Award Methodologies
Wealthmanagement.com Methodology — 2025 RIA Edge 100
The list was developed by Wealthmanagement.com’s WMIQ research team in partnership with ISS MI using data from its Discovery Data MarketPro platform.
Here is how we found them: Qualifying firms were limited to SEC-registered investment advisory firms that provide financial planning services. They have high-net-worth individuals as more than half of their client base and manage at least $500 million in assets.
WMIQ then filtered that subset of firms by several metrics, including AUM growth over five years, the ratio of employees to clients, AUM per advisor and the percentage of employees with the CFP certification, among a handful of others.
Each WMIQ metric was given equal weighting and, on balance, is intended to give a clear picture of firm growth as it relates to client service and internal talent. RIA Edge 100 firms are those with impressive growth rates, the best employee-to-client ratios, the highest CFP certifications and the most efficient use of AUM-based revenue.
Important to note: The RIA Edge 100 is not a hierarchy or ranking, nor is it a subjective “best advisor” list. It is not based on business relationships, influencer status or social media popularity. Firms cannot apply for the list, and there is no cost to be included. It is not meant to be a static list—as we continue to refine the metrics, ratios and weightings we use, many of the names here will change.
Instead, the RIA Edge 100 was designed to surface a representative group of well-managed firms that are reinvesting in their businesses, maintaining a high level of client service and, as we say here, growing by design, not by default.
You can learn more about the methodology for the 2025 RIA Edge 100 by visiting Wealthmanagement.com.
Barron’s Methodology — Top 1200 Financial Advisors 2025
The goal is to shine a spotlight on the nation’s best financial advisors, with an eye toward raising standards in the industry. The rankings serve two distinct types of Barron’s readers. For wealth management professionals, they act as an industry score card, indicating which firms have the people and the processes in place to attract clients and gather the most assets. For investors, the rankings are a tool that can help them find a financial advisor who is right for them. We recommend selecting from advisors who have a typical account size close to your own portfolio to ensure you find an advisor set up to meet your needs.
Advisors who wish to be ranked must first pass a prequalification process aimed at ensuring that those in the mix are experienced and sophisticated advisors. Those who meet the criteria then fill out a survey with more than 100 questions about their practices. For this year’s Top 100 Women Advisors ranking, 1,094 advisors submitted data.
We verify that data with the advisors’ firms and with regulatory databases, then we apply our rankings formula to the data to generate a ranking. The formula features three major categories of calculations: 1) assets, 2) revenue, and 3) quality of practice.
In each of those categories, we do multiple subcalculations. For instance, we take into account not just the amount of assets an advisor manages, but also the type of assets—are they private wealth assets or institutional? If they’re institutional, are they for a foundation or an endowment, or are they corporate assets? We measure the growth of advisors’ practices and their client retention. We also consider a wide range of qualitative factors, including the advisors’ experience; their advanced degrees and industry designations; the size, shape, and diversity of their teams; their charitable and philanthropic work; and, of course, their compliance records.
The rankings are meant as a starting point for clients looking for an advisor—a first-pass vetting that can help investors narrow a search. Each advisor will have his or her own approach to investing, financial planning, and other services. Clients are encouraged to approach a search for an advisor the way they would a search for a doctor—interviewing multiple professionals and getting opinions from multiple third parties.
You can learn more about the methodology for the Top 1200 Financial Advisors 2025 by visiting Barron’s.
FPA and Money.com Methodology — 2025 FPA Money.com Best Women Financial Planners
In July 2025, Money published a follow-up list of the 30 best women planners in the U.S.
This stand-out group of women planners was derived from the same methodological analysis as laid out above. That is, it was based on the women’s responses to our survey of CFP professionals who are FPA members in fall 2024 followed by a tailored questionnaire in April 2025 for the women who were finalists in this specialty list. Of the approximately 1,000 planners who took our core survey, 275 were women and thus eligible for the designation.
According to the CFP Board, women are vastly underrepresented in the financial planning profession. Less than a third of planners are women, with fewer than 1 in 4 being CFPs. In our survey, women CFPs were slightly over-represented, making up 27% of respondents. Women also out-performed on our overall list of the top 80 planners, which includes 26 women (about 33%).
