How DC’s Top Financial Advisor Lists Actually Work: An Insider’s Guide to Washington, DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia Rankings

Barry Glassman, CFP

Barry Glassman, CFP®

His vision for starting GWS was to deliver investment strategies and wealth management services typically available at the highest levels of wealth. Today, clients benefit from these sophisticated financial services targeted to meet their unique needs.

If you’re searching for a top financial advisor in Washington, DC, looking for wealth management firms in Northern Virginia, or seeking financial planning services in Maryland, you’ve probably noticed something interesting: the same firms can rank differently across various “best advisor” lists. As a financial advisor who has appeared on many of these lists, I’ll pull back the curtain and show you exactly how each ranking works—and what that means for your advisor search. In full disclosure, I’ve also included detailed methodology for each top financial advisor list below.

Local Recognition: The Power of Peer Reviews in the DC Metro Area

When you see a top financial advisor featured in Washingtonian or Northern Virginia Magazine, you’re looking at something unique: peer recommendations from other top financial professionals. Think of it as asking a doctor which physician they’d trust with their own family’s health.

How Washingtonian Selects DC’s Top Financial Advisors

Washingtonian asks hundreds of local financial professionals a compelling question: “Who would you trust with your own money?” This peer-review process identifies 375 top advisors across the DC metro area, from Georgetown to Dupont Circle to Capitol Hill. What makes this interesting is that smaller, independent firms often perform well because they actively collaborate with other professionals on behalf of their clients. Since the early 2000’s, the Washingtonian Top Financial Advisor list segregates fee-only fiduciary advisors from independent advisors, who may earn commissions or kick-backs from products they sell.

Washingtonian has been offering top advisor lists so consistently that they even came out with their Top Wealth Advisor Hall of Fame, which names 47 professionals who have been named in every survey since 2009.

Northern Virginia and Bethesda Magazine’s Top Financial Advisor Selection Process

These publications take a similar approach, asking local professionals who they’d recommend to friends and family. Bethesda Magazine focuses specifically on Montgomery County and Upper Northwest DC, while Northern Virginia Magazine covers advisors across McLean, Arlington, Alexandria, and the broader NoVA region. Their lists are particularly valuable for finding advisors who understand your local market.

National Rankings: Following the Money

National publications take a dramatically different approach to identifying top financial advisors in the DMV area. Instead of peer recommendations, they more often focus on business metrics:

How Barron’s Top Financial Advisor List is Created

According to Barron’s, they evaluate advisors based on:

  • Assets under management
  • Revenue generated
  • Regulatory record
  • Practice quality
  • Philanthropic work

Here’s what’s interesting: this approach often favors larger firms with many smaller clients over boutique firms with fewer, larger clients. An advisor could provide excellent service to a select group of clients at a lower cost, but potentially rank lower simply because they choose to maintain a more focused practice.

Worth’s Top Financial Advisor List: Selection Criteria

Worth sets specific benchmarks for their top advisor rankings:

  • Over $500 million in assets
  • Focus on high-net-worth clients
  • Strong planning capabilities
  • Independence from broker-dealers

They claim to verify their data through SEC filings, adding an extra layer of validation to their process.

Forbes/SHOOK Top Advisor Selection Process

While national in scope, Forbes’ rigorous process has identified several top financial advisors in the DC metro area through an extensive evaluation combining quantitative metrics with personal assessment. According to Forbes:

  • 46,212 advisors nominated
  • 25,103 complete detailed surveys
  • 21,417 phone interviews
  • 5,246 in-person interviews
  • 1,545 virtual interviews

They’re the only publication conducting in-person interviews with firms, asking themselves, “Would we recommend this advisor to a friend or family member?”

What This Means for Your Advisor Search

Understanding these different methodologies helps you use them more effectively in finding the right financial advisor in the Washington, DC area:

  1. Local Publications: Best for finding advisors well-respected by their peers and connected to other financial professionals in your specific area, whether that’s Bethesda, Tysons Corner, or downtown DC.
  2. National Rankings: Useful for understanding an advisor’s business scale and resources but remember that bigger isn’t always better.
  3. Forbes/SHOOK: Provides a more thorough vetting, combining both quantitative and qualitative factors.

The Bottom Line

No single ranking tells the complete story. Whether you’re based in McLean, Potomac, Arlington, or Georgetown, these rankings can help guide your search for the right financial advisor. The best approach is to:

  • Check multiple lists to see who appears consistently
  • Understand what each ranking measures
  • Use these lists as a starting point, not the final word

Remember: the best financial advisor for you isn’t necessarily the one who ranks highest on any particular list. Focus on finding someone who understands your specific needs, maintains a strong and substantial fiduciary standard, and has the expertise to help you achieve your financial goals.

