As seen in
Baltimore Five Star award winner

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Elaine Shanley, CFP®, AIF®, CDFA®

Partner
FinanceForward LLC
1910 Towne Centre Blvd Ste 250
Annapolis, MD, MD 21401
Office: 410-842-6381
elaine.shanley@financeforward.me
www.financeforward.me

Professional Approach

Elaine Shanley is a partner of her firm.  She has 26+ years of experience as a financial advisor. She is proficient in all areas of wealth management and is licensed for life, health, disability, and long term care insurance. As a Certified Financial Planner® Practitioner, she holds ethics and professionalism in high regard. She has also earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designation as well as the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® (CDFA®) designation, and is recognized as a Woman’s Choice Award recipient for Financial Advisor in multiple years. Elaine earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from the Notre Dame University of Maryland, and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Baltimore. Elaine is extremely community oriented, and involved as: an International Rotary member and past president; graduate of Leadership of Anne Arundel and Past President of Anne Arundel Women Giving Together. 


*The Women’s Choice Award® by WomenCertified Inc. is a recognition award for advisors who provide quality service to their female clients. The Award is based on 17 objective criteria associated with providing quality service to women clients such as credentials, experience and a favorable regulatory history. Financial advisors may have paid a basic program fee to cover the cost of comprehensive review and client survey.

This award was issued on 1/1/24 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 4/10/23 through 10/31/23. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2,126 Baltimore-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 256 (12% of candidates) were named 2024 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2023: 2126, 256, 12%, 1/1/23, 4/18/22 - 10/21/22; 2022: 2078, 260, 13%, 1/1/22, 5/10/21 - 11/12/21; 2021: 2029, 237, 12%, 1/1/21, 4/27/20 - 10/30/20; 2020: 1898, 234, 12%, 1/1/20, 4/1/19 - 11/13/19; 2019: 1865, 265, 14%, 1/1/19, 4/19/18 - 11/7/18; 2018: 1759, 232, 13%, 1/1/18, 4/21/17 - 11/6/17; 2017: 1093, 355, 32%, 12/1/16, 3/26/16 - 11/11/16; 2016: 1215, 356, 29%, 12/1/15, 6/16/15 - 11/9/15; 2015: 1749, 412, 24%, 1/1/15, 6/16/14 - 11/9/14; 2014: 1484, 395, 27%, 1/1/14, 6/16/13 - 11/9/13; 2013: 1490, 448, 30%, 1/1/13, 6/16/12 - 11/9/12; 2012: 1470, 262, 18%, 1/1/12, 6/16/11 - 11/9/11.
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Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Private Advisor Group, a registered investment advisor. Private Advisor Group and FinanceForward, LLC are separate entities from LPL Financial. 

*Winners appearing on this page do not pay a fee to be considered or to win the Five Star Award. Professionals with a digital profile have paid a promotional fee.
Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The 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 FSP or this publication. 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 FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.