TopRegisteredInvestmentAdvisers€¦ · “financial advisers” some yearsago. At the heart of this shift has been the growth of the independent registered investmentadviser(RIA).

FT SPECIAL REPORT

FT 300Top Registered Investment Advisers

Bright lights in tough timesThe inaugural edition of the FT 300 list begins by asking what makes a topquality adviser Pages 23

Thursday June 26 2014 www.ft.com/reports | @ftreports

2 FINANCIAL TIMES THURSDAY JUNE 26 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES THURSDAY JUNE 26 2014 3

FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers

Loren FoxDirector of research,MoneyMedia

Douglas J DannemillerSenior research analyst,MoneyMedia

Morgan M DavisReporter, FundFire

Laura SuterAssociate managing editor,FundFire Alts

Michael ShagrinReporter, MoneyMedia

Tom StabileSenior enterprise reporterFundFire Alts

Peter OritzMariana LemannClare TrapassoEmile HallezReporters, Ignites

Ian MossAban ContractorCommissioning editorsAndy MearsPicture editor

Steven BirdDesignerDaniel MitchellIllustrator

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The popular notion of stock-brokers chasing clients forcommissions on big trades,so well dramatised in filmssuch as Wall Street, is grad-ually becoming as outdatedas the suspenders thatMichael Douglas wore inthe 1987 movie.

“Advice” is the dominanttheme in the investmentmanagement industry, soeven the big brokerageschanged their employees’titles from “brokers” to“financial advisers” someyears ago.

At the heart of this shifthas been the growth of theindependent registeredinvestment adviser (RIA).

Many investors do notknow there is a differencebetween RIAs, who are reg-ulated by the Securities andExchange Commission, andbroker-dealers, who are reg-ulated by the non-govern-mental Financial IndustryRegulatory Authority.

One of the key distinc-tions is that broker-dealersare free to provide advicealong with the trades thatare central to their busi-ness, whereas RIAs by defi-nition make their livingselling advice. Among theRIA firms in the FT 300,commissions make up, onaverage, less than 3 percent of revenue.

That difference datesback to the InvestmentAdvisers Act of 1940, whichessentially created the pro-fession of the investmentadviser. The act codified inthe definition of RIA the“fiduciary standard”, therequirement to put the cli-ent’s interests first (versusbroker-dealers, which mustensure that any recommen-dations are “suitable” forthe investor).

Industry participants still

debate whether the broker-dealer business model ispreferable to the RIAmodel, as a significant por-tion of the industry believesthe fiduciary model shouldbecome the only standard,but some investors do notwant to be forced to pay foradvice.

Imposing a universal fidu-ciary standard on all“advisers” has been debatedin Congress since the 2010passage of the Dodd-FrankAct, but no resolution is insight.

The fact that a universalfiduciary standard is evenbeing debated is testamentto the rise of RIAs over thepast 10-15 years.

It was a cottage industryeven into the 1980s. Thespread of desktop comput-ers revolutionised the busi-ness by allowing the invest-ment adviser to offer moreservices, such as combiningfinancial planning withmanagement of the invest-ments.

More recently, technologi-cal enhancements havegiven RIAs tools that rangefrom investment analysisdatabases and financialplanning calculators, toalternative investment por-tals, market analysis andforeign market access.

Today’s small adviserscan serve the needs of theirmost sophisticated wealthycustomers while operatingindependently. Tools tofacilitate efficient practiceand client managementhave led to a marketplace ofcompetitive financial tech-nology firms working togain share in the now-largeRIA marketplace.

Those tools only used tobe available at firms thathad sufficient scale todevelop them themselves.Now, financial advisersof all sizes have mostof, if not all, the samecapabilities to servetheir clients.

That, in turn,has allowed expe-rienced finan-cial advisersto leave large

brokerage firms to form orjoin smaller RIA practices.The independent RIAs (asopposed to some RIA firmsthat are owned by big bro-kerages) tend to be smaller,and, therefore, sometimesquirkier than their big WallStreet brethren.

That can appeal to moreidiosyncratic personalitiesand those who are passion-ate about investing or otherspecialities. So, RIAs wereearly adopters of exchangetraded funds (ETFs) relativeto brokerage advisers.

As the bull market of the1990s created more wealth,RIAs were able to acceler-ate their growth by addingestate planning, tax man-agement, philanthropy andother wealth-managementservices – also charged on abasis of fees for advice.

Wall Street found two rea-sons to embrace the RIAmodel of charging fees foradvice. First, becomingknown for advice seemed agood way to rebuild thetrust that was eroded bythe dotcom crash of theearly 2000s (and then thefinancial crisis of 2008-09).Second, being paid anannual fee for advice is amore dependable – and inthe long run, more lucrative– business model than beingpaid commissions for exe-cuting trades. That wasespecially true as the emer-gence of online brokersdrove down commissionrates.

So the big brokeragesencouraged

their top representatives toalso register as RIAs, andnow fee-based advice is amajor portion of all broker-ages while the commission-based business shrinks. Atthe end of 2012, there wereabout 18,500 “hybrid” advis-ers working at brokerages,compared with 27,800 indi-viduals working at inde-pendent RIA firms, accord-ing to industry researcherCerulli Associates.

The RIA industry is nowsizeable. One sign is that inthe first quarter of 2014, theRIA segment surpassed theBig Four “wirehouse” bro-kerages – Merrill Lynch,Morgan Stanley, WellsFargo, and UBS – in mutualfund and ETF assets, $1.7tnto $1.6tn, according to Broa-dridge Financial Solutions.

At Ignites DistributionResearch, a sister companyof the Financial Times, weexpect the RIA populationto continue growing fasterthan the overall investmentmanagement industry.

The growth of RIAsencouraged the spread ofthe fees-for-advice model,which is now helping fuelthe growth of RIAs. Indeed,the large RIA firms aregetting larger. More than70 per cent of the membersof the FT 300 group ofRIAs manage more than$1bn. Some multi-office RIApractices are starting toresemble small brokeragefirms.

The pendulum may con-tinue moving towards theRIA model, reducing theability to find investmentmanagement services paidby commission.

For now, investors canenjoy the best of bothworlds: large, competitivemarkets populated by firmsthat follow either the fee-based, fiduciary model orcommission-based arrange-ments.

Just as RIAs disruptedwhat had been a brokerage-dominated industry, anewer model may be lurk-ing at the periphery thatwill in turn disrupt the RIAindustry.