The 26 women present on our overall list of the best planners were automatically finalists for this follow-up list. We then brought in the next four highest-performing women planners to round out an elite group to 30 total, all of whom are highly qualified, customer-centric financial experts who serve clients of all backgrounds — not just women.
You can learn more about the methodology for the 2025 FPA Money.com Best Women Financial Planners by visiting FPA and Money.com.
Barron’s Methodology — 2024 Barron’s Top Women Advisors
The goal is to shine a spotlight on the nation’s best financial advisors, with an eye toward raising standards in the industry. The rankings serve two distinct types of Barron’s readers. For wealth management professionals, they act as an industry score card, indicating which firms have the people and the processes in place to attract clients and gather the most assets. For investors, the rankings are a tool that can help them find a financial advisor who is right for them. We recommend selecting from advisors who have a typical account size close to your own portfolio to ensure you find an advisor set up to meet your needs.
Advisors who wish to be ranked must first pass a prequalification process aimed at ensuring that those in the mix are experienced and sophisticated advisors. Those who meet the criteria then fill out a survey with more than 100 questions about their practices. For this year’s Top 100 Women Advisors ranking, 1,094 advisors submitted data.
We verify that data with the advisors’ firms and with regulatory databases, then we apply our rankings formula to the data to generate a ranking. The formula features three major categories of calculations: 1) assets, 2) revenue, and 3) quality of practice.
In each of those categories, we do multiple subcalculations. For instance, we take into account not just the amount of assets an advisor manages, but also the type of assets—are they private wealth assets or institutional? If they’re institutional, are they for a foundation or an endowment, or are they corporate assets? We measure the growth of advisors’ practices and their client retention. We also consider a wide range of qualitative factors, including the advisors’ experience; their advanced degrees and industry designations; the size, shape, and diversity of their teams; their charitable and philanthropic work; and, of course, their compliance records.
The rankings are meant as a starting point for clients looking for an advisor—a first-pass vetting that can help investors narrow a search. Each advisor will have his or her own approach to investing, financial planning, and other services. Clients are encouraged to approach a search for an advisor the way they would a search for a doctor—interviewing multiple professionals and getting opinions from multiple third parties.
You can learn more about the methodology for the 2024 Barron’s Top Women Advisors by visiting Barron’s.
Financial Advisor Magazine Methodology — FA Magazine Top RIA 2024
You can learn more about the methodology for the FA Magazine Top RIA 2024 by visiting Financial Advisor Magazine.
FPA and Money.com Methodology — 2024 FPA Money.com Best Financial Planners
You can learn more about the methodology for the 2024 FPA Money.com Best Financial Planners by visiting FPA and Money.com.
Quality Business Awards Methodology — 2023 Quality Business Award
American businesses that have won a Quality Business Award represent less than 1% of registered businesses in America. This is the seal of quality that a business has achieved an overall quality score of 95% or greater. If you have won a Quality Business Award, we congratulate you. Your dedication to providing a quality product and maintaining an overall fantastic customer experience is recognized.
We personally contact businesses once a year that have qualified for a business award in their field of business. While we do our best to ensure the judging is fair and accurate, we do under rare exceptions allow businesses to apply for reconsideration. If you would like to apply for reconsideration, please click here. We will have someone review your application within 5 business days.
Using our internal point scoring system, a business must have an exceptional overall quality rating to be considered for a Quality Business Award. The business must have outstanding customer reviews and reputation from more than 3 different platforms. Businesses that respond to customers questions and concerns with continued regularity will also be highly viewed upon. Businesses with exceptional records spanning over multiple years with zero to very low amount of complaints will score highly. Businesses that conduct their day to day efforts with the highest integrity and have shown a continuous trend of giving back to their local community and reducing their carbon footprint will be rewarded with a Quality Business Award. Each year we start the process from scratch and re-evaluate each business in America.
You can learn more about the methodology for the 2023 Quality Business Award by visiting Quality Business Awards.