 



 

Neither rankings nor recognitions by unaffiliated ratings services, publications, media, or other organizations, nor the achievement of any professional designation, certification, degree, or license, membership in any professional organization, or any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that the client will experience a certain level of results if the investment professional or the investment professional’s firm is engaged, or continued to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A fee was not paid by either the investment professional or Glassman Wealth to receive the ranking. The ranking is based upon specific criteria and methodology (see ranking criteria/methodology). No ranking or recognition should be construed as an endorsement by any past or current client or any third party of the investment professional or Glassman Wealth.

Washingtonian: DC’s Best Financial Advisors — 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
The Washingtonian surveys hundreds of area financial professionals during the preceding 4-6 months prior to publishing the award. The 2024 award was published in January 2024. The 2023 award was published in January 2023. The 2022 award was published in March 2022. The 2021 award was published in January 2021. Glassman Wealth Services did not pay any compensation to be considered or selected for this award. Washingtonian’s full methodology can be found by visiting: https://www.washingtonian.com/best/financial-advisers/

Washingtonian: Top Wealth Advisor Hall of Fame — 2023
The Washingtonian began publishing a Top Financial Advisors list in 2009 and in 2023 decided to honor the repeat winners that appear on the list year after year. Washingtonian considers this Hall of Fame to be their “lifetime achievement” award for local financial experts. Glassman Wealth Services did not pay any compensation to be considered or selected for this award. Washingtonian’s Top Wealth Advisor Hall of Fame can be found by visiting: https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/01/31/top-wealth-adviser-hall-of-fame/ and their full methodology can be found by visiting: https://www.washingtonian.com/best/financial-advisers/

Northern Virginia Magazine: Top Financial Professionals — 2022
To compile the Top Financial Professionals listing, Northern Virginia Magazine sent surveys to all Northern Virginia financial professionals, asking them to recommend other financial professionals whom they would refer to friends and family. Surveys were open from March 6 through April 14 and those on the listing received the most nominations. Glassman Wealth Services did not pay any compensation to be considered or selected for this award. Northern Virginia Magazine’s full methodology can be found by visiting: https://www.northernvirginiamagazine.com/best/financial-professionals/

Bethesda Magazine: Top Financial Professionals — 2022
In summer 2022, Bethesda Magazine sent a survey to hundreds of financial professionals in Montgomery County and Upper Northwest DC asking, “If you had a close friend or relative who needed financial planning advice, and you could not handle the case yourself, to whom would you refer them?” The 2022 list represents those who earned the greatest number of endorsements from their peers. Individuals were not allowed to nominate themselves. Bethesda Magazine fact-checked all nominees before notifying them that they were going to be listed in the November/December 2022 issue. There is no fee to be named one of Bethesda Magazine’s Top Financial Professionals. Glassman Wealth Services did not pay any compensation to be considered or selected for this award. Bethesda Magazine’s full methodology can be found by visiting: https://bethesdamagazine.com/business-category/guides/top-financial-professionals/

Barron’s Top Advisor — 2024
Published May 2024
Advisors who wish to be ranked must first pass a prequalification, then fill out a survey with more than 100 questions about their practices. Barron’s verifies that data with the advisors’ firms and with regulatory databases, then applies their rankings formula to the data to generate a ranking. The formula features three major categories of calculations: 1) assets, 2) revenue, and 3) quality of practice. Glassman Wealth Services did not pay any compensation to be considered or selected for this award. Barron’s Top Advisor’s full methodology can be found by visiting: https://www.barrons.com/advisor/articles/barrons-methodology-for-ranking-financial-advisors-c4831b04.

Worth Top RIA Firms — 2024
Published May 2024
The rankings were developed in collaboration with Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a proxy advisory firm that helps investors comply with SEC rules for Form N-PX disclosure of proxy voting records. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires companies to compile and present financial and business information, reports, and disclosures to provide transparency to investors and the public. Leading Advisor assessments are based on the data that firms submit to the SEC in these disclosures. Glassman Wealth Services did not pay any compensation to be considered or selected for this award. Worth’s full methodology can be found by visiting: https://worth.com/leading-advisors/methodology/.

Forbes/SHOOK’s Top Advisor
Forbes/SHOOK’s rankings were developed through extensive evaluation combining quantitative metrics with personal assessments. Advisor interviews, compliance record checks, and 140-question survey reviews are just the first step. Next is understanding business models and measuring best practices, such as client service models, investing processes, and team structures. Quantitative factors include revenues, revenue trends, and assets under management. SHOOK Research does not receive a fee in exchange for rankings. Glassman Wealth Services did not pay any compensation to be considered or selected for this award. Forbes/SHOOK’s full methodology can be found by visiting: https://www.shookresearch.com/a-methodology.html.

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