The InvestmentNews Awards returned to the Edison Ballroom in Times Square on Wednesday, drawing the financial services industry's top advisors and firms for an evening of red carpets, recognition, and laughs.
“When I look at the atmosphere of where we're at on this, the Edison Ballroom is phenomenal, it feels very upscale and feels like a real award show,” said Todd Bertucci, EVP of technology sales at Orion, which won WealthTech Provider of the Year. “And the fact that we had to go through a huge crowd of World Cuppers to get here, even cooler.”
Indeed there were six World Cup matches played the day of the awards and New York/New Jersey is preparing to host the final on July 19. David Pickler of Pickler Wealth Advisors made the trip in from Tennessee and took home the Advisor of the Year award for the southeast region.
“The energy of New York is always incredible, my favorite city of the world,” said Pickler. “But to come here at this time with the world coming to New York as part of the World Cup, and then you have these phenomenal advisors and stakeholders in financial services coming to New York to be a part of what we can do to truly be significant in the lives of our communities, it's humbling.”
InvestmentNews' own Gregg Greenberg emceed the evening, which opened with Clark Capital Management Group taking home the Prudential Advisors Award for Asset Manager of the Year. Clark Capital Management Group CEO Brendan Clark also won The Thrivent Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service.
“At Clark Capital, we put the advisor and the client front and center of every single decision that we make, that is first and foremost,” said Brendan Clark. “Second for us is taking care of our people, because our people take care of the advisors and clients we serve.”
One of the night's more emotional moments came when Mary Beth Franklin of RetirePro LLC received the Lifetime Achievement in the Wealth Management Industry award. Franklin has become a certified financial planner and leading expert on social security after being a financial journalist for more than 40 years including time as an InvestmentNews editor for over a decade.
“As a journalist, my goal was always to take complicated information and make it understandable and useful,” Franklin said after her win. “When I discovered there were secret ways that people could claim Social Security to maximize their lifetime benefits, it was a goldmine. This is what people wanted to know about.”
The regional Advisor of the Year honors went to four practitioners recognized for standout client service across the country. Hilary Hendershott of Hendershott Wealth Management won in the West, the aforementioned David Pickler of Pickler Wealth Advisors took the Southeast, Matt Walker of Fortitude Family Office claimed the Southwest, and Andrew Richardson of Brighton Jones was named the Northeast winner.
“I've been here over the last three awards, and I have lost this exact one. So to win this year is just so meaningful. It's meaningful to our business, and I'm so excited for our team,” said Walker.
Imade Iyamu of Arusha Wealth won the Osaic Award for NextGen Advisor of the Year. For the second year in a row, Destiny Family Office founder Tom Ruggie won Advisor of the Year for the Alternative Investments category.
On the institutional side, Cambridge Investment Research was named Broker-Dealer of the Year on a busy night for the firm as CEO Amy Webber also took home the Park Avenue Wealth Management Award for CEO of the Year.
Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions won Custodian of the Year, while Concurrent Investment Advisors won the Nasdaq Award for RIA Firm of the Year.
“It's great to get the recognition. It's extremely humbling, especially to be in this group of competitors that we were stacked up against, there's some phenomenal firms on that list, a lot that we admire hugely,” said Concurrent CEO Nate Lenz. “From our perspective, it's a testament to the caliber of people within our organization, the advisors that we serve, and their clients.”
Credent Wealth Management was named Employer of Choice, and RFG Advisory swept the back-office categories, winning both Compliance Team of the Year and Marketing Team of the Year.
The evening also recognized advisors championing causes that drive positive community impact. Longwave Financial’s Nathan Munits won the award for Advisor of the Year in the ESG/Responsible Investing category.
“For many years, I was a pretty typical financial advisor,” said Munits. "Over the years I realized how generous my clients were with their time, with their philanthropy, and they really inspired me to wear my own views on my sleeve. They gave me the courage to pivot.”
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