For the 2016 IA 25, the editorial team at Investment Advisor decided to focus on the less well-known operators in the advisory industry; the staffs supporting the big names advisors hear every day and the smaller players toiling behind the scenes in ways that affect advisors and their businesses.
Because of that self-imposed mandate, there were few familiar faces in the 14th annual IA 25. However, as we've learned over the years making this list, the industry's influencers leave big ripples. As the people in the slideshow have shown through their consistent efforts to support advisors, there's a good chance some of them will be on the list again in 2017.
Sheryl Garrett, Garrett Planning Network
Times Honored: 6
First appearing on the inaugural IA 25 in 2003, Garrett has built a network of advisors dedicated to making trusted financial advice accessible to all investors, even the less wealthy ones. She's grown the Garrett Planning Network from 130 advisors in 2003 to 320 as of her last appearance on the list in 2015.
For firms in the Garrett Planning Network, serving clients is about "finding new and different ways to meet the needs of younger people, millennials, people just getting started, middle-income clients and folks with even more modest means than that," she said in a conversation with IA last year.
John Bogle, The Vanguard Group
Times Honored: 6
As the founder of Vanguard and creator of the first index mutual fund in 1975, Bogle's impact is still felt in the industry despite having stepped down as CEO in 1996.
When he spoke with IA for the 2010 IA 30 for 30 (we celebrated our 30th anniversary with more work), he said, "I'd just like to bring common sense, reality and mathematical truth back into the world of investing,"
Bogle is still championing index funds for investors. In an interview with Barry Ritholtz in March, he said, "Index funds give you the advantage of long-term compounding of returns while eliminating the tyranny of long-term compounding of costs."
Harold Evensky, Evenksy & Katz/Foldes Financial
Times Honored: 6
Evensky is a valued thought leader in the industry, freely giving his time and insights to journalists. That dedication to enlightenment should come as no surprise given his background teaching the investment portion of the CIP program at the University of Miami.
Back then, financial planners were typically leaving another industry entirely. "Back in those days, everybody came from somewhere else; nobody started off in planning," Evensky told IA in 2015. As awareness of what advisors do, not to mention the number of educational programs to teach them, has increased, more advisors are starting their careers in this industry. Evensky believes that over time, the industry will adopt a "modular comprehensive planning" approach that focuses on individual portions of a client's portfolio, building a comprehensive plan as they go.
Mary Schapiro, Securities and Exchange Commission
Times Honored: 7
