Waverly Advisors Rankings Disclosure

Neither rankings and/or recognitions by unaffiliated rating services, publications, media, or other organizations, nor the achievement of any professional designation, certification, degree, job promotion, license, membership in any professional organization, or any amount of prior experience or success should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if Waverly Advisors is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. Rankings published by magazines, and others, generally base their selections exclusively on information prepared and/or submitted by the recognized adviser. Rankings are generally limited to participating advisers (see participation criteria/methodology below). Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, Waverly Advisors did not pay a fee to be included on any such ranking. No ranking or recognition should be construed as a current or past endorsement of Waverly Advisors by any of its clients. Waverly Advisor’s Chief Compliance Officer remains available to address any questions regarding rankings and/or recognitions, including providing the criteria used for any reflected ranking.

America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors 2023 – Methodology

Forbes’ top advisor rankings, developed by SHOOK Research, are advisor rankings with a focus on quality, including interviewing advisors in-person, virtually and by telephone. SHOOK is not a “robo-ranker.” Numbers such as production and assets don’t tell the whole story, especially when much of the data is self-reported. SHOOK Research creates rankings of role models—advisors that are leading the way in offering best practices and providing a high-quality experience for clients. A focus on both qualitative and quantitative factors is imperative.

How We Rank

The Forbes ranking of America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors and Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative data, learned through surveys and interviews conducted by telephone, in-person and virtually to evaluate best practices, such as service models, investing models and compliance records as well as quantitative data, such as revenue trends and assets under management.

All advisors have a minimum of seven years’ experience. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK receive a fee in exchange for rankings.

The SHOOK Process

SHOOK scours the financial services industry—banks, brokerages, custodians, insurance companies, clearing houses and others for nominations. SHOOK accepts advisors who meet pre-determined minimum thresholds and acceptable compliance records.

Basic Requirements For Top Women Wealth Advisors

  • 7 years as an advisor
  • Minimum 1 year at current firm, with exceptions such as acquisitions
  • Advisor must be recommended, and nominated, by their firm
  • Completion of an online survey
  • Business that is conducted with individuals is evaluated
  • Acceptable compliance record

Quantitative Metrics

  • Weightings assigned for both revenue and production data
  • Assets under management—and quality of those assets—both custodied and a scrutinized look at assets held away (although individual numbers are used for ranking purposes, we publish the entire team’s assets)
  • Client-related data, such as retention
  • Portfolio performance is not a factor (audited returns among advisors are rare, and differing client objectives provide varying returns)

Qualitative Metrics

  • Telephone, virtual and in-person meetings with advisors (telephone interviews are required; if an in-person meeting cannot be accomplished, exceptions are considered in which the interview will occur after a ranking has been published)
  • Compliance records and U4s: Some “dings” can be overlooked such as firm or product failure beyond the scope of an advisor’s due diligence. The older a ding, the less we look. Since there are many gray areas, the SHOOK team is willing to listen to a firm that is willing to stand behind the advisor with written support from leadership.
  • SHOOK measures client “impact,” a proprietary indicator that measures difference advisors make in the lives of their clients.
  • Advisors that provide a full client experience including service model, investing process, fee structure (higher % of fee-based assets earns more points), breadth of services, including extensive use of firm’s platform and resources such as liabilities)
  • Credentials (years of service can serve as proxy)
  • Use of team and team dynamics
  • Community involvement
  • Discussions with management, peers, competing peers
  • Telephone, virtual and in-person meetings

U4/Compliance Issues

The following conditions will be considered in order to lessen weightings infractions:

  • Infractions that are denied or closed with no action
  • Complaint arose from a product, service or advice initiated by a previous advisor or another member or former member of team
  • Length of time since complaint
  • Complaints related to product failure not related to investment advice such as limited partnerships or adjusted-rate securities
  • Complaints that have been settled, which must be proven, to appease a client who remained with the advisor for at least one year following settlement date
  • Complaints that are proven to be meritless
  • Actions taken as a result of administrative error or failure by firm

Once an advisor’s compliance rating falls into a tenable category, the following conditions must be met:

  • An advisor’s rating must be among SHOOK’s highest qualitative measures including in-person interview
  • Letters of recommendation from firm must be submitted

Ranking Algorithm

The algorithm is designed to fairly compare the business practices of a large group of advisors based on quantitative and qualitative elements. Data are weighted to ensure priorities are given to dynamics such as preferred “best practices,” business models, recent business activity, etc. Each variable is graded and represents a certain value for each measured component. These data are fed into an algorithm that measures thousands of advisors against each other.

This information was pulled from Forbes website. You can view the full methodology here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rjshook/2023/02/02/methodology-americas-top-women-wealth-advisors-2023/?sh=7a112ce258ca

 

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