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BrightScope Announces Latest Ranking of the Top 100 Most Social Financial Advisors

Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz Top Ranked for Second Time; Six New Advisors Join Top Ten

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 11, 2015) - BrightScope (www.brightscope.com), a leading provider of independent financial information and investment research, today released its updated list of the Top 100 Most Social Financial Advisors in the United States. Introduced in 2014 to recognize the top advisors with significant online influence, BrightScope hopes to encourage all financial professionals to bolster their digital brand. Consumers are increasingly using search engines and ratings services to inform key life decisions like selecting a financial advisor. Advisors with the highest visibility online stand to win an increasing share of new business.

"It's encouraging to see so many advisors expanding their online presence," said Kevin Fahey, Director of Product, Consumer at BrightScope. "Investors now expect their advisors to be active, easily vetted and available online. This is one of the driving forces behind AdviceMatch, our new platform that makes it easy for investors to find and evaluate advisors online."

The Rank considers several individually weighted data points around an advisor's Twitter profile and Blog, such as Followers, Tweet activity, and Moz Page Authority. BrightScope components also make up a small portion of the overall rank. For advisors who have not yet taken advantage of these channels, the Rank helps them identify top advisors who are models of how to use social media to grow a successful advisory business and a personal brand in the marketplace.

"While the financial services industry has lagged in social media adoption, it's exciting to finally see a growing number of advisors building their business through blogging and social media," said Michael Kitces, a partner and Director of Research for Pinnacle Advisory Group, and one of the Top Social Influencers on the BrightScope list. "As many of these advisors have shown by their own example, social media and blogging provides a unique means for advisors to create a presence for themselves and differentiate their expertise in a crowded marketplace."

Noteworthy findings since BrightScope's last release of this list in May 2014:

  • Winner's Circle: Josh Brown (No. 1) continues his reign as the most influential financial advisor on social channels, followed closely by fellow repeat honoree Barry Ritholtz (No. 2)

  • Warm Welcome: this year's list saw forty-five new advisors join, and the top twenty-five alone welcomed Michael Shedlock (No. 4), John Mauldin (No. 7), Rick Ferri (No. 17), Catherine Curtis (No. 20), David Kudla (No. 22), and Sheryl Garrett (No. 23)

  • Building Momentum: in the year since launching Social Influence Rank, advisors have been busy building momentum, most notably Jonathan Deyoe, who went from No. 54 to No. 34, and James Osborne, who went from No. 72 to 52. Other major movers include Robert Seawright, No. 28 to No. 10, John Anderson, No. 63 to No. 52, and Sophia Bera, No. 31 to No. 21

BrightScope's Top Social Influencers in the United States (as of March 2015):

Advisor Pages Profile - Blog - Twitter Handle

1. Joshua Brown - The Reformed Broker - @ReformedBroker

2. Barry Ritholtz - The Big Picture - @ritholtz

3. Cullen Roche - Pragmatic Capitalism - @cullenroche

4. Michael Shedlock - Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis - @MishGEA

5. Jeff Rose - Good Financial Cents - @jjeffrose

6. Michael Kitces - Nerd's Eye View - @MichaelKitces

7. John Mauldin - Mauldin Economics - @JohnFMauldin

8. David Merkel - The Aleph Blog - @AlephBlog

9. Mebane Faber - Meb Faber Research - @MebFaber

10. Robert Seawright - Above the Market - @RPSeawright

11. Theodore Jenkin - Your Smart Money Moves - @oXYGenFinancial

12. Ric Edelman - Edelman Financial Services Education Center - @ricedelman

13. Thomas Brakke - The Research Puzzle - @researchpuzzler

14. Roger Wohlner - The Chicago Financial Planner - @rwohlner

15. Carolyn McClanahan - Carolyn Sue McClanahan on Forbes - @CarolynMcC

16. Russell Thornton - Wealthcare for Women - @RussThornton

17. Rick Ferri - Rick Ferri Blog - @Rick_Ferri

18. George Papadopoulos - George Papadopoulos on WSJ - @feeonlyplanner

19. Neal Frankle - Wealth Pilgrim - @NealFrankle

20. Catherine Curtis - Of Independent Means - @cathycurtis

21. Sophia Bera - Gen Y Planning - @sophiabera

22. David Kudla - David Paul Kudla on Forbes - @David_Kudla

23. Sheryl Garrett - Garrett Planning Network Blog - SherylGarrett

24. Jim Blankenship - Getting Your Financial Ducks In A Row - @BlankenshipFP

25. John Reese - The Guru Investor - @GuruInvestor

*Note: these rankings are accurate as of March 5, 2015

To view the complete list of the Top 100 Social Influencers in the United States, visit the BrightScope Blog at http://blog.brightscope.com/2015/03/10/top-social-influencers/.

Advisors can find out how their social profiles rank for free by claiming their profile on BrightScope and adding their social media details. To learn more visit www.brightscope.com/advisor-pages.

BrightScope obtains its data directly from publicly available sources, including regulatory filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial advisors can supplement these primary sources by claiming their profile. By analyzing and interpreting this data, BrightScope provides unparalleled insight into the financial management industry.

*Disclosure: Joshua Brown and Michael Kitces are Advisors to BrightScope.

About BrightScope
BrightScope is a financial information company that brings transparency to the financial services marketplace through independent research and analysis. Delivered through intuitive online tools, BrightScope data drives better decision-making for individual investors, corporate plan sponsors, asset managers, broker-dealers, and financial advisors. Information on more than 700,000 financial advisors and nearly 33,000 active advisory firms, as well as ratings for nearly 50,000 retirement plans, and are available for free at www.brightscope.com.

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