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“It’s been an Armageddon; there was absolutely nowhere to hide from all the nightmare stuff flying around,” says Lorna Meyer, senior vice president of investments for Merrill Lynch in California. “It’s the financial-market version of ’shock and awe.’ Now we have to figure out what to do in the aftermath.” Similarly, many Americans are still reeling from a tumultuous financial year. To orchestrate a quick rebound from your losses, you’ll need to find financial advisor professionals you can trust. Barron’s is America’s premier financial magazine and they have just released their Top 1,000 Independent Financial Advisor Professionals list for 2009.

Barron’s top financial advisors are primarily listed by state, although there were also some financial advisor winners who emerged across the board. Merrill Lynch, for instance, had 239 of its advisors make the list. Even though the company was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy before being acquired by Bank of America last year, their established presence in every state has helped them remain afloat in troubled times. “We are continuing to set the standard by which other advisory firms are measured,” explains SVP Dan Sontag, head of Global Private Client’s Americas Advisory Division. “Our growing number of advisors on the Barron’s list reflects the strength and depth of our entire field.”

When looking for a financial advisor they can trust, affluent investors are looking for transparency and liquidity, says Barron’s. John Fitzpatrick of UBS New York says that municipal bonds can yield high single-digits and prove to be “safer securities” with “good yields” — “appealing to nearly everyone.” This financial advisor says there is still room for consistently performing stocks like Colgate-Palmolive and Coca-Cola. The world of financial advisory has changed and those on Barron’s Top 1,000 list know this. American investors are hoping that “slow and steady wins the race,” when it comes to their portfolios.

It’s a tough time for the financial advisor today. In a recent study conducted by the Financial Research Corp, 40% of advisors surveyed said they experienced staff cutbacks this year, 31% reported cuts in marketing support and 27% said their compensation structures declined. Across all channels, 61% of top-level financial advisors said they spent more time meeting with clients. “We call this the advisor pinch,” explains Margaret Rorick, senior VP of research at FRC. “They have to do more with less and are getting more questions from clients. Advisors have to do more of the back office work and spend more time meeting with clients. They have to do more research to come up with answers and provide education for clients. That makes it harder for them. And not many people stop and feel bad for advisors.”

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