,CFA®, CFP®
Harli Palme serves as chief operating officer at Modera, where she leads the firm’s operational strategy with a focus on scalable growth and service excellence.
She began her career in wealth management at Parsec Financial in 2003 and played an integral leadership role through its successful integration with Modera in 2023. Having worked for over 20 years in the industry, Harli has cultivated a broad, hands-on understanding of advisory firm operations. She has held positions across client service, portfolio management, financial planning, and compliance, including serving as chief compliance officer.
In her current role as COO, Harli oversees Modera’s core business functions, with a focus on unifying the firm’s technology, people, and processes to deliver an integrated platform across the company. Her leadership helps ensure that operational infrastructure evolves in alignment with the firm’s growth and core mission to provide personalized, forward-thinking service to clients.
Harli received a B.A. in both English and religion from Wake Forest University. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
Harli lives in Asheville, NC. She serves on the board of MountainTrue, a nonprofit that works to protect the public lands and waters of western North Carolina. In the past, Harli has served on the boards of OnTrack Financial Education & Counseling, and Helpmate, Asheville’s domestic violence agency. In her free time, she enjoys mountain biking, playing soccer, paddle boarding, and spending time with her husband and teenage daughters.
What fuels you every day at work?
I enjoy the never-ending puzzle of how to make an organization better. Change in our industry is constant, which provides new challenges and new opportunities. Having the chance to innovate, ideate, and try new things is what makes work fulfilling for me. I want to constantly curate a better client and employee experience.
Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
I was born in Macon, GA, and moved around the southeast as a child, including living in Savannah, GA, Columbia, SC, and Charlotte, NC. I spent my formative high school years in both Macon and Huntington, WV. I went to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, where I met my husband, and we’ve made Asheville our home since 2003. Asheville is filled with people who have recently moved here, so around here, we are considered old-timers.
What sparked your interest in financial planning?
To be honest, financial planning wasn’t on my career radar when I first started out. But I happened into a client service job at Parsec Financial (which recently joined Modera) and saw a group of good people dedicated to helping clients reach their goals. The company had the right values, and I saw how I could make a positive difference in people’s lives, so I started on the path to make financial planning my career. The people who believed in me and supported my learning and education along the way made all the difference.
When you retire you’re going to…?
I have a dream daily regimen that involves walking, artfully shopping for produce, reading novels, and eating elaborate sandwiches.
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, Chartered Financial Analyst®
Wake Forest University
BA, English
Board member, OnTrack Financial Education and Counseling
