Five Star Award Winner Comprehensive Planning Associates, LTD 2016 | Page 2
© 2016 Five Star Professional
2016 Connecticut
Five Star Wealth Managers
A Select
Award
Finding a wealth manager who suits your needs can be a daunting task. In fact, many consumers have a hard time figuring out where to even begin.
Sometimes, a few simple questions can set one off on the right path. Asking a wealth manager what makes working with him or her a unique
experience can help you understand how they work and if their style meshes with your own. Further, asking a financial adviser to talk about any
specialties they might have can help uncover skills you might find useful.
Ultimately, how do you find an experienced wealth manager who you feel comfortable working with? One who has high retention rates? One who has undergone a
thorough complaint and regulatory review? One who has tenure in the industry?
Connecticut magazine and Five Star Professional partnered to find wealth managers who satisfy 10 objective eligibility and evaluation criteria. Among many
distinguishing attributes, the average one-year client retention rate for this year’s award winners is more than 96 percent. 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.
In order to consider a broad population of high-quality wealth managers, award candidates are identified by one of three sources: firm nomination, peer nomination or prequalification based on industry standing. Self-nominations are not accepted. Connecticut award candidates were identified using internal and external research data.
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 Connecticut 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 advisery 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.
• 1,985 award candidates in the Connecticut area were considered for the Five Star Wealth Manager
award. 417 (approximately 22 percent of the award candidates) were named 2016 Five Star Wealth
Managers.
Determination
of Award Winners
Award candidates who satisfied 10 objective eligibility and evaluation criteria were named 2016 Five Star
Wealth Managers.
Eligibility Criteria – Required
Evaluation Criteria – Considered
1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment
adviser representative.
6. One-year client retention rate.
2. Actively employed as a credentialed professional in the financial services
industry for a minimum of five years.
8. N on-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets
administered.
3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review.
9. Number of client households served.
4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal firm standards.
10. Education and professional designations.
7. Five-year client retention rate.
5. Accepting new clients.
Regulatory Review
As defined by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not:
• Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or
revoked, or payment of a fine.
• Had more than a total of three customer complaints filed against them (settled or
pending) with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint
process.
• Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint filed with a
regulatory authority.
• Filed for personal bankruptcy.
• Been convicted of a felony.
For more information on the program, go to www.fivestarprofessional.com/wm_program.
Five Star Professional conducts a regulatory review of each nominated wealth manager
using the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website. Five Star Professional also
uses multiple supporting processes to help ensure that a favorable regulatory and complaint
history exists. Data submitted through these processes was applied per the above criteria:
• Each wealth manager who passes the Five Star Professional regulatory review must
attest that they meet the definition of favorable regulatory history, based upon the
criteria listed above.
• Five Star Professional promotes via local advertising the opportunity for consumers to
confidentially submit complaints regarding a wealth manager.
• Five Star Professional contacted approximately 1 in 12 households identified as having
a high propensity to use the services of wealth managers in order to provide consumers
the opportunity to submit complaints regarding a wealth manager.