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Awards and Honors

• Among the list of “Best Financial Advisory Firms 2024” by USA TODAY.

• Recognized as one of Forbes “Top RIA Firms 2024”

• Hall of Fame status as one of Financial Times “Top 300 Advisers”

• Honored by Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard Readers’ Choice“ Award 10 YEARS IN A ROW!

• Recognized as one of “America’s Top RIAs 2023″ by Financial Advisor.

• Recognized as one of the “Best Financial Advisors in Ellicott City 2022” by Expertise.com. 

• Among the list of “Best Financial Advisor Firms in Maryland 2021” by Investor.com.

BWFA is recognized as a top firm in the industry, with appearances in Forbes, Fortune, and Baltimore magazines. BWFA has been honored with numerous accolades over the years, among them: one of Forbes “Top RIA Firms” for 2023 and 2024, Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard County” award for ten years in a row, Hall of Fame status as one of Financial Times “Top 300 Advisers”, one of the “Best Financial Advisory Firms” by USA TODAY in 2023 and 2024, one of “America’s Top RIAs” by Financial Advisor in 2023, winner of DC Magazine’s “Best of City 2022”, and featured as a “Leader in Finance” by Baltimore Magazine.

While it’s gratifying to be recognized, BWFA’s main objective continues to be serving our clients in Howard County and the surrounding region with undivided loyalty. We provide impartial advice and work exceptionally hard at helping our clients achieve their goals. As always, we are dedicated to serving our clients’ best interests for financial planning, tax services, and retirement planning.

Disclosures:

USA TODAY‘s “Best Financial Advisory Firms” is based on the analysis of a firm’s performance and market appreciation.
For the first time, USA TODAY and Statista are awarding the “Best Financial Advisory Firms” in the US. The ranking of the best-registered investment advisory firms (“RIA Firms”) is based on two dimensions: recommendations by clients and peers and a firm’s growth of Assets under Management (AUM).

Forbes Top RIA Firms
Firms do not pay a fee for placement on Forbes Top Advisor rankings, which are independently determined by Shook Research. The Forbes ranking of America’s Top RIA Firms, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria, mostly gained through telephone, virtual and in-person due diligence interviews, and quantitative data. The algorithm weighs factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices and approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK receive a fee in exchange for rankings, however the Firm has paid Forbes to receive expanded profile features.

The Financial Times “Top 300 Registered Investment Advisors” is an independent listing produced by the Financial Times (June 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). The FT 300 is based on data gathered from RIA firms, regulatory disclosures, and the FT’s research. As identified by the FT, the listing reflected each practice’s performance in six primary areas, including assets under management, asset growth, compliance record, years in existence, credentials, and accessibility. Neither the RIA firms nor their employees pay a fee to The Financial Times in exchange for inclusion in the FT 300. Third-party rankings from Financial Times and other publications are no guarantee of future investment success and this ranking may not be representative of any one client’s experience with the Firm. Working with a highly ranked adviser does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance results. These rankings should not be construed as an endorsement of the adviser by any client. “RIA,” as used in the Financial Times article, is an abbreviation for Registered Investment Advisor and is not a designation. Registration as an investment adviser does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by securities regulators nor does it indicate that the adviser has attained a particular level of skill or ability.

Research approach:

  • The recommendations were collected via an independent survey sent to over 20,000 individuals. While clients were able to evaluate and recommend their RIA firm, financial advisors working for an RIA firm were asked to consider a scenario where their own firm could not take on a client and had to recommend another RIA firm they appreciate.
  • The development of AUM was analyzed both, short and long-term based on publicly available data. For the short-term view, the growth of AUM over a twelve-month period was calculated, from January 2022 to January 2023. For the long-term view, the growth of AUM over a five-year period was calculated, from 2018-2023.
  • In the consideration for the top 500 RIA firms, recommendations had a weight of 20% while development of AUM had a weight of 80% (short-term and long-term growth were equally weighted) to derive the final score.

Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard Readers’ Choice” is sponsored by The Baltimore Sun Company, LLC. Winners will be determined by popular vote. A Candidate may be honored in more than one Category, but votes will not be combined across Categories. The leading vote recipient in each category will be declared the winner (“Winner”) in that Category. If there is a tie at the Winner level, each will be declared a Winner. This award is not representative of any one client’s experience with the Firm and is not indicative of the Firm’s future performance.

Ranked by Financial Advisor Magazine as one of “America’s Top RIAs in 2023″. The criteria for this ranking is based on assets under management at year end of independent RIA firms that file their own ADV with the SEC. FA’s RIA ranking orders firms from largest to smallest, based on AUM reported to us by firms that voluntarily complete and submit FA’s survey by our deadline. We do our best to verify AUM by reviewing ADV forms. To be eligible for the ranking, firms must be independent registered investment advisors and file their own ADV statement with the SEC and provide financial planning and related services to individual clients. Firms must have at least $500 million in assets under management as of December 31, 2021 to be included in the print edition of Financial Advisor magazine’s 2023 RIA survey. Firms with under $500 million will be included the FA’s expanded online RIA survey. For more information, visit the FA website at www.fa-mag.com. This award is not representative of any one client’s experience with the Firm and is not indicative of the Firm’s future performance.

investor.com enables Americans to quickly research and compare the backgrounds of more than 650,000 individuals and 17,000 Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) from across the country. The 100 best firms, with at least one office in Maryland, were selected using our rigorous Trust Algorithm, which sorts through more than 28 million data points from the SEC and FINRA. Our analysis contains data as of July 28, 2022, and the specific qualifiers for the Top Financial Advisor Firms (RIAs) in Maryland are as follows: Must be Trusted by investor.com. Must have an office location in Maryland. This ranking is not representative of any one client’s experience with the Firm and is not indicative of the Firm’s future performance. This ranking is not an award, but an overall ranking, based on the criteria listed above.

Expertise.com “Best Financial Advisors 2022”. Our goal is to connect people with the best local experts. We scored Columbia/Ellicott City Financial Advisors on more than 25 variables across five categories and analyzed the results to give you a hand-picked list of the best. Custom tools and resources are used to analyze publicly available data within a given business category and geographical area. Contact and license information is verified to assure selected candidates are actively doing business and are in good standing in their communities.

Next, in-house software grades each business across the following selection criteria:

  • Reputation: A history of satisfied customers giving excellent recommendations
  • Qualifications: Established in their industry with licensing, accreditations, and awards
  • Experience: Masters of their craft, based on years of practical experience and education
  • Engagement: Approachable and responsive to clients and available for new business
  • Professionalism: Dedicated to providing consistently quality work and impeccable customer service

Finally, the best are hand-picked through a manual review to verify each company on the list is truly one of the best. This ranking is not representative of any one client’s experience with the Firm and is not indicative of the Firm’s future performance. This ranking is not an award, but an overall ranking, based on the criteria listed above.

The Forbes ranking of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria, gained through telephone, virtual and in-person due diligence interviews, and quantitative data. Those advisors that are considered have a minimum of seven years’ experience, and the algorithm weighs factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices in their approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK receive a fee in exchange for rankings. This ranking is not representative of any one client’s experience with the Firm and is not indicative of the Firm’s future performance. This ranking is not an award, but an overall ranking, based on the criteria listed above.