Best Financial Advisory Firms Methodology 2025

This document is a methodology report detailing the evaluation process for USA TODAY's Best Financial Advisory Firms for 2025. The ranking is based on two primary dimensions: client recommendations and the development of Assets under Management (AUM). Recommendations were collected through an independent survey involving over 30,000 participants, including clients, industry experts, and financial advisors, with self-recommendations excluded. The AUM development was assessed over both short-term (one year) and long-term (five years) periods using publicly available data, with the final score calculated by weighting recommendations at 20% and AUM development at 80%. The report outlines the scoring model, which combines recommendation scores and AUM growth metrics, and specifies the criteria firms must meet to be recognized, including registration as an RIA firm and maintaining a clean disciplinary record. The document emphasizes the independent nature of the evaluation process conducted by USA TODAY and Statista.