Top State Wealth Management Teams 2023

Why use a wealth advisor just to invest money?

Everyday wellness consultants strive to add value to the families they serve—in turn, cultivating deeper and deeper relationships. And as families bring their counselors deeper into the complexities of their lives, the best counselors respond with teams of specialists to provide personalized service.

Service offerings are long, including: wealth transfer strategies, liability management, charitable giving, concierge services, geriatric services, high-end accounting, family management, career planning, coordinating family meetings, family education. And, oh yes, investment strategy and execution.

Best in the state

Our national rankings (Top Advisors, Top Teams, etc.) are published annually, but they don’t tell the whole story: most of these advisors and teams are concentrated around larger money centers like New York and San Francisco. We found great advisors in all markets – Alabama, Iowa and other states with less concentration of wealth.

We believe that customers are often better served by a local dealership. For example, a Houston-based investor who made his fortune in oil may prefer a local advisor with experience in that sector; a tech entrepreneur may want an advisor well versed in startups and financing; or the farmer can seek an advisor with experience in the futures markets. Many of the clients we speak to say they consider their advisors and teams to be part of their family, so it’s nice to have them around.

I am looking for the best wealth management teams

Where does the search for the right team begin?

SHOOK is here to help. As the only consulting research firm in the world specializing in quality, SHOOK performs extensive due diligence as the basis for its rankings.

Disclosure: SHOOK is completely independent and objective and does not receive compensation in exchange for ranking.

What qualities does SHOOK look for?

For starters, existing advisor and team rankings focus solely on the numbers – total assets under management, revenue, number of employees, etc. But how does it help to know that one team makes more money than another?

Teams have become highly specialized and focus more on certain types of customers to offer the most personalized service. This requires careful examination of the entire team, from its purpose (not just its mission) to its culture and skill set. In other words, the effort involved in analyzing a team becomes exponential compared to evaluating a single advisor. So we changed our methodology and expanded our process, such as expanding the number of individuals per team we interviewed (this happens over the phone, virtually and in person).

When we meet with these teams that are starting to look more like stand-alone businesses, we look closely at management and senior executives, as they tend to dictate each customer’s experience from the top down. Whenever we meet with a team or individual advisor for a due diligence meeting, we always think, “Would we recommend this team (or individual) to a friend or family member?” Quality always comes first: if we’re going to engage a team (or advisor) in our ranking, we need to make sure that they are all of the highest quality.

High net worth and private wealth teams

Because different levels of wealth tend to require different types of services, wealth management broadly categorizes between high net worth and personal wealth. For the purposes of our ranking, high-net-worth teams primarily focus on households with accounts under $10 million—at least to begin with; however, these teams are fully competent to work with much more affluent clients, and most do. Private wealth teams typically focus on households with accounts of $10 million and above, although their account minimums may be much lower and that there is usually no minimum for related household accounts, such as children.

Ranking algorithm

The Forbes The ranking of America’s Best Wealth Management Teams, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria obtained primarily through telephone, virtual and in-person due diligence interviews and quantitative data. These qualitative criteria focus on learning each team’s best practices – service models, investment process, team structure, skill set, etc. The algorithm also weighs factors such as revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to different client objectives and lack of audited data. None Forbes nor do SHOOK receive a fee in exchange for ranking.

(For the full list and more, visit The best wealth management teams in the state; advisors can fill out a survey about upcoming rankings of www.SHOOKresearch.com.)

Summary of the study (from January 2023)

We don’t want 300,000 nominations, so we set thresholds to minimize the amount we get:

• 37,846 Councilor nominations were received
• 8,000 team nominations received
• 16,754 total telephone interviews
• A total of 3,391 personal interviews at counselor locations
• A total of 1,357 virtual interviews

The SHOCK process

SHOOK scours the financial services industry for nominations. SHOOK accepts advisors who meet predetermined minimum thresholds and acceptable compliance records. To date, SHOOK has received nearly 37,846 nominations of advisors who meet SHOOK’s thresholds.

Unlike other advisor rankings, SHOOK is not a “robo-ranker” – numbers like production and assets don’t tell the whole story, especially when much of the data is self-reported. SHOOK Research creates rankings of role models – teams that lead the way in offering best practices and delivering a high-quality customer experience. A focus on both quantitative and qualitative factors, including telephone and in-person meetings, is imperative.

SHOOK Research is the only ranked firm that interviews teams and advisors over the phone and in person at the firm’s location.

Basic requirements

• A minimum of 7 years as an advisor to at least 1 team member
• Fully working as a team for a minimum of 1 year
• Complete an online survey
• Over 50% of the business must be with individuals
• Acceptable compliance record

Quantitative indicators

• Revenue/Production; weights assigned to each
• Assets under management – and quality of those assets – both custody and detailed review of assets held
• Customer related data such as retention rates
• Portfolio performance is not a factor; audited returns among consultants are rare, and different client goals provide different returns

Quality indicators

• Telephone, virtual and in-person meetings with teams (if an in-person meeting cannot take place, exceptions are considered where the interview will take place after publication of rankings).
• Compliance records. Some “damages” can be overlooked (eg, a company or product malfunction outside the scope of the consultant’s due diligence; the older the bang, the less we look). Because there are many gray areas, the SHOOK team is willing to listen to a company that is willing to stand behind the advisor with written support.
• Teams that deliver a complete customer experience: service model; investment process; fee structure; range of services (e.g. liabilities and other wealth management services)
• Credentials (years of service can serve as a proxy)
• Use of team and team dynamics
• Community involvement
• Discussions with management, peers, competitive peers

U4/Compliance Issues

The following conditions will be taken into account in order to reduce the severity of violations:

• Violations that are dismissed or closed without action
• The complaint arose from a product, service or advice initiated by a previous advisor or other or former team member
• Length of time since the appeal
• Complaints related to product failure not related to investment advice (certain limited partnerships, adjusted rate securities, etc.)
• Complaints that have been settled (must be proven) to satisfy a client who has remained with the consultant for at least one year after the settlement date
• Complaints that are proven unfounded
• Actions taken as a result of administrative error or failure of the firm

Once an advisor’s compliance rating falls into an acceptable category, the following conditions must be met:

• The advisor’s rating must be among the highest SHOOK quality measures, including an in-person interview
• Letters of recommendation

Ranking algorithm

The algorithm is designed to fairly compare the business practices of a large group of teams based on quantitative and qualitative elements. Data is weighted to ensure that dynamics such as preferred “best practices”, business models, recent business activity, etc. are prioritized. Each variable is graduated and represents a specific value for each measured component. This data is fed into an algorithm that measures thousands of teams against each other.

Shocking revelations

SHOOK is completely independent and objective and does not receive remuneration from advisers, companies, media or any other source in exchange for a place in a ranking. SHOOK is funded through conferences, publications and research partners. Because each investor has unique needs, investors should carefully select the right advisor for their own situation and perform their own due diligence. SHOOK’s surveys and rankings provide opinions on how to choose the right financial advisor and are not indicative of future results or representative of any client’s experience. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to different client objectives and lack of audited data. Remember that past performance is no indication of future performance.

For more information, please see www.SHOOKresearch.com.

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