The four lists
| Source | Method | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Forbes: America's Top Wealth Advisors 2026 | Forbes JSON API, deterministic (curl + jq, $0) | 250/250 |
| Forbes: America's Top Next-Gen Advisors | Headless-browser agent (list paginates via GraphQL) | 100/100 |
| Forbes: Best-in-State Wealth Advisors 2026 | Forbes JSON API, paginated (curl + jq, $0) | 11,302/11,302 |
| Barron's: Top 100 Financial Advisors 2026 | Headless-browser agent | 100/100 |
The Forbes lists are compiled by SHOOK Research (data period 6/30/24 – 6/30/25); Barron's uses its own assets/revenue/quality methodology — the two overlap on only ~76 names, which is itself a finding. List seeds carry rank, firm, location, team AUM, account minimums, and typical client net worth per advisor.
Elite-list advisors (Top Wealth, Next-Gen, Barron's 100) get Opus-grade dossiers; the 11k Best-in-State long tail is enriched with a faster model, with the same citation contract and an Opus verify pass on low-confidence key fields.
Evidence policy for enrichment
Source roles, high → low: sec_finra_regulatory > forbes_shook > firm_official > professional_press > general_press > social_or_third_party_db.
- Regulatory facts (CRD, registration): SEC IAPD / FINRA BrokerCheck.
- Positioning and visual-brand fields must cite the firm's own site — press paraphrase is rejected.
- Every field write carries a verbatim quote, URL, access date, and source role. Missing values get explicit gap records with the queries tried.