Barron’s – Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams
Barron’s has ranked Cassaday & Company, Inc. one of the Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams for 2022. Formerly acknowledging only 50 teams, the list was expanded in 2021 to include a total of 100 teams. This list is Barron’s ranking of wealth advisory teams that specialize in serving individuals and families and is the acknowledgment that, as the industry evolves, teams have become more important for clients over an individual advisor. Cassaday is thrilled to have been listed as a Top 100 Private Wealth Management Team in 2021, and as a Top 50 Private Wealth Management Team in 2020, and 2019 as well.
Cassaday & Company, Inc. is honored to receive this recognition from Barron’s. Our firm has designed a culture that encourages collaboration and practices radical inclusion daily. Comprised of 13 departments and almost 80 employees, our team is constantly working towards the same goal: exceeding client expectations. In working collaboratively, the culture created is more robust and less vulnerable when it is not dependent on one individual. Our team approach has been vital to our success over the past 28 years.
This ranking serves as a further indicator that the wealth management industry is ever evolving. “Advisory firms are making the support of those teams a top priority. Further, where clients once assessed their advisors mainly on portfolio-performance metrics, competent investment management now is regarded more or less as a given. If advisors want to attract and retain today’s clients, they need to demonstrate excellence in areas beyond investing, including tax management, trust and estate planning, family governance, [and] philanthropy.”1 Our firm has adapted to develop and expand its suite of services over the years to include a total of 13 departments led by subject-matter experts who serve our clients in-house.
As the profession at large moves towards a team-based approach, pressing issues within the financial advisory industry are exposed as well. A recent white paper by Morgan Stanley showed that the best teams were better credentialed and more equipped to address overall weaknesses in the industry, such as succession-planning.1 According to Barron’s, “Building teams addresses a pair of pressing issues within the industry, both of them related to demographics. The first is the aging population of elite-level advisors. With the average advisor pushing 60 years old (up from 52 in 20122), consumers should ask what would happen if the advisor weren’t able to continue. In one respect this is a big positive, as investing perspective and experience with a variety of market conditions are exactly what clients demand from an elite advisor. What’s alarming, however, is how few advisors have installed any plans to replace themselves in the event of a tragedy or retirement.”3
The topic of succession planning is not new to our industry, but merely 20% of advisory firms have a plan for operational continuity of their enterprise in the event of the death or disability of current leadership. Cassaday is proud to be among the few who have planned for such an event.
Our succession plan agreement, in place since 2006, provides for an orderly and seamless transfer of ownership and governance in the event of the absence of current leadership. In addition to this formal succession plan, the average age of an employee at our firm is 36, and this is by design. Our highly trained and experienced staff has been intentionally structured to provide you and your family with a lifetime of advice and guidance, assuring your financial plan spans decades and generation.
For the full Barron’s 2022 Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams list, click here.
To view the methodology behind the rankings, click here.
To read more on all of Cassaday & Company, Inc.’s awards and recognitions, click here.
2 https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-power-of-financial-advisory-teams-51555720426
