Five Star award winner Anouchka M. Balog, CFP

PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

AWARDS

Five Star Wealth Manager award winner 2019-2025
2025 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams #11 Sourthern California - Private Wealth
2024-2025 Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State #5 Southern California - High Net Worth
(2007-2022 & 2024) Barron’s Financial Magazine as one of the Top 100 Women Financial Advisors in the country
2023-2025 Forbes America's Top Women Wealth Advisors

ACCREDITATIONS

CFP
NFL Players Association - Registered Institutional Player Financial Advisor
https://advisor.morganstanley.com/the-balog-group

Source: Forbes (Jan 2025) 2025 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams ranking awarded in 2025. This ranking was determined based on an evaluation process conducted by SHOOK Research LLC (the research company) in partnership with Forbes (the publisher) for the period from 3/31/23–3/31/24. Neither Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC nor its Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors paid a fee to SHOOK Research LLC, for placement on its rankings. This ranking is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings to evaluate each Financial Advisor qualitatively, a major component of a ranking algorithm that includes client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations, and quantitative criteria, including assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research LLC and may not be representative of any one client’s experience; investors must carefully choose the right Financial Advisor or team for their own situation and perform their own due diligence. This ranking is not indicative of the Financial Advisor’s future performance. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is not affiliated with SHOOK Research LLC or Forbes. For more information, see www.SHOOKresearch.com.
© 2025 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC.

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This award was issued on 05/01/2025 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 07/31/2024 through 12/31/2024. 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. 2712 Orange County-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 117 (4 % of candidates) were named 2025 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2024: 2,682, 140, 5%, 5/1/24, 7/25/23 - 1/31/24; 2023: 2,576, 160, 6.2%, 5/1/23, 7/25/22 - 2/10/23; 2022: 2482, 143, 6%, 5/1/22, 8/30/21 - 3/4/22; 2021: 2398, 144, 6%, 5/1/21, 8/17/20 - 3/12/21; 2020: 2320, 152, 7%, 5/1/20, 8/1/19 - 3/13/20; 2019: 2469, 187, 8%, 5/1/19, 8/13/18 - 3/11/19; 2018: 2423, 144, 6%, 5/1/18, 6/21/17 - 3/16/18; 2017: 1790, 280, 16%, 5/1/17, 8/24/16 - 2/24/17; 2016: 1383, 312, 23%, 2/1/16, 8/19/15 - 1/15/16; 2015: 2010, 351, 17%, 3/1/15, 8/30/14 - 1/30/15; 2014: 3489, 302, 9%, 3/1/14, 8/30/13 - 1/30/14; 2013: 2293, 415, 18%, 3/1/13, 8/30/12 - 1/30/13; 2012: 1760, 255, 14%, 3/1/12, 8/30/11 - 1/31/12.

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Source: Forbes.com. Forbes America's Top Women Wealth Advisors ranking awarded in 2023-2025 & Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In- State ranking awarded in 2024-2025. Each ranking was based on an evaluation process conducted by SHOOK Research LLC (the research company) in partnership with Forbes (the publisher). This evaluation process concluded in in September of the previous year the award was issued having commenced in September of the year before that. Neither Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC nor its Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors paid a fee to SHOOK Research LLC to obtain or use the ranking. This ranking is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings to evaluate each advisor qualitatively, a major component of a ranking algorithm that includes client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations, and quantitative criteria, including assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research LLC and this ranking may not be representative of any one client's experience. This ranking is not indicative of the Financial Advisor's future performance. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is not affiliated with SHOOK Research LLC or Forbes. For more information, see www.SHOOKresearch.com.

2007-2022 & 2024 Barron's Top 100 Women Financial Advisors
Source: Barrons.com (June 2007-2022 & 2024 Barron's Top 100 Women Financial Advisors ranking awarded in 2007-2022 & 2024. Each ranking was determined based on an evaluation process conducted by Barron's which concluded in March of the year the award was given having commenced in March of the previous year. Neither Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC nor its Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors paid a fee to Barron's to obtain or use the ranking. This ranking is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings to evaluate each advisor qualitatively, a major component of a ranking algorithm that includes client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations, and quantitative criteria, including assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion. Rankings are based on the opinions of Barron's and this ranking may not be representative of any one client's experience. This ranking is not indicative of the Financial Advisor's future performance. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is not affiliated with Barron's. Barron's is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Company, L.P. All rights reserved.

CFP Board owns the marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the U.S.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC. CRC 4515040 05/25

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.