Everyone wants to be a winner, so why not nominate a colleague who deserves an award - or even yourself?
Nominations are now open for the 2025 InvestmentNews Awards, taking place on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 at the Edison Ballroom in New York City.
InvestmentNews will commemorate another year of excellence, honoring outstanding professionals and firms in the wealth management industry, across 18 different categories.
The inaugural awards, which took place on June 20, brought together some of the industry’s leading names in hot competition for the top prizes, which included Regional Advisor of the Year, WealthTech Provider of the Year, Top RIA firm of the Year, and the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The biggest highlight of the evening came from the Oscars-styled gala which was decked out with a Hollywood Walk of Fame. Here, advisors strutted across a red carpet and on a 360-degree camera.
The Awards were presented in true Oscar’s fashion, with video footage featuring Excellence Awardee winners and their firms parodying scenes from beloved Hollywood films, from Top Gun to Star Wars.
Excellence awardee finalist for the Advisor of the Year in the Northeast region category, Lawrence Sprung, said this was one of personal highlights.
“One of the most amazing things was the video that the team put together for me and Jorrell [Bland], another nominee from our firm, who was up for the award as well. We put together that Men in Black video, and it was a lot of fun,” said the founder and wealth advisor of Mitlin Financial.
“It was a good way to introduce our nominations and do it in a lighthearted, funny and friendly way. We enjoyed that thoroughly,” he said.
Divam Mehta, winner of the Advisor of the Year in the southeast region category simply said, “it was an incredible honor to be nominated.”
Mehta added for him, the speeches were the highlight of the evening because “everybody has their own journey that they went through to be where they are today. People were very inspirational in providing a bit of their backstory and sharing that with us,” he said.
Additionally, being an inaugural InvestmentNews Award winner “solidified and validated all of the hard work that I've put in and the sacrifices that I’ve gone through,” Mehta said. “Not just for myself but my family as well.”
Jim Wessels, winner of the Advisor of the Year category in the Midwest region, recalls the initial surprise of learning of his nomination and the adrenaline rush of winning.
“I don't know that I was prepared for it initially,” said Wessels, partner and financial advisor at Vision Financial Group. “You get up and there's the adrenaline rush with a whole bunch of lights on you, and the crowd. You go off with everything that you were supposed to say, but you end up saying what comes in the moment, but it was good.”
Wessels said he believes the award “ends up being more of a reflection of the team and the company.”
“It was a great evening recognizing a lot of great people,” Sprung said. “Obviously, everybody wants to win, but everybody can't win; it was just a privilege to be nominated. I look forward to seeing who the 2025 slated candidates are.”
“I'm just really grateful that InvestmentNews takes the time to recognize people who are doing great work in the industry,” said Jenna Biancavilla, principal and senior wealth advisor at Pearl Capital Management and excellence awardee finalist in the Advisor of the Year southwest region.
“When you're at the top of a firm, there’s a lot of people under you who need you but aren't necessarily taking the time to recognize you. Having someone like InvestmentNews that’s taking the time to give us that recognition is really special.”
Nominations are being accepted until Feb. 14, 2025.
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