Technological revolution powersgrowth of independent operatorsAnalysis

Loren Fox andDoug Dannemillerplot the riseof RIAs

Old image:MichaelDouglas in‘WallStreet’

The extensive new health insurancelaw; Twitter’s initial public offer-ing; Congress’s partial shutdownof the federal government;Ukraine. It has been a tumultuous

time to be an investor, and that is just inthe past 12 months.

No wonder, then, that more and moreinvestors have been gravitating towardsadvice on how to manage their money, giv-ing up on the do-it-yourself trend thatpeaked in the late 1990s.

This desire for advice, accelerated by thetransition of millions of baby boomers intoretirement, has helped propel the growth ofthe segment of the investment industrythat is based on advice: the registeredinvestment advisers, or RIAs.

It is true that many of the financial advis-ers working in big brokerages have evolvedtheir practices to where they now spendmuch more time providing advice than car-rying out “buy” and “sell” transactions.

RIAs, though, have never made their liv-ing on transactions and have always beenadvisers first. While RIAs have been aroundsince the 1940s, it has been in the past 10-15years that they have grown, as a group, torival the large brokerage firms in influence.

Part of that growth can be traced to theinvesting complications – such as the 1990sdotcom bubble and the 2008 global financialcrisis – that drove individual investors toseek trusted advice.

This partly stems from advances in tech-nology that now allow an RIA practice withfour advisers to offer the same tax account-ing, financial reporting and other servicesprovided by a group such as Merrill Lynchand its 15,000 financial advisers. Thisallows for a range of business types, andthere are many RIA business models thatcan succeed, as the profiles of FT 300 firmsin this report make clear: whether it isfocusing on older investors, the millionairenext door or other clients.

One thing is clear: the RIA sector hasmatured. The latest indication: BroadridgeFinancial Solutions reports that for thefirst time, RIAs sell more in combinedmutual fund and exchange traded fund

(ETF) assets than the Big Four brokerages,known as the “wirehouses”.

That is why the Financial Times is pub-lishing this inaugural edition of the FT 300Top Registered Investment Advisers, pro-viding a snapshot of the best advisers to befound across the US.

The team at the Financial Times’s sisterpublication, Ignites Distribution Research,set a minimum standard for RIA firms of$300m in assets under management (AUM),and then invited more than 2,000 qualifiedfirms to apply for consideration.

The panel used a combination of thefirms’ self-reported data, regulatory disclo-sures and its own research to score thecandidates on attributes including AUM,AUM growth rate and compliance. Themethodology is explained in an article pub-lished with the list of 300 (see page 12).

Size is a key indicator of quality, in thatbad firms rarely continue to attract andretain clients. But size alone did not deter-mine which firms made our list. Some RIAgroups were disqualified for having toomany compliance problems. Advisers werealso judged on how many years they hadbeen in existence because long-establishedorganisations more often offer the reliabil-ity and predictability that investors prize.

RIA practices were awarded bonus pointsfor having adviser employees with any ofthe top industry certifications, includingthe CFA, CFP, CAIA and more. Adviserswhose information is easily accessibleonline were also awarded small bonusesbecause such transparency should be thenorm in 2014.

In addition, the list is presented as agrouping of 300. There is no attempt torank the advisers from 1 to 300, because nomethod is precise enough to separate the200th-best adviser from, say, the 201st. Doz-ens of high-quality advisers just missed thelist this year, edged out by peers withslightly better profiles – sometimes the dif-ference was a few more years of experienceor a slightly more impressive growth rate.

In a field of outstanding financial profes-sionals, the FT 300 should be considered alist of truly exceptional adviser firms. It is

organised state by state and the states withhigher populations, and higher concentra-tions of wealth, understandably featuremore advisers.

We wound up with advisers from 38states plus Washington, DC, a decentamount of geographic diversity, given thatthere was no mandate to include everystate. It is not surprising that New YorkCity, a locus of wealth, has the single big-gest concentration of FT 300 member firms,represented by 27 RIAs – more than doubleany other municipality. However, geogra-phy matters less these days, as more than aquarter of the FT 300 firms have offices inmultiple locations (and often across multi-ple states).

So, after running the numbers, what doesour list of 300 look like? The FT 300 is anelite group of RIA firms. The “average”firm on the list has been in existence for 24years and manages $2.8bn. Similarly, theaverage FT 300 practice saw its assetsunder management rise 23 per cent in 2013.One out of five practices has been advisingclients for more than 30 years.

In keeping with the present trendtowards specialisation in wealth manage-ment, about 89 per cent of the FT 300 workin teams. Of those, the median team has sixprofessionals who provide investment advi-sory services. Nearly two-thirds of theassets managed are in “discretionary”accounts, meaning the advisers have full

As baby boomersretire, the demandfor topqualityadvice accelerates

What are the characteristics of an adviser in theFinancial Times Top 300? Loren Fox explains

control of how the assets are managed.While the FT 300 leans towards large, it

is diverse. Some practices provide high-endfamily office services, some cater to entre-preneurs or corporate executives, someoffer tax preparation and some focus espe-cially on baby boomers and retirees.

We aimed to provide a picture of leadingfinancial advisers that would be goodenough for the educated and discerningreaders of the Financial Times. It is not acomprehensive list.

Yet for anyone seeking what a top RIAfirm looks like, the FT 300 is as good amodel as one can find.

The average FT 300practice saw its assetsunder management rise23 per cent in 2013

Active management andliabilitydriven investingFurther articles byCarol Tang, Morgan Davisand Tom Stabileft.com/reports

On FT.com »


FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers

Many of the 11,000-plus registeredinvestment advisers would preferan increasingly overwhelmedSecurities and Exchange Com-

mission to a new regulator with a lot ofunknowns. But the status quo is not with-out risks either.

A new regulatory regime that could easethe SEC’s oversight of RIAs would imposeadded compliance burdens and costs, whichhas raised industry doubts that it wouldwork. The trade-off of sticking with thefamiliar – an SEC that has pleaded for moreresources – is the increased potential ofreputational damage for both the regulatorand industry from another Bernard Madoff-type scandal.

“The industry has a real interest in keep-ing the playing field level and keeping itclean, so I think advisers would want aneffective regulatory regime,” says RobertHelm, partner at Dechert. “But the caveatis the industry needs to know what regula-tors expect of it.”

Proposals from within the SEC and fromthe industry remain stalled and areunlikely to be implemented, especially withbickering political parties focused on elec-tions, industry sources say.

