Forbes/SHOOK’s Ranking of America’s Top-500 Next Generation Wealth Advisors by State
By R.J. Shook, President, SHOOK Research & Forbes Contributor
The future of wealth management is here.
We believe the advisors that we’ve identified for our inaugural ranking of America’s Top Next Generation Wealth Advisors are best positioned to remain ahead of their clients’ needs. These are the industry’s future leaders; the stewards for their clients and their next generations, and those who will help mold the direction of Wealth Management. This is an especially challenging proposition when encountering forces that will forever change this industry.
The emergence of new technologies, including robo-investing, combined with face-to-face interactions with highly customized services are converging as an expectation among wealthy clients. Solutions to affluent individuals’ complex financial situations are growing in demand—from sophisticated wealth transfer needs and complex lending solutions to holistic planning. Even the rise of impact investing and fiduciary standards have become basic necessities.
“Seeing all these next-gen advisors that are laser-focused on their client’s best interests, and the unique paths they are taking, makes me bullish on the future of wealth management,” said Andy Sieg, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. “They are leading the way in helping us to build a contemporary firm.”
The pace of change is only accelerating. In an era with the average Wealth Advisor hitting the mid-50s and thinking of retirement, a new era has begun: We have identified the rising stars of wealth management, those standing up to these challenges. These are the advisor who will be leading the industry—and their clients’ future generations—into the future.
Selection Process
To qualify for this ranking, advisors must have been born in 1980 or more recent; we considered advisors building their own teams, and those on teams that are likely to assume a leadership position. Most important to our process is our deep due diligence: we interview advisors by telephone and in person so we can measure them qualitatively, such as service models, investing process, experience levels and integrity. Each advisor completes a lengthy survey and we consider such factors as compliance records, client retention, revenues produced for their firms and assets managed. We do not consider portfolio performance because of varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Our quantitative and qualitative data are fed into our algorithm, which produces a ranking score. We publish team assets, which in some cases represents multiple advisors on a team.
(Click here for detailed methodology.)
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