Financial Times Top Financial Advisors

Ben Hider - Event Photographer based in New York City and Westchester

To come up for consideration, an advisor has to manage at least $200 million, have at least 10 years of experience, and work for (or through — the list includes some independents) a “leading” brokerage firm, according to a special section in the Financial Times newspaper published with the list yesterday.

More than 1,500 qualified advisors were graded on how much they manage, the latest annual growth of that figure, their years of experience, their number of top-rated industry certifications and, in a nod to “transparency,” the ease with which consumers can find out about them online. The result, stresses the Financial Times, isn’t a ranking but “a grouping” of industry-leading peers and, in many cases, near equals.

In a “sign of how difficult and competitive the job of financial adviser has become,” the Financial Times writes, “only 40% of the previous year’s FT 400 are on this year’s list.”

The average advisor on the list has 25 years of experience and manages a little over $1.3 billion. New York is home base to the greatest number of FT 400 advisors, followed by Houston and San Francisco (in a tie) and Boston.