S4 BARRON’S March 16, 2020
AMERICA’S TOP 1200 FINANCIAL ADVISORS 2020 TOPS IN THEIR STATES
Tony Smith UBS Financial Services Ala. $3,766Jeff Leonard Raymond James Alaska $930Trevor Wilde Wilde Wealth Management Group Ariz. $1,160Allen Homra Edward Jones Ark. $693Gregory Vaughan Morgan Stanley PWM Calif. $24,112Shawn Fowler Morgan Stanley PWM Colo. $3,468Jeff Erdmann Merrill Private Wealth Management Conn. $9,049Marvin McIntyre Morgan Stanley PWM D.C. $3,755Kimberlee Orth Ameriprise Financial Del. $2,832Thomas Moran Moran Wealth Management Fla. $3,146Rod Westmoreland Merrill Private Wealth Management Ga. $5,508Matthew Megorden UBS Financial Services Hawaii $516Robert Brian King RBC Wealth Management Idaho $675Paul Tashima UBS Financial Services Ill. $25,176Wm. Craig Dobbs Morgan Stanley Graystone Ind. $29,352Bryan Boesen Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Iowa $593Tim Sutton Creative Planning Kan. $1,019Barry Barlow Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Ky. $882Charles Simmons Ameriprise Financial La. $2,850Brian Clement RBC Wealth Management Maine $565Robert Scherer Morgan Stanley Graystone Md. $9,200Raj Sharma Merrill Private Wealth Management Mass. $7,430Charles C. Zhang Zhang Financial Mich. $3,606Brad Wheelock RBC Wealth Management Minn. $1,600Bill Rush Mosby UBS Financial Services Miss. $1,099Michael Moeller Wells Fargo Advisors Mo. $1,830James B. Stack Stack Financial Management Mont. $1,338Jonathan Beukelman UBS Financial Services Neb. $1,852Randy Garcia Investment Counsel Nev. $1,234Robert Bonfiglio Ameriprise Financial N.H. $545Stephen Hess J.P. Morgan N.J. $9,663Michael Stevens Merrill Lynch Wealth Management N.M. $863Lyon Polk Morgan Stanley PWM N.Y. $20,240William Oliver Wells Fargo Advisors N.C. $1,387Troy Nelson Edward Jones N.D. $635Valerie Newell MarinerWealthAdvisors Ohio $3,250James Johnson Morgan Stanley PWM Okla. $765Judith McGee Raymond James Ore. $648Grant Rawdin Wescott Financial Advisory Group Pa. $2,219Malcolm Makin Raymond James R.I. $1,304Bud Kibler Merrill Private Wealth Management S.C. $6,851Todd Nelson Merrill Lynch Wealth Management S.D. $2,452Timothy Pagliara CapWealth Advisors Tenn. $1,278Richard Szelc Neuberger Berman Texas $1,825Dane Runia Merrill Private Wealth Management Utah $2,756Tim Stotz Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Vt. $758Stephan Cassaday Cassaday & Company Va. $3,064Erik Morgan Freestone Capital Management Wash. $4,690Christopher Hall Hall Financial Advisors W. Va. $854Michael Klein Baird Wis. $12,381Kevin Murphy Stifel Wyo. $507Name Firm State Total Assets ($mil)1,200’s client-retention rate: It has held
steady through the years at 98%. Our
2020 ranking features nearly 200 ad-
visors who weren’t on last year’s list.
The Top 1,200 are drawn from all
50 states, plus the District of Colum-
bia. This ranking is the largest and
most comprehensive of the annual
Barron’sadvisor listings. It includes a
cross section of private-wealth advi-
sors, from independents who own and
operate their own practices to advi-
sors from the large Wall Street firms.
