WealthManagement.com announced on May 30 the 2017 finalists for its third annual Wealth Management Industry Awards.
More than 500 nominations submitted from over 300 companies were voted on by a panel of independent judges over the course of two days. In the end, over 100 companies made the finalist list. View the list of finalists here.
The Wealthmanagement.com Industry Awards seek to recognize initiatives from any company designed to help financial advisors better serve their clients, including broker/dealers, compliance firms, custodians, asset managers, non-custodial RIA support platforms and technology companies serving financial advisors.
“Financial advisors increasingly have an overwhelming number of options when it comes to the companies they choose to help them grow their business,” said David Armstrong, executive director of content and user engagement for Wealthmanagement.com. “These awards are a chance to highlight the best of what these companies do for the industry. Thanks to these firms, advisors are far better equipped to help clients meet their financial objectives and life goals. For anyone working in financial services, what could be more important?”
“The record number of firms and nominations submitted for these awards demonstrates the vitality and importance of the advisory industry,” said William O’Conor, Wealthmanagement.com managing director. “Our goal is to recognize this ecosystem of companies, many with very different offerings, that together empower financial advisors to make better decisions for their practices, and for their clients. Each of these firms can learn from what the others are doing. Bringing these companies together for this event can help facilitate that dialogue in a way that will benefit the industry overall, but most importantly [for] financial advisors and their clients.”
Judges gathered in New York for two days to go over each submitted initiative. Criteria for becoming a finalist included quantitative measures — such as scope, scale, adoption and feature set — along with quantitative measures such as innovation, creativity and new methods of delivery.
The judges were not basing decisions on the firms themselves, but specifically looking for new or improved enhancements over the past year to programs or services these companies have created to help advisor success. They based their decisions only on the material submitted by each firm to support their nomination.
More than 40 organizations were finalists in multiple categories this year. Envestnet claimed the record with a total of 15 spots on the finalists list. Morningstar had seven initiatives recognized by the judges as finalists and Fidelity Investments had five. Charles Schwab, John Hancock and Wells Fargo Advisors each have four initiatives that made the list.
Winners will be named at a gala dinner at The Plaza hotel in New York City on Oct. 11. Proceeds from the event go to support the Foundation for Financial Planning, a nonprofit organization devoted to providing pro-bono financial planning to individuals and communities in need.
The dinner follows a half-day executive forum held at The Plaza, attended by over 200 industry executives who gather for networking and moderated roundtable discussions around themes of technology, marketing and asset management. This year, a keynote panel discussion will bring together top CEOs from the independent broker/dealer space, including Robert Moore from Cetera, Valerie Brown from Advisor Group and Jim Nagengast from Securities America, to discuss the evolution and future of the independent broker/dealer space.