Dear Wealth Advisor:

We will publish Worth’s list of the Nation’s Top 100 Wealth Advisors in our October 2008 issue. The following is the questionnaire for those wealth advisors who would like to be considered for the list.

Filling out this questionnaire online is the only way to participate in this year’s survey.  Please take as much space as you need to fill it out as completely as possible. Unless otherwise specified, all questions refer to you as an individual, and not to your firm. 

Please note:  All information you provide in the survey below will be kept strictly confidential. 

The deadline for submission is Friday, May 9, 2008.

Those advisors short-listed for further consideration will be asked for more detailed information at a later date.

Any questions or comments can be sent in an email to top100@worth.com.

Due to the volume of submissions, we ask that you not contact us to check whether we have received your submission. We will contact you if we require further information. Thank you for your interest in Worth’s Top 100 list.

The Editors
Top 100 Wealth Advisors Questionnaire 2008
1. Name: (First)
(Last)
2. Title:
3. Name of firm or d/b/a, if appropriate:
4. Office address: (Street)
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
5. Email address:
5a. Web site address (if any):
6. Office phone:
7. Date of birth:
8. Please list—in order of importance—no more than three specialty areas you yourself practice within financial planning (examples: retirement planning, trust planning, planning for women, etc.):
9. In what year and in what capacity did you first become a professional wealth advisor?
10. Please list any professional designations and leadership positions you hold within the financial planning and/or investment management industry, as well as any books or papers you have published (please exclude magazine or newspaper articles in which you are cited as a source).
11. Have you or your firm (if it consists of 10 or fewer offices) ever been the subject of a complaint to, or investigation by, any regulatory or industry agency not listed above? If the answer is yes, please provide details, including the agency, its city and state, nature of complaint, date and outcome.
12. Please describe your and your firm’s primary services (e.g. investment advisor, comprehensive financial planner, tax planner, etc.).
13. If you manage client assets, what is the total dollar amount of assets under management at your firm?
14. What is the size of your median account under management?
Under discretionary management?
15. What is the minimum amount in investable assets someone must have before you will personally take them on as a client?
16. What is the current net worth of your own median client, including real estate?
17. What is the largest net worth, including real estate, of any of the clients for whom you are the primary advisor?
18. Have you or your firm filed for bankruptcy within the past 10 years? Yes No
If the answer is yes, please provide us with a full explanation, including any details or mitigating circumstances.
19. Have you or your firm (if it consists of 10 or fewer offices) ever been the defendant in a lawsuit or arbitration proceeding arising out of the business? Yes No
If the answer is yes, please provide details, including the name of the parties, the court or forum, the date, the docket number, and the outcome.
20. How did the performance of a recommended portfolio compare to the larger market in 2007?

We recognize that good wealth advisors create long-term investment policies and asset allocation models that are consistent with their clients' needs. But we also believe that advisors should be comfortable discussing the implications of the current market environment. In that spirit, we ask the following. Again, use as much space as you need.
21. What concerns have your clients expressed recently? How are you addressing them?
22. What is your view on the course of interest rates, corporate credit and the equities markets in the next 12 months? Do you have a view further out?
23. Based on your outlook for these asset classes, what recommendations are you personally making right now?
24. What alternative investments—real estate, hedge funds, private equity and the like—are you recommending and why?