Congress rejected a plea by Mary JoWhite, SEC chairwoman, for more fundingto bolster her agency’s oversight by hiring250 exam staff devoted to advisers. Legisla-tive action that would be needed to desig-nate an additional regulator or impose auser-fee on RIAs for SEC examinations isalso unlikely to happen.

In her budget request to Congress inApril, Ms White noted there were 25,000SEC registrants including broker-dealers,investment advisers, clearing agents, trans-fer agents, credit rating agencies andexchanges. Investment advisers watchedtheir assets under management treble to$55tn from 2001 to 2014.

“In 2004, the SEC had 19 examiners pertrillion dollars in investment adviser assetsunder management,” Ms White said in herApril Congressional testimony noting thather agency examined only 9 per cent ofregistered investment advisers in fiscalyear 2013. “Today, we only have eight.”

Last year, the SEC took enforcementaction against 140 investment advisers.They also examined 1,615 cases, including438 broker-dealers, 964 investment advisersand 99 investment companies.

This year, an SEC “never-before exam-ined” advisers initiative seeks to “engagewith the roughly 20 per cent of investmentadvisers that have been registered for threeyears or more, but have never been exam-ined”, Ms White said in her testimony.

The Dodd-Frank act also added to theSEC’s workload by requiring private fundadvisers, including private equity andhedge funds, to register with the regulatorfor the first time. This has boosted thenumber of SEC-registered private fundadvisers by more than 50 per cent to 4,153.

In May, Daniel Gallagher, SEC commis-sioner, called for the Financial IndustryRegulatory Authority, a self-regulatoryorganisation that oversees brokers anddealers, to do the same for RIAs.

Finra’s chief executive Richard Ketchumhad expressed interest in that responsibil-ity, but it is expected to go nowhere,

industry sources say. What is certain nowis the SEC maintaining its decades-longoversight of RIAs. But even as many in theindustry favour this, they share the SEC’sconcerns about its lack of muscle to over-see thousands of RIAs properly.

The SEC examines fewer than 10 per centof RIAs every year and about 40 per cent ofadvisers have not been examined at all,says David Tittsworth, president and chiefexecutive of the Investment Advisers Asso-ciation. “Those are the numbers that causepeople such as [SEC commissioner] DanielGallagher and ourselves to think abouthow do we begin to address these prob-lems.” The IAA opposes Mr Gallagher’s callto outsource oversight to another regulator,but is in favour of granting the SEC author-ity to impose a user-fee on RIAs to supportmore examinations or increase funding forthe SEC to hire additional staff – both ofwhich require Congressional action.

While the SEC bore much of the blame inthe Madoff scandal, Finra also failed to

uncover fraud despite multiple visits toMadoff’s firm, Mr Tittsworth says.

Outsourcing examination responsibilityto Finra “is not going to solve the problemof trying to avoid another Madoff”, he adds.

In making his case for Finra to overseeadvisers, Mr Gallagher noted in a speech inMay that the SEC does not do itself anyfavours because it “allocates a dispropor-tionate amount of resources to policing theactivities of broker-dealers compared withthose we expend on policing investmentadvisers”. The number of SEC-registeredinvestment advisers is about 11,100 com-pared with 4,300 for broker-dealers, he says.

But Mr Tittsworth says the RIA industrywould rather see the SEC reallocate theresources it now spends on broker-dealersto increasing examination of advisers. Thisespecially makes sense since Finra alreadyis charged with overseeing broker-dealers.This would not require legislation or rule-making by the agency, he says.

Another way for the SEC to bypass

Congressional gridlock is to amend its com-pliance rules to authorise third-party com-pliance firms to review advisers. But thiscould have worse consequence than assign-ing oversight responsibility to an estab-lished SRO, such as Finra, says Mark Per-low, partner at K&L Gates.

Andy Meyers, chief operating officer andchief compliance officer at Boston-basedBreckinridge Capital Advisors, says creat-ing a self-regulatory organisation for RIAfirms is complex, given the diversity amongdifferent shops. His firm manages $19.5bnin fixed income products. “Even if youcould develop an SRO, it would take sev-eral years to get it up-to-speed and knowl-edgeable,” Mr Meyers says.

David Madigan, chief investment officerat the firm, adds: “If the SEC were properlyfunded and staffed, most of the issuesthat come up would not, because mostviolations are of existing rules. We don’tneed new rules, just to enforce the oneswe have.”

SEC needs extra muscle to succeedRegulation The industrywants to keep the statusquo rather than have anew body, says Peter Oritz

One registered investmentadvisory group thinks the secretto its success may be in its DNA.

Vision Capital Management,founded in 1999 by a motherdaughter team, had a banner2013 with assets undermanagement rising about 35 percent to more than $1bn.

The company, based inPortland, Oregon, had $673m inAUM the previous year.

President Suzanne McGrath,and her daughter Marina Johnson,the chief investment officer,attribute their firm’s good fortuneto the growth of highnetworthclients and expanding into theinstitutional market.

“What you don’t want to see inan investment manager is

someone who is just jumping onthe latest hot deal without goingthrough our detailed [stock]screening process,” says MsMcGrath, a certified accountant.“Vision Capital’s process isconsistent and disciplined.”

The womenled firm, has 10employees and is owned by six ofthem, Ms McGrath says. It workswith about 250 families and smallfoundations to invest about$360m in assets.

Advisers check in quarterly withclients and also set up meetingswith customers’ accountants,attorneys and insurance agents todevise comprehensive portfolioplans.

The other $690m is investedon the institutional side, primarily

in the Vision Large Cap GrowthPortfolio. Its largest client is theIllinois Municipal Retirement about$156m for the fund as of April30, according to fund officials.

The firm classifies securities as“marathon runners” (companiesthat have stood the test of time)and “sprinters” (those that aregrowing fast). The firm may alsoinclude “hurdlers” (businessesthat may have stumbled but areexpected to get back on track),she says.

Ms Johnson says femaleadvisers tend to bring morepatience and longterm thinkingto the investment process. Beinga womenled firm has helped alsoVision stand out from the packand attract new business.

More and more women arenow responsible for investing theirfamily’s money and are seekingout female advisers, she says.

There is also demand forwomen and minorityownedinvestment firms on theinstitutional side.

The motherdaughter duodecided to strike out on their ownafter Piper Jaffray, the investmentbank where they worked, wasbought by US Bancorp in 1997.

