WealthManagement.com celebrated its seventh-annual Industry Awards on Thursday night during a black-tie awards gala (proof of vaccination required, of course) livestreamed from the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City.
This year, 93 awards were presented to 71 companies from a pool of 221 finalists for stellar achievements in supporting financial advisor success. View the full list of winners.
“A record-breaking number of nominations were submitted in 2021, with more than 900 entries received from nearly 350 companies,” said Bill O’Conor, managing director of WealthManagement.com. “The outstanding participation in our Industry Awards is a testament to the value firms place in the program as a way to enhance their reputation, increase their brand awareness and set their organization apart from the competition. We were pleased to return to celebrating and honoring our awards finalists and winners with in-person afternoon and evening events in New York City, with simultaneous virtual broadcasts accessible to a broader audience of awards team members and other wealth management professionals across the nation.”
A panel of independent judges made up of top names in the industry and led by WealthManagement.com Editor-in-Chief David Armstrong determined the winners. The best in each category were selected based on quantitative measures of their initiatives—such as scope, scale, adoption and feature set—along with qualitative measures, such as innovation, creativity and new methods of delivery.
The awards expanded in 2021 to recognize product and service providers who are pioneering innovation in new and emerging technologies, as well as progressive companies that are advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the financial services industry. Financial services leaders across the industry also faced unprecedented challenges this past year, so additional executive awards were established to recognize the extraordinary work and outstanding leadership being provided by a growing number of C-suite executives in support of their employees, customers and communities. And for the first time, awards paid tribute to the industry’s most creative digital marketing campaigns and to the imaginative contributions coming from marketing and PR firms serving organizations in financial services.
The 2021 event program kicked off with senior executives at finalist companies participating in daytime panel sessions, roundtable discussions and networking at the New York Athletic Club. The live evening reception and awards ceremony was attended by more than 300 industry executives from leading asset management firms, RIAs, broker/dealers, custodians, technology providers and other industry-related companies.
The big winner this year was Fidelity Investments, earning four awards. Envestnet, eMoney Advisor and Orion each walked away with three awards. Other multiple winners included Adhesion Wealth, Advisor Group, AdvisorPeak, Asset Map, BNY Mellon, Commonwealth Financial Network, Hightower, Mercer Advisors, Merrill, Morningstar, Nationwide, PEAK Reps, Raymond James, Snappy Kraken, State Street Global Advisors and StepStone Conversus. Awards were also handed out recognizing individual CEOs, CMOs, CTOs, innovators, M&A leaders and thought leaders.
Armstrong (who, as always, was the evening’s master of ceremonies, alongside Managing Editor Diana Britton and Publisher Marianne Rivera) stressed how this awards ceremony is unique by recognizing those companies and individuals that help advisors better support clients.
“The different types of firms that participate—asset managers, technology companies, custodians, broker/dealers and consultants—all share a common goal: creating the programs, tools and platforms that advisors use to improve the financial prospects of millions of Americans,” he said.