Our Awards

Barron's published its first advisor ranking in 2004 to shine a spotlight on the nation’s best wealth managers and raise standards in the industry. Advisors who wish to be ranked fill out a comprehensive survey about their practice. We verify that data and apply our rankings formula to the data to generate a ranking, based on assets, revenue, and quality of practice. The rankings are meant as a starting point for clients looking for an advisor—a first-pass vetting that can help investors narrow a search. Every advisor will have his or her own approach to investing, financial planning, and other services. Clients are encouraged to approach a search for an advisor the way they would a search for a doctor—interviewing multiple professionals and getting opinions from multiple third parties.

Methodology How the FT 400 Top Financial Advisers list was compiled
The guiding principle behind the FT 400 is to focus on investors. We assessed financial advisers from the perspective of current and prospective clients. The methodology is quantifiable and objective. In autumn 2013, the FT contacted the largest US brokerage firms to solicit advisers’ practice information and data for the firms’ most elite advisers. Thus, we could obtain verified adviser data on assets under management, rather than relying on adviser self reporting, thereby increasing the list’s credibility. We asked the broker-dealers for advisers with 10 or more years’ experience and $200m or more in assets under management; the brokerages had no subjective input. The FT invited the 1,500 advisers who qualified to fill out a short questionnaire that gave us more information about their practices. We augmented that information with our research on the candidates, including data from regulatory filings. The formula the FT uses to grade advisers is based on six broad factors and calculates a score for each adviser. Areas considered include adviser assets under management, asset growth, years of experience, industry certification, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority compliance record and online accessibility: Assets under management Signals experience managing money and client trust Assets under management growth rate Developing assets is a proxy for performance, as well as for asset retention and ability to generate new business Years of experience Indicates experience in managing assets in different economic and interest-rate environments Compliance record Provides evidence of past client disputes – a string of complaints can indicate potential problems Industry certifications Shows technical and industry knowledge. Designations such as CFA (chartered financial analyst) or CFP (certified financial planner) signal a professional commitment to investment skills Online accessibility Illustrates commitment to providing investors with easy access and transparent contact information Assets under management and asset growth comprise 80-85 per cent of each adviser’s score. Additionally, to provide a diversity of advisers, the FT places a cap on the number from any one US state that is roughly correlated to the distribution of millionaires across the US. We present the FT 400 as an elite group, not ranked from one to 400, since each adviser takes a different approach to their practice and has different specializations.

SHOOK does not receive compensation in exchange for its Top Advisor placements or rankings, which are determined independently (see methodology). Participation in this directory is limited to ranked advisors; once placed on a ranking, advisors may choose to pay fees to Forbes and Shook for premium listing features as indicated by highlighted names. Investors must carefully choose the right advisor for their own situation and perform their own due diligence. SHOOK’s research and rankings provide opinions intended to help investors choose the right financial advisor and are not indicative of future performance or representative of any one client’s experience. Past performance is not an indication of future results. For more information, please see www.SHOOKresearch.com. SHOOK is a registered trademark of SHOOK Research, LLC.’ Full Methodology: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rjshook/2021/08/24/methodology-americas-top-wealth-advisors-2021/?sh=8f62afc649cb