Every awards season has its breakout class, and wealth management's has officially arrived.
InvestmentNews has unveiled its third annual Rising Stars report, honoring the best wealth managers and advisors under 40 in the USA. This year's class spans independent RIAs, national broker-dealers, multi-family offices, and wealthtech platforms – and its standouts have built their careers not on stock-picking bravado, but on a rarer gift: taking something genuinely complicated and handing it back to clients with nothing lost in translation.
The 2026 Rising Stars were selected through a nationwide nomination process that opened in May. Nominees had to be 40 or younger as of October 1, 2026, and committed to a career in wealth management. Each was evaluated on their current role, key achievements, career goals, and contributions to the industry, with recommendations from managers and senior industry professionals also taken into account before an independent panel of industry leaders made the final call.
The timing could hardly be more dramatic. According to Cerulli, roughly 35.3% of advisors – representing 40.1% of industry assets under advisement – expect to retire within the next decade, a wave Cerulli estimates will touch nearly $14.5 trillion in assets. Of those retiring advisors, 27% say they are unsure of their succession plans.
For Andrew Blake, associate director, wealth management at Cerulli Associates, that gap puts the next generation front and center.
"The next generation of advisors must forge relationships with the next generation of clients to ensure a seamless transition that keeps the relationship in place," he says.
Lynn Chen-Zhang, CEO of Zhang Financial, cautions that the opportunity comes with no guarantees. "This generational transition creates an extraordinary opportunity for younger advisors, but inheriting client relationships should never be viewed as automatic," she says. "Clients need to develop confidence in the next generation well before a transition occurs."
In Elkhorn, Nebraska, Charles Heuring, founded IAMS Wealth Management in 2016 with no clients and no brand recognition. A decade later, the firm supports more than 50 independent advisors nationwide, overseeing roughly $500 million in assets under advisement.
"It's been hard to trust other people to kind of carry the torch for me, but it's been fun seeing them embrace that," he said. "I'm starting to see the benefits of scale."
Among the 2026 Rising Stars, InvestmentNews is proud to shine the spotlight on:
Every breakout class needs a discerning jury. The 2026 Rising Stars were determined by an independent panel of industry leaders:
InvestmentNews' 2026 Rising Stars report is supported by the California Alternative Investments Association and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
To see all recipients of the InvestmentNews Rising Stars recognition for 2026, visit the full report.
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