2012 San Diego Five Star Wealth Managers

ANNOUNCING: 2012 San Diego Five Star Wealth Managers

In a consumer study about dynamics between wealth managers and their clients, Five Star Professional recently polled wealth managers and consumers about communications. Both groups said that connecting three to four times a year is the right communications strategy, but expectations are not aligned in all areas:

• 29 percent of consumers want to be contacted by their wealth manager whenever events require an update; only 7 percent of wealth managers say they contact clients based on the impact of events.

• 63 percent of consumers say they receive the right amount of communication from their wealth manager.

Wealth managers, broadly defined, are those individuals who help you manage your financial world and/or implement aspects of your financial strategies. Common examples of wealth managers are financial advisors, financial planners, investment advisors, tax advisors and estate planning attorneys.

How do you find a wealth manager with experience, who has a good base of clients with high retention rates, and who has undergone a regulatory and complaint review? And when you find them, are they accepting new clients?

San Diego Magazine and Five Star Professional partnered to find wealth managers who satisfy 10 objective eligibility and evaluation criteria that are associated with wealth managers who provide quality services to their clients. Among many distinguishing attributes, the average one-year client retention rate for this year’s award winners is more than 93 percent.

A Select Award

The resulting list of 2012 Five Star Wealth Managers is a select group, representing less than 3 percent of the wealth managers in the San Diego area.(1)

Although this list is a useful tool for anyone looking for help in managing their financial world or implementing aspects of their financial strategies, it should not be considered exhaustive. Undoubtedly, there are many excellent wealth managers who, for one reason or another, are not on this year’s list.

Nomination Process

To be considered for the Five Star Wealth Manager award, a wealth manager must have been identified through research conducted with peers and firms. Five Star Professional relied on internal and external research data, including a survey to more than 8,500 registered financial services professionals and all identified financial service companies in the area that are registered with FINRA or the SEC. Recipients of the survey were asked to nominate wealth managers they felt were worthy of consideration for the Five Star Wealth Manager award (self-nominations are not accepted).

Determination of Award Winners

Nominated wealth managers who satisfied 10 objective eligibility and evaluation criteria that are associated with wealth managers who provide quality services were named 2012 Five Star Wealth Managers.(2)

Eligibility Criteria – Required(3)

1. Credentialed as an investment advisory representative (IAR), a FINRA-registered representative, a CPA or a licensed attorney.
2. Actively employed as a credentialed professional in the financial services industry for a minimum of five years.
3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review.(4)
4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal firm standards.
5. Accepting new clients.

Evaluation Criteria – Considered(3)

6. One-year client retention rate (the average one-year client retention rate of this year’s award winners is more than 93 percent).
7. Five-year client retention rate.
8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered (this year’s award winners administer an average of $87 million in client assets).
9. Number of client households served (on average, this year’s award winners serve 198 households).
10. Education and professional designations.

Research Disclosures

• Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers.
• The Five Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance.
• Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets.
• The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by Five Star Professional or San Diego Magazine.
• Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future.
• Five Star Professional is not an advisory firm, and the content of this article should not be considered financial advice. For more information on the Five Star award and the research/selection methodology, go to www.fivestarprofessional.com.
• (1) 1,014 wealth managers in the San Diego area were nominated for the Five Star Wealth Manager award. 284 (approximately 28 percent of those nominated) were named 2012 Five Star Wealth Managers. The 284 award winners represent less than 3 percent of the total wealth managers in the area.