This award was issued on 11/01/2025 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 02/24/2025 through 08/01/2025. 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. 1353 Richmond-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 63 (5 % 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: 1,223, 74, 6%, 11/1/24, 2/13/24 - 8/30/24; 2023: 1,095, 67, 6%, 11/1/23, 2/13/23 - 8/31/23; 2022: 1041, 69, 7%, 11/1/22, 2/28/22 - 8/26/22; 2021: 937, 67, 7%, 11/1/21, 2/8/21 - 9/10/21. 2020: 873, 69, 8%, 11/1/20, 3/2/20 - 9/25/20. 2019: 979, 77, 8%, 11/1/19, 2/25/19 - 10/7/19. 2018: 939, 94, 10%,11/1/18, 3/16/18-10/4/18. 2017: 771, 93, 12%, 11/1/17, 3/15/17-10/6/17. 2016: 687, 144, 21%, 10/1/16, 5/6/16-10/4/16. 2015: 710, 190, 27%, 10/1/15, 5/6/15-9/30/15. 2014: 1242, 187, 15%, 10/1/14, 5/6/14-9/30/14. 2013: 802, 190, 24%, 10/1/13, 5/6/13-9/30/13. 2012: 663, 163, 25%, 10/1/12, 5/6/12-9/30/12.
Certified Financial Planner ®(CFP)
The CFP Designation is issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. To earn the credential, each candidate must have a bachelor’s degree (or higher) from an accredited college or university and three years of full-time personal financial planning experience. In addition, candidates must take the CFP Certification examination and complete a CFP-board registered program or hold an accepted designation, degree or license. Every two years, a CFP practitioner must complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education. More information regarding the CFP designation can be found at www.cfp.net.
Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA)
The CPWA® designation signifies that an individual has met initial and on-going experience, ethical, education, and examination requirements for the professional designation, which is centered on private wealth management topics and strategies for high-net-worth clients. The designation is administered through The Investments & Wealth Institute (“IWI”) formerly known as the Investment Management Consultants Association. Prerequisites for the CPWA® designation are a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or one of the following designations or licenses: CIMA®, CIMC®, CFA®, CFP®, ChFC®, or CPA license; have an acceptable regulatory history as evidenced by FINRA Form U-4 or other regulatory requirements and five years of professional client centered experience in financial services or a related industry. CPWA® designees have completed a rigorous educational process that includes self-study requirements, an in-class education component, and successful completion of a comprehensive examination. CPWA® designees are required to adhere to the institute’s Code of Professional Responsibility and Rules and Guidelines for Use of the Marks. CPWA® designees must report 40 hours of continuing education credits, including two ethics hours, every 2 years to maintain the certification.
Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®)
The CAP® is offered by The American College. To receive the CAP® designation, you must successfully complete all courses in your selected program, meet experience requirements and ethics standards, and agree to comply with The American College Code of Ethics and Procedures.
The Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) designation is obtained by completing 3 core courses and a final exam for each course. As a prerequisite the IAR must have 3 years of full time business experience within the 5 years preceding the awarding of the designation. This designation requires 15 hours of continuing education every 2 years.
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.