This special report lists the top
advisors in each state, with the number
of ranking spots determined by each
state’s population and wealth. The
rankings are based on assets under
management, revenues generated by
advisors for their firms, and the quality
of the advisors’ practices. Investment
performance isn’t an explicit criterion
because performance is often a func-
tion of each client’s appetite for risk. In
evaluating advisors, we examine regu-
latory records, internal company docu-
ments, and 100-plus points of data
provided by the advisors themselves.
In this time of turmoil, many in-
dustry leaders welcome Reg BI, but
they also note that compliance creates
a new layer of work for them and for
their teams—including new disclo-
sures to clients and copious record-
keeping behind the scenes.
Reg BI won’t affect every financial
advisor in the same way. It will have
the greatest impact on brokerage firms,
which will need to upgrade from a
looser regulatory standard. The best
advisors looked for investments that
combined suitability with low costs to
the client. But the suitability standard
left open the possibility that advisors
would choose a suitable investment
whose fee structure benefited the firm
or the advisor, rather than the client.
RIAs, on the other hand, sell advice
rather than investments. They’re held
to a tougher client-care requirement
known as the fiduciary standard,
which means they must place clients’
interests ahead of their own. They
typically charge fees for advice, rather
than collecting sales commissions.
The lines have blurred over the
years, as brokers have adopted com-
mon RIA practices like charging fees
instead of commissions. But even after
June 30, different standards will con-
tinue to apply to both models.
“Transparency regarding fees and
conflicts and affirming suitability of
investment strategies is good for con-
sumers,” says Stephan Cassaday, the
head of Cassaday & Co., in McLean, Va.
Reg BI requirements include Form
CRS—a short, plain-English over-
view that spells out advisory costs,
fees, and potential conflicts of inter-
est, as well as an advisor’s regulatory
history. Brokerage firms will be re-
quired to create and enforce rules
around disclosing or eliminating con-
flicts of interest for investment rec-
ommendations. They’ll also have to
identify and mitigate anyincentives
for brokers to make recommendations.
Brokers will also have to show why
they’re using a certain kind of ac-
count. “Reg BI is not perfect, but I do
think it’s really good,” says Dean Har-
man, founder of Harman Wealth
Management, outside Houston, which
manages $435 million of assets. “Advi-
sors are definitely going to have to act
in the client’s best interest.”
Complying with the new rules will
keep the industry busy. Two of the
biggest tasks will be documenting the
justification for investment recom-
mendations and reviewing accounts to
make sure they meet the new regula-
tions, says April Rudin, head of The
Rudin Group, a marketing firm
serving the industry.
While there’s plenty of grumbling
about the work associated with Reg
BI, it also presents advisors with a
“marketing moment,” Rudin says.
Practices that already hold them-
selves to a high standard have an op-
portunity to re-explain that fact to cli-
ents and prospective clients. “This can
open the door for a variety of client
communications that can help cement
or reinforce relationships between ad-
visors and their clients,” Rudin says.
Reg BI has its critics, who say that
it permits firms to continue poor prac-
tices as long as they’re disclosed.
“There may be a slight benefit to
having the [best interest] standard
made explicit, but we’re skeptical that
it will significantly change either the
kinds of enforcement actions that are
brought or common industry prac-
tices,” says Barbara Roper, director of
investor protection at the Consumer
Federation of America.
Several states, and at least one
advisory firm, have sued the SEC in
an attempt to block the new rules.
Massachusetts, arguing that the SEC’s
rule is inadequate, recently finalized
its own investor protection rule, and
other states may follow suit.
Regulators, politicians, and industry
groups have spent years at odds over
how to regulate the firms and people
who help us choose our investments.
But no regulation can replace consum-
ers’ duty to ask tough questions.
Essentially, such questions might
come down to, “Is the investment that
you just recommended to me the most
straightforward, inexpensive means to
reach my goals?” Good advisors—like
those in the pages that follow this
one—will welcome the scrutiny.B
“TRANS-
PARENCY
REGARDING
FEES AND
CONFLICTS...
IS GOOD FOR
CONSUMERS.”
Stephan
Cassaday,
Cassaday & Co.