NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barron's Magazine today announced it acquired The Winner's Circle Organization, a consulting firm based in Boca Raton, Fla. The firm provides analysis of financial advisory practices and rankings of advisors based on assets under management, revenue generation and practice quality.
"The acquisition of The Winner's Circle Organization further strengthens Barron's leadership position as a producer of premium conferences for the financial industry," said Edwin Finn, editor and president, Barron's Magazine. "We are optimistic about the future of the wealth management industry, in part because investors today need more advice, and more sophisticated advice, than ever before."
Barron's and The Winner's Circle have partnered for the past five years on a highly successful conference business that produces forums for elite financial advisors to come together and discuss the business of delivering wealth management for high-net-worth individuals and institutions. These conferences include the Investment Consultants Summit, the Top Advisors Summit and the Top Women Advisors Summit.
In recent years, Barron's has published The Winner's Circle rankings of The Top 100 Financial Advisors, The Top 100 Women Financial Advisors and The Top 100 Independent Advisors. To choose these advisors, The Winner's Circle screens thousands of candidates, interviews the finalists, speaks with supervisors and reviews internal reports. This process has been put in place to identify advisors who follow the investment industry's best practices.
"For eight years, The Winner's Circle and its mission of identifying and promoting best practices in the financial advisor industry have been my passion," said R.J. Shook, founder and president, The Winner's Circle. "We are gratified to have partnered with Barron's in recent years and now to have Barron's assume an exclusive leadership role in this important endeavor."
This week Barron's is hosting its 4th annual, invitation-only Top Advisor's Summit at the Boca Raton Resort & Spa in Boca Raton, Fla., which is being produced with The Winner's Circle Organization as part of the Barron's brand. In attendance are 85 of the Top 100 Financial Advisors in the U.S. as ranked by The Winner's Circle Organization and published in Barron's April 21, 2008 issue. Also in attendance are nearly 500 financial advisors who were selected by their firms to participate in the event.
The Winner's Circle will be absorbed into Barron's, a business unit of Dow Jones & Company, and will be based in New York. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
About Barron's
Barron's (www.barrons.com) is America's premier financial magazine, renowned for its market-moving stories. Published by Dow Jones & Company since 1921, it reaches an influential audience of senior corporate decision makers, institutional investors, individual investors and financial professionals. With new content available every week in print and every business day online, Barron's provides readers with a comprehensive review of the market's recent activity, coupled with in-depth, sophisticated reports on what's likely to happen in the market in the days and weeks to come. As a result, Barron's is the financial information source these powerful people rely on for market information, ideas and insights they can use to increase their professional success and enhance their personal, financial well-being.
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About The Winner's Circle Organization
The Winner's Circle(r) is an organization of outstanding advisors and industry leaders. The WC's missions are to promote best practices in the industry, and to promote the value of advice to the investing public. The Organization's independent and objective research is published in annual feature stories in publications like Barron's, San Francisco Business Times, LA Business Journal, Detroit Crain's, Chicago Magazine and more. With over 7,000 nominations received every year, rankings are based on quantitative (assets and revenues) and qualitative criteria (compliance records, discussions with management and peers, telephone and in-person interviews, etc.). In addition to its extensive research, The Winner's Circle runs industry conferences and publishes books. For more information, please visit: www.WCorg.com