Ms McGrath was the managingdirector and Ms Johnson hadbeen an investment adviser.

“I feel extremely blessed thatmy daughter was interested inthe business,” Ms McGrath says.

Clare Trapasso

Women advisers Vision Capital thrives on consistency and discipline

Under pressure: Mary Jo White, Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman, faces a battle for funding and staff Bloomberg



Ken Moraif was 16 yearsold when his mother tookhim to a financial planningsession, an experience thathe says started him on apath to become a financialadviser.

Today, his independentfirm based in Plano, Texas,manages about $2.2bn onbehalf of 4,200 clients,most of whom are affluentretirees or people nearingretirement age.

“I got into this businessprimarily because mymother trained me to bean investor,” Mr Moraifsays. “If you could imaginea 16yearold boy at abondtrading seminar, thatwas me.”

His mother inherited themodern equivalent of$250,000 in 1940 andquickly learned to managemoney, living mostly offinvestment returns, hesays. By the time he wasborn, she was anaccomplished investor.

“Back then, womenrarely managedinvestments,” he says.

Mr Moraif began workingas an adviser at New YorkLife in 1988. In 2011, hispractice, Money Matterswith Ken Moraif, wentindependent and beganoperating on a feebasedcompensation model. Beingindependent gives a lot offlexibility, he says. “Beingunder a brokerdealerinhibits that, because theyhave their own corporateculture.”

The firm has sinceexpanded rapidly. MoneyMatters opened its secondoffice in 2012 in Houston,followed by an office inOklahoma City in 2013.

The Houston office has agoal of hitting $300m inassets under managementby the end of the year, MrMoraif says.

In the first six months of2014, Money Matters hasalso added offices inPhoenix, Los Angeles andAustin.

The expansion has beenpossible because of strongdemand for wealthpreservation adviceamong retirees.

The firm has a “buy,hold and sell” philosophythat is a draw to peopleover 50, many of whomhave concerns about theirassets during bearmarkets, he says.

In 2008, he advisedclients to sell, he says.

“We were in cash for allof 2008,” he says.

“I have a hard timeadvising clients to stay in,when the market isdropping like a stone.

“That’s one of thebiggest reasons we’vegrown so rapidly.”

Emile Hallez

Mother’s advicebears fruit

The registered investment adviseruniverse has become tighter andstronger, resembling some aspects ofbrokerage firms and wirehouses.

Along with independent broker-dealers,registered investment advisers have led thegrowth in the US market during the firstquarter, according to Broadridge, a pro-vider of technology to financial servicesgroups. RIA assets under managementgrew 4.2 per cent in the first quarter, overthe last quarter of 2013, to $1.7tn.

The increase in assets managed by RIAcompanies does not necessarily correlatewith an increase in the number of suchgroups, as the rise of “aggregators” is driv-ing consolidation in the marketplace,resulting in fewer firms with more advisersand assets under management.

Succession planning, the pursuit of inde-pendence, growth and scale and the emer-gence of new technology have been draw-ing RIAs to aggregator firms such as Bea-con Pointe Wealth Advisors, Focus Finan-cial Partners and United Capital Advisors.

These platforms lift some weight off RIAsowners’ shoulders, providing services suchas research, compliance and recruiting.

“What is happening right now is a lot ofthe RIAs that were in the industry arecoming out,” says Pierre Caramazza, headof the RIA business at Franklin Templeton.

“They are basically being bought by theirpartners, competitors . . . It’s certainly beena big influence in the industry.” The trendtowards consolidation isn’t slowing down,Mr Caramazza adds. “There [are] still toomany folks that need to . . . find a way tomonetise their transactions.”

Focus Financial Partners, based in NewYork, is capitalising on the demand forsupport in the RIA market by creating agrowing network of such firms throughacquisitions. Founded in 2006, the firm hasamassed $75bn in assets under manage-ment and generated approximately $300m

in annual revenue with approximately 1,200employees, of which about 50 per cent areclient-facing.

The firm was launched with sights on“savvy entrepreneurs who built phenome-nal business and practices but at the sametime . . . didn’t know how to accelerategrowth or have access to capital to get pasttheir own glass ceilings”, says Rajini Kodi-alam, co-founder and managing director atFocus Financial.

“We wanted to give them access to thingsthat are usually available with much largerentities,” she says. That usually meansmarketing, operational efficiencies, recruit-ing and career path development.

Focus has done approximately 30 coredeals, where it directly invests a combina-tion of cash and equity in the firm.

Other deals can cascade as a result, shesays. “Our partner firms have . . . with ourhelp been able to do mergers and acquisi-tions where they have acquired smallerRIAs.” Boston-based The Colony Group,which was acquired in 2011, doubled its sizefollowing a merger with Mintz Levin Advi-sors, a wealth management firm. At theend of 2013, Colony had approximately$3.4bn in assets under management, upfrom $2.6bn at the end of 2012, a 30.2 percent jump.

Focus has had at least 30 other deals ofthis nature, where acquired firms acquiresmaller RIAs or merge.

“There have always been other mergersopportunities for RIAs with banks or otherproviders, where the core is to give up yourname or control or change your investmentmanagement style,” Ms Kodialam explains.What differentiates Focus’s model is theability to retain the essence of RIA firms,she says. The idea is “never turn a success-ful entrepreneur into an employee. Wedon’t buy firms and tell them you have tochange everything.”

In order to perpetuate the model, Focus

tapped former Merrill Lynch executiveChristopher Dupuy as co-president of a unitthat recruits top advisers from the wire-houses, an effort the firm launched lastyear.

The firm has invested resources and per-sonnel to lure advisers from Merrill Lynch,Morgan Stanley Wealth Management andUBS Wealth Management Americas.

The model has variations, according toeach aggregator, but it is thriving withdifferent flavours because of the growingdemand for fee-based advice, besides thepursuit of independence among financialadvisers, says Cathy Saunders, head of RIAat Putnam Investments.

“I don’t see this channel becoming likeanything we’ve seen in the business. Thisis a separate channel that is evolving intoits own entity, as all other channels didwhen they started,” she says.

In order to provide adequate coverage tothe transforming RIA space, Putnam hasdeveloped a dedicated RIA team over thepast five years. The team comprises fiveexternal wholesalers, five internal whole-salers and three relationship managers.

“We always put the client at the centre ofthe table and we build our contact modelaround that,” Ms Saunders says.

