Here Are the Top 1200 US Financial Advisors of 2025
3 min
The nation’s Top 1,200 Financial Advisors grew their way to a new milestone.
The advisory teams that made it into this year’s ranking reported total assets under management of $6.1 trillion, for an average of $5.1 billion per team—both record highs for the dozen years during which Barron’s has ranked the Top 1,200. Last year’s ranking had $5.6 trillion in total AUM and $4.6 billion average AUM per team. In the past decade, the 1,200 cohort has increased its total AUM by 135% and its average revenue by 147%.
Amid all the growth, several advisors made big moves in this year’s rankings, including W Janet Dougherty of Cresset in Chicago, who re-entered the ranking at No. 37 in Illinois after moving from J.P. Morgan . Meanwhile, Ash Chopra of Syon Capital in San Francisco jumped 47 spots in California to No. 47; Hillary Cullen of UBS Private Wealth Management in New York rose 20 spots to No. 77; and Jon Neuhaus of Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management in Los Angeles moved up 14 spots to No. 6 in California. Fourteen percent of the Top 1,200 advisors didn’t appear in the ranking last year.
Teams Are a Trend
Top advisory practices have ridden a wave of healthy markets, but that is only part of the growth story. Whereas a decade ago many of the best advisors were sole practitioners with modest support staff, now advisors are working in increasingly complex team configurations.
These teams are allowing advisors to provide an array of wealth management services in addition to the investing expertise that usually sits at the heart of their offerings. As teams acquire more skill in estate planning, taxes, lending, and other value-adds, they are attracting and retaining more business.
For investors looking for a new financial advisor, the trend toward expansive teams is good news. For starters, larger teams have built-in redundancy that helps with succession in the event that advisors depart the practice. A team structure also creates a great training environment for younger, more diverse wealth managers—a wellspring of workers who will be sorely needed in the coming years.
As many of the advisors who built the nation’s best teams enter the late innings of their careers, an advisor shortage is brewing. A recent McKinsey study says the advisor workforce may be short 100,000 advisors by 2034.
How We Do It
The Top 1,200 is Barron’s largest advisor ranking, and it’s actually 51 individual rankings—one for each state plus Washington, D.C., with the number of advisors represented in each determined by its relative population and wealth. Advisors who wish to be considered for the ranking complete a 100-plus-question survey about their businesses, and this year’s ranking had more than 7,600 applicants, up 16% from last year.
Like all of Barron’s advisor rankings, this Top 1,200 list uses both quantitative and qualitative measures . Client assets managed by an advisor, along with the growth of those assets, are a good signifier of the general health of a practice. We also use advisors’ revenue numbers as a proxy for client satisfaction—clients vote on the way advisors are serving them with the fees they’re willing to pay. Last, we evaluate a range of qualitative elements, including regulatory records, advanced credentials and designations on a team, and the nature and structure of an advisor’s team.
We hope this year’s list will give investors a great starting point for finding the best advisor for their needs.
Corrections & Amplifications : Jack Taylor of Truist Investment Services is No. 6 in North Carolina in Barron’s 2025 Top 1,200 Financial Advisors ranking. The advisor originally listed in that spot was removed from the ranking. All the other advisors ranked in that state moved up one place, and R. Neil Stikeleather of Merrill Wealth Management was added to the list at No. 30. Read more about our ranking and see a link to the corrected list at barrons.com/AdvisorRanks .
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The pandemic-fuelled love affair with casual footwear is fading, with Bank of America warning the downturn shows no sign of easing.
The pandemic-fuelled love affair with casual footwear is fading, with Bank of America warning the downturn shows no sign of easing.
2 minThe boom in casual footware ushered in by the pandemic has ended, a potential problem for companies such as Adidas that benefited from the shift to less formal clothing, Bank of America says.
The casual footwear business has been on the ropes since mid-2023 as people began returning to office.
Analyst Thierry Cota wrote that while most downcycles have lasted one to two years over the past two decades or so, the current one is different.
It “shows no sign of abating” and there is “no turning point in sight,” he said.
Adidas and Nike alone account for almost 60% of revenue in the casual footwear industry, Cota estimated, so the sector’s slower growth could be especially painful for them as opposed to brands that have a stronger performance-shoe segment. Adidas may just have it worse than Nike.
Cota downgraded Adidas stock to Underperform from Buy on Tuesday and slashed his target for the stock price to €160 (about $187) from €213. He doesn’t have a rating for Nike stock.
Shares of Adidas listed on the German stock exchange fell 4.5% Tuesday to €162.25. Nike stock was down 1.2%.
Adidas didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cota sees trouble for Adidas both in the short and long term.
Adidas’ lifestyle segment, which includes the Gazelles and Sambas brands, has been one of the company’s fastest-growing business, but there are signs growth is waning.
Lifestyle sales increased at a 10% annual pace in Adidas’ third quarter, down from 13% in the second quarter.
The analyst now predicts Adidas’ organic sales will grow by a 5% annual rate starting in 2027, down from his prior forecast of 7.5%.
The slower revenue growth will likewise weigh on profitability, Cota said, predicting that margins on earnings before interest and taxes will decline back toward the company’s long-term average after several quarters of outperforming. That could result in a cut to earnings per share.
Adidas stock had a rough 2025. Shares shed 33% in the past 12 months, weighed down by investor concerns over how tariffs, slowing demand, and increased competition would affect revenue growth.
Nike stock fell 9% throughout the period, reflecting both the company’s struggles with demand and optimism over a turnaround plan CEO Elliott Hill rolled out in late 2024.
Investors’ confidence has faded following Nike’s December earnings report, which suggested that a sustained recovery is still several quarters away. Just how many remains anyone’s guess.
But if Adidas’ challenges continue, as Cota believes they will, it could open up some space for Nike to claw back any market share it lost to its rival.
Investors should keep in mind, however, that the field has grown increasingly crowded in the past five years. Upstarts such as On Holding and Hoka also present a formidable challenge to the sector’s legacy brands.
Shares of On and Deckers Outdoor , Hoka’s parent company, fell 11% and 48%, respectively, in 2025, but analysts are upbeat about both companies’ fundamentals as the new year begins.
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