estate Planning Conference, the Ohio Bar Association’s Plisken Advanced Estate Planning Conference, the Ohio Society of CPAs 1st Annual Estate Planning Conference, the Canadian Strategies for the Preservation of Wealth Conference, the National Tax Conference, the Great Lakes Federal Tax Institute, the Cleveland Bar Association’s Estate Planning Institute, the Estate Planning Councils of Cleveland, Jacksonville, Columbus, Western Michigan, Ft. Wayne, Louisville, Peoria, and Akron, and various other local state bar and CPA association meetings throughout the Midwest and Florida. His award winning articles have appeared in a variety of professional periodicals including Trusts & Estates, Tax Notes, Estate Planning, Tax Management – Estate, Gifts and Trusts Journal, CCH’s TAXES – The Tax Magazine, WG&L’s Journal of Taxation, WG&L’s Journal of Personal Financial Planning, The Tax Adviser, and CCH’s Financial and Estate Planning.
Chris received the nationally acclaimed “Article of the Year” award from the renowned wealth management periodical, Trusts & Estates magazine. Chris also served as President of the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland, Chair of the Trusts & Estates Section for the Collier County Bar Association, and Adjunct Professor of Taxation for the Graduate Program in Taxation at the University of Akron.
Chris is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law on the faculty of Ave Maria School of Law and serves as Treasurer of the Forum Club of Southwest Florida. He recently served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation of Collier County and on the Board of Directors of the Kent State University Foundation, the Naples Zoo, the Naples Players, and the CFA Society of Naples.
Chris is the Managing Partner of Christopher P. Bray Associates, LLC. Chris is also the Managing Director of the private wealth management firm of Bray Capital Advisors, LLC. Chris serves high net worth families on a variety of private wealth management planning matters. He is admitted to the Ohio Bar, the Florida Bar, and is a member of both the American Institute of CPAs and the Ohio Society of CPAs. Chris received his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Kent State University and his Master’s degree in Taxation and Juris Doctor from the University of Akron, all summa cum laude.
Before founding Christopher P. Bray Associates, LLC and Bray Capital Advisors, LLC. Chris served as Senior Vice President and Market Executive for the Southwest Florida region of a top ten U.S. financial institution. Chris also served as the National Director of Estate and Succession Planning and was a Managing Director for the family office division of the same financial institution. Earlier in his career, Chris served as the Director of the Estate and Succession Planning Services Group for Deloitte & Touche in Northeast Ohio. While at Deloitte & Touche, Chris served on the firm’s National Brain Trust developing sophisticated tax and estate planning techniques and strategies for the firm’s wealthiest clients.
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