2012 Five Star Professional
Five Star Professional conducts research to help consumers with the important decision of selecting a service professional. The Five Star award is presented to service professionals, such as wealth managers and real estate agents, in more than 45 markets in the U.S., and now in Canada. The Five Star award goes to service professionals who provide quality services to clients.
Five Star Professional:
• Conducts comprehensive research
• Recognizes service professionals
• Works with media partners, including leading city/regional magazines
• Helps award winners gain recognition
We make the market-specific research results available in city/regional magazines and on fivestarprofessional.com.
Five Star Professional also provides award winners with the opportunity to expand their presence in the magazine and celebrate their award with customized marketing tools.
Click here to see the 2012 Wealth Managers winners
Five Star Wealth Managers scored highest in overall satisfaction
The Five Star Wealth Manager Award Program and its research process adhere to the guidelines established within the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 regarding third-party recognition.
In each geographic market the Program is conducted, QMI Research administers a survey, by mail and phone, to approximately one in four high-net-worth households and registered financial services representatives (QMI Research may adjust these guidelines in subsequent surveys based on prior year sample). Respondents are asked to name and evaluate up to three wealth managers. For the purposes of the research, wealth managers are those individuals who help their clients prepare a financial plan and/or implement aspects of their financial plan. The services offered by wealth managers include business planning, estate planning, financial planning, insurance, investments, taxation and trust services.
Each client respondent is asked to evaluate only wealth managers whom they have worked with and each peer respondent is asked to evaluate only wealth managers whom they know through personal experience. Client respondents evaluate wealth managers on nine criteria: customer service, integrity, knowledge/expertise, communication, value for fee charged, whether the wealth manager meets client financial objectives, post sale service, quality of recommendations and overall satisfaction. Peer respondents evaluate wealth managers based on three criteria: integrity, knowledge/expertise and overall reputation. The questionnaires are structured to make it equally easy for an individual to give negative or positive responses regarding each wealth manager evaluated.
QMI Research scores the survey responses, including all responses both negative and positive, to determine which wealth managers meet the identified standards, and screens wealth managers based on their regulatory compliance history as reported by FINRA, the SEC, the State Board of Accountancy and the State Bar. Only wealth managers with five years of experience in the financial services, accounting or legal professions are considered. Only FINRA licensees, IARs, CPAs and state licensed attorneys with five years of experience in the financial services, accounting or legal professions are eligible to appear on the final list of
Five Star Wealth Managers.
Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be included in the evaluation process or to be named as a Five Star Wealth Manager.
The final list of Five Star Wealth Managers includes the wealth managers, of those evaluated, in the local market that scored highest in overall satisfaction; representing less than 7% of the wealth managers in the local market.
