Lifelong Staff

The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. Award does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. Once awarded, wealth managers may purchase additional profile ad space or promotional products. The Five Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their client’s assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by Five Star Professional or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future. For more information on the Five Star award and the research/selection methodology, go to fivestarprofessional.com. 1,814 Pittsburgh-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 233 (13% of candidates) were named 2021 Five Star Wealth Managers. 2020: 1,886 considered, 224 winners; 2019: 1,667 considered,. 251 winner; 2018: 1,653 considered, 227 winners; 2017: 1,133 considered, 277 winners. 2016: 1,064 considered,423 winners; 2015: 1,494 considered, 442 winners; 2014: 1,721 considered, 458 winners; 2013: 1,777 considered, 545 winners; 2012: 1,863 considered, 493 winners.

*CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and CFP (with flame logo)® and CRPS®, CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANS SPECIALIST are certification marks owned by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. The College for Financial Planning does not certify individuals to use the CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ or CFP (with flame logo)® or CRPS® certification marks. CFP® and CRPS® certification is granted only by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards to those persons who, in addition to completing an education requirement such as a CFP® Board Registered Program, have met its ethics, experience, and examination requirements.

*AIF®, The Accredited Investment Fiduciary Designation. The AIF designation signifies specialized knowledge of fiduciary responsibility and the ability to implement policies and procedures that meet a defined standard of care. The designation is the culmination of a rigorous training program, which includes a comprehensive, closed-book final examination under the supervision of a proctor, and agreement to abide by the Center’s Code of Ethics and Conduct Standards. On an ongoing basis, completion of continuing education and adherence to the Code of Ethics and Conduct Standards are required to maintain the AIF designation.