She adds: “The sales cycle can be as longas five years . . . We are working with anumber of advisers who we’ve been talkingto that long and . . . it was worth putting inthe time to get to where we aretoday . . . RIAs are very rigorous on theirdue diligence on any strategy.”

Franklin Templeton has also stepped upits coverage in recent years to meet thedemands of the fragmented and evolvingRIA space.

Mr Caramazza says: “If you look at theway the Franklin RIA business is beingbuilt and the way it speaks with RIAs, it isvery similar to the way platform gatekeep-ers call on the research departments.”

M&A deals aim toadd strength whilemaintaining anindependent feel

Consolidation Advisers can tap into operationaland strategic resources, writes Mariana Lemann

Aggregatedemand: theheadquartersof FocusFinancialPartners inNew Yorkand (inset)itscofounder,RajiniKodialam

Alamy


Client segments served

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Alaska

Alaska Permanent Capital Management Anchorage � �

Arizona

Miller Russell Associates Phoenix � � � �

TCI Wealth Advisors, Inc. Tucson � � � �

TFO Phoenix Phoenix � � � �

United Planners Financial Services of America Scottsdale � � � �

California

AMI Asset Management Corporation Los Angeles � � �

Aspiriant Los Angeles � � �

Atherton Lane Advisers LLC Menlo Park � � � �

Baker Street Advisors, LLC San Francisco � � �


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Beacon Pointe Advisors Newport Beach � � � �

Brouwer & Janachowski LLC Tiburon � � � �

California Financial Advisors San Ramon � �

Cardiff Park Advisors Carlsbad � � � �

Churchill Management Group Los Angeles � � � �

Cliff ord Swan Investment Counsel Pasadena � � � �

Destination Wealth Management Walnut Creek � � � �

Dowling & Yahnke, LLC San Diego � � � �

First Republic Investment Management, Inc. San Francisco � � � �

Gemmer Asset Management LLC Walnut Creek � � � �

Genovese Burford & Brothers Sacramento � � � �

Golub Group, LLC San Mateo � � � �

Halbert Hargrove Long Beach � � � �

Hanson McClain Advisors Sacramento � � �

FT 300The FT 300 top registered investment advisers in the US listed alphabetically by state


The leading firms in the FT 300The top registered independent advisers in the US, listed state by state, with the methodology on Page 12


FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers


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Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management Los Angeles � � � �

KCM Investment Advisors LLC San Rafael � � � �

Litman Gregory Asset Management Larkspur � � � �

Loring Ward San Jose � � � �

LourdMurray Beverly Hills � � � �

Mission Wealth Management, LLC Santa Barbara � � � �

Morton Capital Management Calabasas � � � �

Osborne Partners Capital Management, LLC San Francisco � � �

Pence Wealth Management Newport Beach � � �

Pillar Pacifi c Capital Management, LLC Daly City � � � �

PlanMember Securities Corporation Carpinteria � �

Pure Financial Advisors, Inc. San Diego � � �

Quantum Capital Management San Francisco � � � �

Rand & Associates San Francisco � � � �

Sand Hill Global Advisors Palo Alto � � � �

Saratoga Research & Investment Management Saratoga � � � �

Scharf Investments LLC Scotts Valley � � � �

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors (SEIA) Los Angeles � � � �

The Advisory Group of San Francisco, LLC San Francisco � � � �

The Presidio Group San Francisco � �

The Sierra Group Santa Monica � � � �

Thomas Wirig Doll Walnut Creek � � � �

United Capital Financial Advisers, LLC Newport Beach � � � �

Vista Wealth Management, LLC Palo Alto � � �

Washington Wealth Management San Diego � � �

WESCAP Group Burbank � � � �

Westmount Asset Management, LLC Los Angeles � � � �

Wetherby Asset Management San Francisco � � � �

Willow Creek Wealth Management Inc. Sebastopol � � � �

Colorado

BRC Investment Management LLC Greenwood Village � � �

BSW Wealth Partners Boulder � � �

Capital Investment Counsel Denver � � � �

Crestone Capital Advisors LLC Boulder � �

Sargent Bickham Lagudis, LLC Boulder � � � �

Connecticut

Beirne Wealth Consulting Services, LLC Milford � � � �

Bradley, Foster & Sargent, Inc. Hartford � � � �

Essex Financial Services Essex � � � �

Fieldpoint Private Greenwich � � �

Greenwich Wealth Management Greenwich � � � �

NorthCoast Asset Management Greenwich � � � �

Resnick Investment Advisors, LLC Westport � � � �

Delaware

Capital Markets IQ Wilmington � � � �

District of Columbia

Avenir Corporation Washington � � � �

Farr, Miller & Washington, LLC Washington � � �

Marshfi eld Associates Washington � � � �

Florida

Banyan Partners LLC Palm Beach Gardens � � � �

Bott-Anderson Partners, Inc. Jacksonville � � �

Cumberland Advisors Sarasota � � � �

Evensky & Katz LLC Coral Gables � � � �

Foldes Financial Management Miami � � �

GenSpring Family Offi ces Jupiter � � �

Global Financial Private Capital, LLC Sarasota � � �

Investacorp Advisory Services, Inc. Miami � � � �

Investor Solutions, Inc. Coconut Grove � � �

Palisades Hudson Asset Management, L.P. Fort Lauderdale � � �

ProVise Management Group, LLC Clearwater � � � �


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Inst

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Singer Xenos Wealth Management Coral Gables � � � �

