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Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc . owns the certification marks CFP ®, Certified finanCial Planner™ and federally registered CFP ( with flame design ) in the U . S ., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board ’ s initial and ongoing certification requirements . The Chartered Financial Consultant credential [ ChFC ®] is a financial planning designation awarded by The American College .

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 . 624 Rhode Island-area wealth managers were considered for the award ; 151 ( 24 % of candidates ) were named 2021 Five Star Wealth Managers . 2020 : 614 considered , 132 winners ; 2019 : 568 considered , 131 winners ; 2018 : 545 considered , 131 winners ; 2017 : 476 considered , 189 winners ; 2016 : 495 considered , 173 winners ; 2015 : 637 considered , 194 winners ; 2014 : 677 considered , 204 winners ; 2013 : 553 considered , 185 winners ; 2012 : 287 considered , 111 winners .

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