San Francisco, CA (March 7, 2024) – Bailard, a values-driven wealth and asset manager in the San Francisco Bay Area, has once again been named as one of the 2024 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisors by InvestmentNews. The firm was ranked first of 25 firms in its category (companies with 50 or more U.S. employees). This marks the fifth consecutive year InvestmentNews has recognized Bailard as a Best Place to Work for Financial Advisors.
This repeat recognition underscores Bailard’s enduring commitment to its values—accountability, compassion, courage, excellence, fairness, and independence. Not just buzzwords, these core principles form the foundation of Bailard, from client relationships to strategic business priorities and decision-making. The focus on accountability, for instance, helps foster a culture of trust and transparency; evidenced by Bailard’s open compensation policy and its achievement as a Certified B Corporation™ in 2023. Similarly, the firm’s commitment to excellence is reflected in a 99% client retention rate, underpinning long-lasting client relationships. Meanwhile, the emphasis on independence benefits the many; 70% of current employees own company stock.*
“Receiving this distinction from InvestmentNews is an honor and a testament to the dedication of our team,” said Michael Faust, CFA, President of Bailard Wealth Management. “Working alongside such committed and compassionate professionals in the wealth management space is truly rewarding. My sincere thanks go to each of our colleagues for their invaluable contributions to Bailard’s ongoing success.”
Bailard’s top placement in the large employer category was determined through comprehensive employer and employee surveys. These surveys delve into various aspects of company life, including culture, benefits, and career paths. InvestmentNews partnered with Best Companies Group, a research firm specializing in identifying great places to work, to compile the survey and recognition program.
Discover more about this year’s 75 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisors at https://www.investmentnews.com/best-in-wealth/the-best-places-to-work-for-financial-advisors-in-the-usa.
About Bailard, Inc.
Founded in 1969, Bailard is an independent asset and wealth management firm serving individuals, families, and institutions alike. Bailard has built a long‐term asset management track record across domestic and international equities, fixed income, and private real estate, as well as robust, in-house sustainable, responsible, and impact investing expertise. We combine these investment capabilities with financial, tax, and estate planning to provide comprehensive wealth management. Through it all, Bailard works with clients to align their financial goals with their values. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area with $5.8 billion in assets under management as of 12/31/2023, Bailard is a majority employee-owned and women-led firm, a Certified B Corporation™, and a Principles of Responsible Investing signatory.
About InvestmentNews
InvestmentNews is the leading source for news, analysis, and information essential to the financial advisory community. Since 1998, our standard of editorial excellence and deep industry knowledge has allowed us to educate, inform and engage the most influential financial advisers. Through a weekly newspaper, website, newsletters, research, events, videos, and webcasts, InvestmentNews provides exclusive and up-to-the-minute news, as well as actionable intelligence, that empowers financial advisers to serve their clients and run their businesses more effectively whenever, however, and wherever they need it.
About InvestmentNews’ Best Places to Work for Financial Advisors
To find and recognize the Best Places to Work for Financial Advisors, InvestmentNews and Best Companies Group first invited organizations to participate by filling out an employer form, which asked companies to explain their various offerings and practices. To be eligible, companies had to (1) be a registered investment adviser (RIA), affiliated with (but not an employee of) an independent broker-dealer (IBD), or a hybrid/dually registered firm affiliated with an IBD and doing business through an RIA; (2) be based in the US; (3) have a minimum of 15 full or part-time employees working in the US; (4) be in business for a minimum of 1 year. Next, employers completed an in-depth questionnaire and employees had the opportunity to offer their honest feedback by taking part in a company-wide survey. Once both portions of the assessment were complete, the team analyzed the data to determine if an organization had what it takes to be the “best.” Best Companies Group imposes a $499 data sharing fee, but there was no cost for Bailard to be considered for the award program.
* As of December 31, 2023. The Bailard Wealth Management client retention rate for the five-years ending December 31, 2023 was 99%. This number does not include terminations due to estate distributions, depleted accounts, accounts terminated by Bailard, or MY-FLEX® and MY-KIN® accounts.
Recent Insights
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Quarterly Technology Equity Strategy Q1 2025
The Bailard Technology Strategy posted a 1Q25 total return of -9.35% net of fees—ahead of both the benchmark index (S&P North American Technology Index) and the competitor-comprised benchmarks. The Morningstar U.S. Open End Technology Category returned -9.98% and the Lipper Science and Technology Fund Index returned -10.88%, while the S&P North American Technology Index returned -11.43%. Over longer time periods of 3, 5, and 10 years, the Strategy’s net returns continued to lead the competitor’s peer benchmarks—quite substantially, as seen in the table to the right.
Despite market volatility in Q1, we have not significantly altered our positioning. Our view is that nothing is broken in tech, and we remain convicted in our investment process. With prices and valuation changing dramatically, we expect to optimize our positioning by bolstering or adding high-quality companies trading at attractive discounts to long-term value. We anticipate stabilization in industry fundamentals and fiscal policy in the latter part of this year.
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