Bailard Named ‘Top 100’ Firm in Two Prestigious Industry Awards: Barron’s Top 100 RIA Firms and CNBC’s Financial Advisor 100

Bailard, an independent, values-driven wealth and asset management firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, is thrilled to announce it has been named to two prestigious industry award lists: Barron’s Top 100 RIA Firms and CNBC’s Financial Advisor 100.

The awards recognize numerous factors integral to Bailard’s culture and success, including diversity of staff, assets under management, investment in technology, succession planning, and number of years in the business.

This year is Bailard’s third consecutive year on CNBC’s FA 100 list. Out of 38,802 RIA firms, Bailard ranked ninety-seventh on CNBC’s list. And, in its first appearance, Bailard ranked ninety-eighth on Barron’s list. The rankings come on the heels of Bailard CEO Sonya Mughal, CFA’s recognition as one of the Most Influential Women in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times.

“In our fifty-second year of business, it is an incredible honor to be recognized–not once, but twice–as one of the top 100 firms in our space,” said Mughal. “We believe our values-driven culture, focused on core principles like independence, excellence, and accountability, fuel not only our commercial success, but also our close-knit culture and long-standing client relationships.”

Bailard is an employee-owned firm: 68 percent of employees are shareholders in the business, and 49 percent of shareholders are women or members of minority groups. Bailard manages $5.3 billion (a 33 percent year-over-year increase) and maintains a 98 percent client retention rate.* The firm is tenured enough to endure and thrive through market cycles, but small enough to remain responsive and selective.

Bailard’s personal, high-touch approach to wealth management fuels its success. Bailard focuses first on getting to know each client personally.

“A strong understanding of a client’s goals, as well as their attitudes toward money, is essential to building the right financial strategy,” said Michael Faust, CFA, President of Wealth Management. “Our client-first approach inspires trust and enables us to build with clients over time. We’re so pleased to be recognized again for our strengths in wealth management.”

The CNBC FA 100 and the Barron’s Top 100 RIAs both take a data-driven approach to each ranking. CNBC partnered with an independent data provider to analyze and force-rank the top 100 firms from an initial list of 38,802 RIA firms. Barron’s applies multiple layers of data analysis on a 102-question survey that each firm responds to. The goals of the awards are to recognize the best firms in the industry, with an eye toward improving industry standards overall.

* AUM as of 9/30/2021. The Bailard Wealth Management client retention rate for the five years ending December 31, 2020 was 98%. This number does not include terminations due to estate distributions, depleted accounts, accounts terminated by Bailard, or MY-FLEX® or MY-KIN® accounts.

About Bailard, Inc.
With over 50 years of experience, Bailard is an independent wealth and investment management firm that combines proven, proprietary methodologies with innovative new strategies to drive success for clients. For individuals and institutions alike, Bailard proudly serves as a trusted partner focused on achieving long-term results aligned with client values and goals. An independent firm since our founding in 1969, we stand committed to our values and, most importantly, our clients. With more than $5 billion AUM as of September 30, 2021, Bailard’s high-touch client service and proven track record are grounded in the firm’s core values of accountability, compassion, courage, excellence, fairness, and independence. To learn more about Bailard, please visit: https://bailard.com/.

About the CNBC FA 100 methodology
CNBC enlisted data provider AccuPoint Solutions to assist with delivering the CNBC FA 100 ranking of registered investment advisors. The methodology consisted of first analyzing a variety of core data points from AccuPoint’s database of financial services firms from an initial list of 38,802 RIA firms. The list was cut to 749 RIAs that met CNBC’s proprietary criteria. (All the data collected from the RIAs was culled from the firm’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.) AccuPoint then applied weighted categories to further refine and rank the firms, ultimately creating the list of the top 100. These data points included: Advisor’s compliance record; Years in business; Number of employees; Number of investment advisors registered with the firm; Ratio of investment advisors to total number of employees; Total assets under management; Percentage of discretionary assets under management; Total accounts under management; Number of states where the RIA is registered; and Country of domicile. Bailard ranked 97 out of 100 in 2021, 86 in 2020, and 54 in 2019. This award does not evaluate the quality of services provided to clients and is not indicative of the practice’s future performance. Neither the RIA firms nor their employees pay a fee to CNBC in exchange for inclusion in the FA 100.

About the Barron’s Top 100 RIA methodology
The 2021 Top 100 RIA Firms is Barron’s 6th annual ranking of independent advisory companies is based on assets managed by the firms, technology spending, staff diversity, succession planning and other metrics. Advisors who wish to be ranked fill out a 102-question survey about their practice. Barron’s then verifies that data and applies its rankings formula to generate a ranking. The formula features three major categories of calculations—Assets, Revenue, Quality of practice—with multiple sub-calculations in each. Bailard ranked 98 out of 100 on the 2021 list; this was Bailard’s first appearance. This award does not evaluate the quality of services provided to clients and is not indicative of the practice’s future performance. Neither the RIA firms nor their employees pay a fee to Barron’s in exchange for inclusion in the Top 100 Advisors.