Wasmer, Schroeder & Company Naples � � � �

WaterOak Advisors Winter Park � � � �

WE Family Offi ces Miami �

Georgia

Arcus Capital Partners LLC Atlanta � � � �

Asset Preservation Advisors Atlanta �

Balentine Atlanta � � � �

Brightworth Atlanta � � � �

CornerCap Investment Counsel Atlanta � � � �

Crawford Investment Counsel, Inc. Atlanta � � � �

GV Financial Advisors Atlanta � � �

Henssler Financial Kennesaw � � � �

Homrich Berg Atlanta � � �

SignatureFD, LLC Atlanta � � � �

Hawaii

CKW Financial Group Honolulu � � � �

Idaho

Yellowstone Partners Idaho Falls � � � �

Illinois

Altair Advisers, LLC Chicago � � �

Balasa Dinverno Foltz LLC Itasca � � � �

Brookstone Capital Management, LLC Wheaton � � �

Cedar Hill Associates, LLC Chicago � � � �

Chesley, Taft & Associates, LLC Chicago � � �

Chicago Partners Wealth Advisors Chicago � � � �

Cozad Asset Management, Inc. Champaign � � � �

Embree Financial Group Chicago � � �

Geneva Advisors Chicago � � � �

Great Lakes Advisors Chicago � � � �

HighPoint Planning Partners Downers Grove � � � �

HighTower’s The Lerner Group Deerfi eld � � � �

IPI Wealth Management, Inc. Decatur � � � �

JMG Financial Group, Ltd. Oak Brook � � �

Kovitz Investment Group, LLC Chicago � � � �

Leonetti & Associates, LLC Buff alo Grove � � � �

Mid-Continent Capital, LLC Chicago � � �

Pekin Singer Strauss Asset Management Chicago � � �

Relative Value Partners LLC Northbrook � � � �

RMB Capital Chicago � � � �

Savant Capital Management Rockford � � � �

Strategic Wealth Partners LLC Deerfi eld � � � �

Whitnell & Co. Oak Brook � � �

Indiana

Bedel Financial Consulting, Inc. Indianapolis � � �

Column Capital Indianapolis � � �

Donaldson Capital Management, LLC Evansville � � � �

Oxford Financial Group, Ltd. Indianapolis � � � �

Phillips Financial Management, LLC Fort Wayne � � � �

Valeo Financial Advisors, LLC Indianapolis � � � �

Iowa

Honkamp Krueger Financial Services, Inc. Dubuque � � � �

Steele Capital Management, Inc. Dubuque � � � �

Kansas

Creative Planning, Inc. Leawood � � � �

Vantage Investment Partners, LLC Merriam � � � �

Kentucky

ARGI Investment Services Louisville


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MCF Advisors Covington � � � �

Louisiana

Resource Management, LLC Metairie � � � �

St. Denis J. Villere & Co. LLC New Orleans � � � �

Maryland

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Columbia � � � �

Chevy Chase Trust Bethesda � � �

Convergent Wealth Advisors Potomac � � �

FBB Capital Partners Bethesda � � �

Heritage Investors Management Corp. Bethesda � � � �

Highline Wealth Management, LLC Rockville � � �

HighTower Bethesda Bethesda � � � �

HighTower’s Kelly Wealth Management Hunt Valley � � � �

Maryland Capital Management Baltimore � � � �

Pinnacle Advisory Group, Inc. Columbia � � � �

Retirement Management Systems Annapolis � �

WMS Partners, LLC Towson � � �

Massachusetts

Adviser Investments Newton � � � �

Athena Capital Advisors LLC Lincoln � �

Baldwin Brothers, Inc. Marion � � �

Ballentine Partners, LLC Waltham � � � �

Breckinridge Capital Advisors Boston � � � �

Choate Investment Advisors LLC Boston � � � �

Federal Street Advisors, Inc. Boston � � � �

Grimes & Company, Inc. Westborough � � �

Kaplan Financial Services, Inc. Newton � � �

Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management, LLC Boston � � � �

SCS Financial Boston � �

The Colony Group, LLC Boston � � �

Welch & Forbes LLC Boston � � � �

Wellesley Investment Advisors Wellesley � � � �

Michigan

Flexible Plan Investments, Ltd. Bloomfi eld Hills � � �

LJPR, LLC Troy � � �

Mainstay Capital Management, LLC Grand Blanc � � �

Rehmann Financial Lansing � � � �

Retirement Income Solutions, Inc. Ann Arbor � � �

Telemus Capital, LLC Southfi eld � � �

Minnesota

JNBA Financial Advisors Minneapolis � � � �

Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC Minneapolis � � �

Riverbridge Partners, LLC Minneapolis � � � �

Windsor Financial Group, LLC Minneapolis � � � �

Mississippi

Medley & Brown Jackson � � � �

Missouri

Acropolis Investment Management, LLC Chesterfi eld � � � �

BKD Wealth Advisors, LLC Springfi eld � � � �

Matter Family Offi ce St. Louis � �

Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC Clayton � � �

Plancorp, LLC St. Louis � � � �

Zemenick & Walker, Inc. Clayton � � � �

Montana

Stack Financial Management Whitefi sh � � � �

Nebraska

Carson Wealth Management Group Omaha � � �


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Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Omaha � � � �

New Jersey

Condor Capital Management Martinsville � � � �

Massey, Quick & Co. LLC Morristown � � � �

Meyer Capital Group Marlton � � � �

Modera Wealth Management Westwood � � � �

Pathstone Family Offi ce Fort Lee � � � �

Private Advisor Group Morristown � � � �

RegentAtlantic Morristown � � � �

The MDE Group Morristown � � �

New York

Alesco Advisors LLC Pittsford � � � �

Altfest Personal Wealth Management New York � � �

Barrett Asset Management LLC New York � � �

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. New York � � � �

Capital Counsel LLC New York � �

Clarfeld Tarrytown � � �

Constellation Wealth Advisors LLC New York � � �

Courier Capital Corporation Buff alo � � � �

Douglas C. Lane & Associates, Inc. New York � � � �

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC New York � � �

Dynasty Wealth Management, LLC New York � �

Edge Wealth Management LLC New York � � � �

Evercore Wealth Management New York � � �

Geller Family Offi ce Services, LLC New York � �

Gerstein Fisher New York � � � �

HighTower’s HSW Advisors New York � � �

Highmount Capital New York � �

HighTower’s Morse, Towey & White Group New York � � �

Ingalls & Snyder LLC New York � � � �

Joel Isaacson & Co., LLC New York � �

Klingman & Associates, LLC New York � � � �

Linden Global Strategies LLC New York � � �

LVW Advisors, LLC Pittsford � � �

M. Griffi th Investment Services, Inc. New Hartford � � � �

Matrix Asset Advisors, Inc. New York � � � �

Nottingham Advisors Buff alo � � � �

Offi t Capital New York � � �

Schafer Cullen Capital Management, Inc. New York � � � �

Silvercrest Asset Management New York � � � �

Sontag Advisory New York � � � �

TAG Associates, LLC New York � �

The Portfolio Strategy Group, LLC White Plains � � � �

Tiedemann Wealth Management New York � � �

Tirschwell & Loewy, Inc. New York � �

North Carolina

Carroll Financial Associates, Inc. Charlotte � � � �

Horizon Investments Charlotte � �

Novare Capital Management Charlotte � � �

Parsec Financial Asheville � � �

Stearns Financial Group Greensboro � � � �

Ohio

Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel Cincinnati � � � �

Bartlett & Co., LLC Cincinnati � � � �

Budros, Ruhlin & Roe, Inc. Columbus � � � �

Carnegie Investment Counsel Beachwood � � � �

Foster & Motley, Inc. Cincinnati � � � �

Hamilton Capital Management, Inc. Columbus � � � �

Johnson Investment Counsel Cincinnati � � � �

McDonald Partners, LLC Cleveland � � � �

OBS Financial Advisors, Inc. Whitehouse � � �

RiverPoint Capital Management Cincinnati � � � �



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Spero-Smith Investment Advisers, Inc. Cleveland � � � �

Summit Financial Strategies, Inc. Columbus � � � �

Truepoint Wealth Counsel Cincinnati � � � �

Oklahoma

Capital Advisors, Inc. Tulsa � � � �

Exencial Wealth Advisors Oklahoma City � � � �

Tom Johnson Investment Management, LLC Oklahoma City � � �

Oregon

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Portland � � � �

Northside Capital Management, LLC Hood River � �

Vision Capital Management, Inc. Portland � � �

Pennsylvania

Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management, Inc. Bethlehem � � �

Fort Pitt Capital Group Pittsburgh � � � �

Fragasso Financial Advisors Pittsburgh � � � �

HBKS Wealth Advisors Erie � � � �

Logan Capital Management, Inc. Ardmore � � � �

Mill Creek Capital Advisors, LLC Conshohocken � � � �

myCIO Wealth Partners, LLC Philadelphia � � � �

Palladiem, LLC Malvern � �

Prudent Management Associates Philadelphia � � �

Sage Financial Group Conshohocken � � �

Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors, LP Pittsburgh � � � �

Tower Bridge Advisors Conshohocken � � � �

Veritable, L.P. Newtown Square � �

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC Philadelphia � � � �

XPYRIA Investment Advisors Pittsburgh � � � �

Rhode Island

Endurance Wealth Management Providence � � �

Professional Planning Group Westerly � � � �

Tennessee

CapWealth Advisors Franklin � � � �

Highland Capital Management, LLC Memphis � � � �

Legacy Wealth Management Memphis � � � �

TrustCore Brentwood � � � �

Texas

Covenant Multifamily Offi ce LLC San Antonio � � � �

Money Matters with Ken Moraif Plano � �


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Retirement Advisors of America Addison � �

Sendero Wealth Management San Antonio � � � �

SFMG Wealth Advisors Plano � � �

South Tex as Money Management San Antonio � � � �

Tanglewood Wealth Management, Inc. Houston � � � �

True North Advisors Dallas � � � �

Vermont

Manchester Capital Management LLC Manchester � � � �

Virginia

Burney Company Falls Church � � � �

Cassaday & Company, Inc. McLean � � �

Catawba Capital Management Roanoke � � �

Edelman Financial Services LLC Fairfax � � � �

Glassman Wealth Services McLean � � � �

Mason Investment Advisory Services, Inc. Reston � � � �

SIGNATURE. Norfolk � � �

The London Company of Virginia, LLC Richmond � � � �

West Financial Services, Inc. McLean � � � �

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management, LLC Norfolk � � � �

Washington

Badgley Phelps Investment Managers Seattle � � � �

Brighton Jones Seattle � � � �

Bristlecone Advisors, LLC Seattle � � �

Empirical Wealth Management Seattle � � �

Evergreen Capital Bellevue � � �

Fisher Investments Camas � � � �

Freestone Capital Management Seattle � � � �

Laird Norton Wealth Management Seattle � � �

Merriman Wealth Management, LLC Seattle � � �

SNW Asset Management Seattle � �

Threshold Group Gig Harbor � � �

Wisconsin

Annex Wealth Management, LLC Elm Grove � � �

Cleary Gull Milwaukee � � � �

Diversifi ed Management, Inc. Milwaukee � � �

Orgel Wealth Management Altoona � � � �

Sadoff Investment Management Milwaukee � � �

The principle behind the FinancialTimes 300 is to centre the criteriaon the affluent and wealthyinvestors who tend to be readersof the Financial Times.

We assessed the registeredinvestment adviser (RIA) practicesfrom the perspective of currentand prospective investors.

The Financial Times’methodology is quantifiable andobjective. We went through thedatabase of RIAs who areregistered with the US Securitiesand Exchange Commission, andselected those practices reportingto the SEC that they had $300mor more in assets undermanagement. That ensured a list

of firms with established andinstitutionalised investmentprocesses. The RIA firms had nosubjective input.

The FT then invited qualifyingRIA firms – more than 2,000 – tofill in a lengthy application thatgave more information about theirpractices. We augmented thatinformation with our own researchinto the practices, including datafrom regulatory filings.

The formula the FT uses tograde advisers is based on sixbroad factors and calculates anumeric score for each adviser.

Areas of consideration includeadviser assets under management,asset growth, the firm’s years in

existence, industry certifications ofkey employees at the firms, SECcompliance record and onlineaccessibility:

●Assets under management(AUM): signals experiencemanaging money and client trust.

●AUM growth rate: growingassets is a proxy for performance,as well as for asset retention, andability to generate new business.

●Firm’s years in existence:indicates reliability as a firm, andexperience managing assetsthrough varying marketenvironments.

●Compliance record: providesevidence of past client disputes; astring of complaints can signalpotential problems.

●Industry certifications (CFA,CFP, etc): shows technical andindustry knowledge, obtainingthese designations signals toclients a professional commitmentto investment skills.

●Online accessibility: illustratescommitment to providing investorswith easy access and transparentcontact information.

Assets under management andasset growth comprise 8590 per

cent of each adviser’s score.Additionally, to serve our

readers’ interests and provide adiversity of advisers, the FT placesa cap on the number of RIAs fromany one state that’s roughlycorrelated to the distribution ofmillionaires across the US.

We present the FT 300 as anelite group, not a competitiveranking of 1 to 300.

We acknowledge that rankingthe industry’s most elite advisersfrom 1 to 300 is a futile exercise,since each advisory firm takes itsown approach to its practice andhas different specialisations.

Loren Fox

Methodology A quantifiable and objective way to establish who is in an elite group, but not a competitive ranking




Independent financial advisers used tofeel they had to gather all manner ofqualifications to compete with the bigbrokerages. But times appear to have

changed, especially after the financialcrisis.

