2019 Best Places to Work in Connecticut

The "Best Places to Work in Connecticut" project is a statewide program managed by Best Companies Group. This exciting initiative, brought to you by the Hartford Business Journal, is dedicated to identifying and recognizing Connecticut's best employers.

Best Companies Group conducted a simple yet thorough company assessment. The assessment is a two-part process designed to gather detailed data about each participating company.

In part one, the employer completed a questionnaire and in part two, employees of the company completed an employee survey. The collected information from the two instruments was combined to produce a detailed set of data enabling the analysts to determine the strengths and opportunities of the participating companies.

To be considered for participation, companies had to fulfill the following eligibility requirements:

• Be a for-profit, not-for-profit business or government entity;
• Be a publicly or privately held business;
• Have a facility in Connecticut;
• Have at least 15 employees in Connecticut;
• Be in business a minimum of 1 year.

A total of 41 CT employers were named to the list, released March 2019.

2017 Hartford Business Journal (HBJ) Best of Business Awards
(CTWM recognized in 2 HBJ Best of Business categories)

• 2017 HBJ Best Financial Planning Services Award
• 2017 HBJ Best Private Wealth Management firm Award

The HBJ Best of Business award is an online poll where readers vote for companies in Greater Hartford that they believe offer the best service, sweat all the details and have employees who deliver outstanding products and services.  In 2017 a total of 841 people cast their votes for companies in 49 categories ranging from best food and professional and financial services.  The winners in each category were chosen based on their customer service and commitment to excellence. 

• Only one entry per person.
• In order for a vote to count, a minimum of 10 categories must be filled out. 
• Only one ballot per IP address will be accepted.
• Only companies based in Greater Hartford will be considered.Click here to see a map showing how the HBJ defines Greater Hartford.
• Votes for franchises or chains count, but please note the town where the franchise/chain is located in your vote (example, Outback Steakhouse, Manchester).
• HBJ reserves the right to exclude a category if the number of votes don't meet a minimum standard. 
• HBJ reserves the right to reject any ballots that appear to be duplicates, suspicious or fraudulent.
• All entries must be submitted via this official form. Responses received in any other format will not be accepted.

For more information about the Hartford Business Journal’s Best of Business Awards please visit http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20170921/NEWS01/170929978

Five Star Wealth Manager

The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), is based on 10 objective criteria: 
1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 
2. Active as a credentialed professional in the financial services industry for a minimum of 5 years; 
3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review*;
4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 
5. Accepting new clients; 
6. One-year client retention rate; 
7. Five-year client retention rate; 
8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 
9. Number of client households served; 
10. Education and professional designations. 

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or awarded. 

Once awarded, wealth managers may purchase additional profile ad space or promotional products. The award methodology does not evaluate the quality of services provided and is not indicative of the winner’s future performance. 1,983 Connecticut wealth managers were considered for the award; 417 (22 percent of candidates) were named Five Star Wealth Managers.

* As defined by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not: 
A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; 
B. Had more than a total of three customer complaints filed against them [settled or pending] with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process; 
C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint filed with a regulatory authority; 
D. Filed for personal bankruptcy; 
E. Been convicted of a felony.

Medical Economic’ Best Financial Advisers for Doctors

The Medical Economics Best Financial Advisers for Doctors listing is based on the following criteria: qualifications, good standing with the SEC and FINRA, fee arrangements, and minimum portfolio. Medical Economics Best Financial Advisers is a paid Listing advertising supplement, written and published by Advanstar Communications Inc. as a source of information concerning individual financial advisers for use by physicians, health care professionals, and the public. The listing is provided as a service to its subscribers, and the Medical Economics best Financial Advisers Advertising Supplement does not contain sufficient information to verify the Advisers credentials but it does offer the public, physicians, hospitals, and managed care organization, and other care organizations general information pertaining to the listed advisers. Adviser data is self-reported by the Adviser. References to any specific adviser does not imply or constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring of such Adviser by the Publisher or any of its affiliates.

Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisors

The Financial Times (FT) Top 300 Independent Registered Investment Advisers (RIA) provides a snapshot of the very best advisers across the U.S. The annual report is produced independently by the FT in collaboration with Ignites Research, a subsidiary of the FT that provides business intelligence on the investment management industry. FT/Ignites Research reviews registered firms across the United States and asked 2,000 RIA firms to apply for the list. The RIA firms that applied were graded on six criteria: assets under management (AUM); AUM growth rate; years in existence; advanced industry credentials; online accessibility; and compliance records.