The Corrected Top 100 Independent AdvisorsThe Corrected Top 100 Independent Advisors

In the following pages, we are republishing our Top 100 Independent Advisors list this month with some essential revisions to the prior list, which ran in August. Assembling this list is a complicated feat. This year, Registered Rep. teamed up with Discovery Database in an attempt to provide readers with a more comprehensive, objective and independent list of the advisors in the industry ranked by assets under management. (In the past we have relied solely on the firms to provide us with this information.)

Unfortunately, unlike, say, registered investment advisories (who file detailed Form ADVs with the SEC), registered reps don't have a central registration depository that discloses details about their books of business, or the assets they manage, that is accessible to the public — not even on the Form U-4. Put another way, when it comes to certain details about a Series 7 holder's business, the investing public can only learn it from you, the advisor. And, it came to our attention, that our August list was not as accurate as it could be; apparently, there were too many FAs who didn't respond to our survey. So, we hit the phones again, and have updated the list this month with the help of independent b/d firms, which verified the accuracy of the asset numbers estimated by Discovery's proprietary technology. (Discovery, based across the river from us in New Jersey, has sophisticated technology that it uses to “crawl” through SEC, FINRA, state and many other data sources to create AUM estimates.)

Each of the advisors on our Top 100 Independent Advisors list has his own story, of course, and this list only hints at that. Perusing the list, you will notice the FAs are affiliated with a wide range of broker/dealers, operate under different business models, have distinct business specialties, work all across America and, of course, they have their own unique styles of managing their millions (sometimes billions) in client assets. It is our intention to get to know these firms over the coming year and to bring their unique stories to you in a more full way. Please feel free to contact the reporters at Registered Rep. if you are interested in telling your story.