Asked whether registered independentadvisers (RIAs) these days have to “makeup” for not having a big group behindthem, Brian Holmes, president and chiefexecutive of wealth management firm Sig-nature Estate & Investment Advisors, says:“After the debacle of 2007 and 2008 with thewirehouses, the answer would be no.

About 20 years ago when Mr Holmes wasstarting out on his own in the financialadvice world the thought did cross hismind: that qualifications could fill the gapof not being large or well known. “Hon-estly, I think we’re . . . beyond that now,”says the LA-based adviser.

Most financial advice firms see the Certi-fied Financial Planning (CFP) designation,and a bachelors or master’s degree in arelevant topic as the basis for new financialadvisers, whether they gain this on the jobor before applying to an independent firm.

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) cer-tification can also help in the financialplanning role. For more investment-focusedadvisers, the Chartered Financial Analystprogramme is essential for some, accompa-nied by the CPA and the CAIA designation,which focuses on alternative investmenteducation.

However, with estimates of about 150 cer-tifications or designations on the marketfor financial advisers, there is opportunityto pursue many more.

Since 2007, it has been easier for inde-pendent advisers to compete with the wire-houses, says Dave Bellaire, executive vice-president and general counsel at the Finan-cial Services Institute, a trade group forindependent advisers.

“After 2007, the big Wall Street brandsare seen by many in the financial servicesas more a liability than an enhancement tobusiness,” he says, which has led to a runof adviser defections from wirehouses toindependent firms. “Some [RIAs] may

choose to pursue another designation toexpand their knowledge, but I don’t seethem pursuing a designation so they cancompete with Wall Street firms.”

Fellow independent adviser Brian Sutliff,partner at Summit Financial Strategies,agrees that for small firms that are startingout a clutch of qualifications can help boosttheir profile, and give them confidence tocompete against behemoths such as MerrillLynch and UBS.

“With our firm now, with the size andreputation, I don’t feel that,” he adds.

Those who turn up with all the designa-tions or certifications under the sun mightfind this a disadvantage. “Personally,” saysOhio-based Mr Sutliff, “when I see a list of17 designations I wonder why.” He addsthat it would raise a red flag for a candi-date applying to the firm.

However, gathering qualifications and

certifications could boost an adviser’sbrand, says Sean Walters, chief executiveand executive director of the InvestmentManagement Consultants Association(IMCA).

“Registered independent advisers don’thave any other brand to lean on. Personalcertifications is a way to invest in thatpersonal brand,” says Mr Walters. How-ever, he does not see that play out amongindependent advisers.

For ultra-high-net-worth wealth managerGenSpring there is an expectation from cli-ents that they will have those “table stake”qualifications to support their work as afinancial adviser. But that is not every-thing. “What really differentiates us is notwhat we have but how we deliver it,” saysMike Santone, chief operating officer atGenSpring.

Do qualifications matter to clients and do

they understand them? Research from theCertified Financial Planner Board of Stand-ards last year found that 84 per cent ofinvestors take certifications or qualifica-tions into consideration when selecting afinancial adviser, and 68 per cent prefersomeone who has a designation that dem-onstrates “knowledge of multiple financialareas”.

“I think it’s part of the mix of informa-tion that potential clients gather,” says MrBellaire. But much of independent adviserbusiness is gained by referrals, he says.

For GenSpring, the requests for proposalit receives to bid for business often askquestions on the number of accredited pro-fessionals at GenSpring, and the percentageof advisers with those accreditations.

It really depends on the client type as towhether they understand the various desig-nations and certifications, says Mr Sutliff.

“The clients we work with usually under-stand they need to have a Certified Finan-cial Planner and come in looking for that,”he says, but not all clients do.

Research from IMCA, which offers theCertified Investment Management Analystcertification, finds that qualifications areeven more important with the next genera-tion of investors.

While 62 per cent of investors said it isimportant or critical for their adviser tohave voluntary qualifications, thisincreases to 84 per cent for millennials, orthose between the ages of 18 and 29.

Across a range of questions, investorsbetween the ages of 18 and 40 “consistentlycite the importance of advanced, voluntarycredentials more often than other agegroups”, says the research.

Maintaining credentials or participatingin continuing education is also importantfor clients, with 81 per cent of investors inthe IMCA study saying it is important orcritical.

But that broadens the range of optionsfor financial advisers to about five certifica-tions, says Mr Walters. “They don’t expecttheir adviser just to gain letters,” he says.“Clients expect advisers to have to dosomething to maintain those credentials.”

RIAs see less need for a paper chaseAccreditation Advisers need to balance academic awards with onthejob knowledge, writes Laura Suter

When the founding trio of Pinnacle AdvisoryGroup started their wealth management firmin 1993, the exchange traded fund was anascent investment vehicle. Now, more than20 years later, both Pinnacle and the ETFhave grown up.

With 75 per cent of investable client assetsin exchange traded funds, Pinnacle has agreater proportion than any other FT 300firm. With nearly 850 clients and $1.22bn inassets under management, Pinnacle had itshands full in 2013, a year that saw clientassets grow 19 per cent.

The firm took strategic risks, so this sortof success was not guaranteed. One of thefirst large RIAs to specialise in ETFs, Pinnaclestarted its transition to ETFs about five yearsago with an eye to lowering investment costsfor clients. Meanwhile, the firm also looked toexpand its offering beyond an improvedinvesting experience.

A year and half ago, the firm, based inColumbia, Maryland, began upgrading its

financial planning services when its advisersadopted a mindmapping programme toorganise clients’ lifestyle goals visually.

The programme allows clients and theiradvisers to construct a diagram representingwhat want they want to accomplish with theirinvestments. This helps clients “connect thedots” between their finances and lifestylechoices, says Barbara Ristow, Pinnacle’sfinancial planning director.

While some firms view their fellow RIAs aschallengers, Pinnacle’s unique valueproposition has endowed it with the tools notonly to beat the competition, but also toform productive partnerships with wouldberivals.

The firm takes pride in the adoption of itsturnkey investment platform by smaller RIAsseeking to use more sophisticated portfoliomanagement tools than they could build ontheir own.

Michael Shagrin

ETF emphasis Firm adopts mindmapping programme

Market vision: investors expect their advisers not just to acquire letters after their names, but to produce returns for their clients Dreamstime

16 FINANCIAL TIMES THURSDAY JUNE 26 2014

TopRegisteredInvestmentAdvisers€¦ · “financial advisers” some yearsago. At the heart of this shift has been the growth of the independent registered investmentadviser(RIA).

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