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The Power 20

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The InvestmentNews Power 20

Which individuals will have the greatest impact on financial advisers and the overall industry in 2012? InvestmentNews highlights the 20 most powerful people of 2012, according to our editors and reporters. Illustration: Fred Harper

Individuals of influence

See the Power 20 in pictures

The power players

Rudy Adolf

Rudy Adolf said he became convinced that RIAs were the future of the investment management business back in the late 1990s, when he was running a traditional brokerage firm.

Jack Herstein

State securities regulators sometimes must feel like schoolyard weaklings, constantly being picked on by the bigger guys in the political playgrounds of Washington.

Valerie Brown

Consolidation among independent broker-dealers is inevitable - and the inability or unwillingness of firms to stay open is benefiting her firm.

Phylis C. Borzi

The financial services industry may have thought it notched a win when Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis Borzi pulled a proposed regulation that would have expanded the definition of �fiduciary.�

Jed Rakoff

The Federal judge shows no signs of letting up on the SEC, refusing to rubber-stamp its proposed settlements, questioning whether its policies are in the public's interests.

Dale Brown

If Dale Brown were a movie producer instead of a lobbyist for independent broker-dealers, he might be preparing a sequel.

John Thiel

When John Thiel took over as head of U.S. Wealth Management for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in April, the 15,000 or so Merrill Lynch financial advisers breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Spencer Bachus

After regaining the House majority in last year's elections, Republicans haven't been shy about raising their newfound voices.

Darren Tedesco

No matter how you slice the data, Commonwealth Financial Network LLP comes out as one of the top independent broker-dealers in the nation � and a big part of that success has been its technology.

Shlomo Bernartzi

Shlomo Benartzi has always had a knack for figuring out what motivates people, even when he was in grade school.

Ben Bernanke

If Ben Bernanke thought 2011 was challenging, wait until the presidential campaign heats up in 2012 and the rhetoric really starts to fly.

Preet Bharara

As U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara has made insider trading a top priority of his office.

Warren Buffett

When your name is Warren E. Buffett, just about anything you say or do is going to draw attention.

Michael Hasenstab

Michael Hasenstab can crunch numbers with the best of them. And the lead manager of the Templeton Global Bond Fund has a doctorate in economics to prove it.

Richard Ketchum

Finra chief executive Richard Ketchum has a lot on his plate � a situation for which he has no one to blame but himself.

Robert Khuzami

Robert S. Khuzami has put investment advisers on notice that he has them in his cross hairs.

Michael Kitces

His day job is director of research for Pinnacle Advisory Group Inc., but probably more people know Michael Kitces for his prolific writing on the art and science of financial planning.

Angela Merkel

As leaders of Europe's linchpin economy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds the fate of the global economy in her hands.

Political and financial activists

Two populist movements � the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street � have the potential to influence the 2012 presidential campaign and its outcome.

Mary Schapiro

An appearance before the Senate Banking Committee this month summed up the kind of year Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro is having.