CPA Wealth Provider is proud to present the fourth annual financial planning awards honoring CPA/financial planning firms, broker/dealers, and financial planning software vendors as well as providing special Awards of Excellence to those who are in the vanguard of leadership in financial planning. The winners are those firms or companies that have taken the lead through innovation, efficiency, initiative, or growth in the financial planning area.
The chief editors of Accounting Today, CPA Wealth Provider, Practical Accountant, and WebCPA, judged the 50+ nominations received. The winners are detailed below, while honorable mentions and information about the 2007 awards is available at www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=23015.
CPA/Financial Planning Firms
Braver Wealth Management
Newton, Mass.
This firm takes care of their clients' financial lives far beyond just managing their investments. Many firms keep clients up to date on changes in tax laws via email, but Braver goes above and beyond what clients traditionally expect from a CPA/wealth management firm. It periodically sends out Opportunity Alerts, focused emails to clients with out-of-the-box, interesting and helpful information targeted at just the clients for whom the information is relevant.CCR Wealth Management
Boston, Mass.
Over the past six years, this firm has grown from a start up entity to a team of 12 that manages more than $400 million in private client and retirement plan assets. Along with its past growth, it continues to grow the practice at some 20 percent per year. Its growth has also been driven through client referrals, and it has a 99 percent client retention rate. Most of its clients have been with the organization for three to four years.Advertisement
Rowling, Dold & Associates
San Diego, Calif.
The firm manages approximately $200 million in assets on a "fee-only" basis. It limits its practice to a targeted market thereby better directing its resources to benefit clients and maintain profitability It has a focused approach to truly know each client personally. It is one of the first CPA/financial planning firms to offer full service "fee only" financial advice including financial planning, tax preparation and planning, and investment management.Russell & Company
Fairborn, Ohio
Russell & Company, family owned and operated, has formed a "Dream Team" to handle client's financial planning aspects. This team meets weekly, discusses topics at hand, and even coaches one another. With a unique business model, the firm has been able to add more and more members to its client family, by continually staying in the public eye as retirement specialists. In 2005, the client family grew by 60 percent and at press time, it has already reached another 36 percent.Weaver and Tidwell Financial Advisors
Fort Worth, Tex.
The firm has instituted an Executive Perks Program that is an integrated financial advisory service that frees their executives from the worry of their personal financial futures. The target markets are business owners and executives, CFOs, and human resources leaders, clients and prospective clients, publicly and privately held companies. It is modeled after programs offered to executives by Fortune 100 companies and is an effective way to make personalized financial planning and implementation available to today's busy executive.
Broker/Dealers
1st Global
Dallas, Tex.
The company became the first broker/dealer to win the prestigious Dalbar Award for Service Excellence three years in a row. In addition, its most significant initiative in 2006 was the publication of the Matrix Third Edition, a compendium of 1st Global's accumulated intellectual property, combining intellectual and academic sources with the day-to-day, hands-on experience of hundreds of wealth management firms in nearly all 50 states. An Online Matrix has also been launched.
