Joe Morse and Carlton Morse have received the honor of being named FIVE STAR Wealth Managers[1] in 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014. The award is offered to a select group of wealth managers from over 11,000² in the San Diego area who score the highest on providing overall client satisfaction. Less than 4 percent of San Diego-based wealth managers receive this honor.

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 (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 compliant process^*); 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.

^*To qualify as having a favorable regulatory and complaint history, the person cannot have: 1. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a suspended or revoked license, or payment of a fine, 2. Had more than three customer complaints filed against them (settled or pending) with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer compliant process, 3. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer compliant filed with a regulatory authority, 4. Filed for bankruptcy, or 5. Been convicted of a felony.

[1]  2013 and 2014 Survey conducted by Five Star Professional, an independent third-party research firm, who received 1675 nominations for 2013 and 1838 nominations for 2014 among all wealth managers in the San Diego area from peers or firms and evaluated the nominees based on 10 objective criteria, including client retention rates, client assets administered, firm review and favorable regulatory and compliant history. 417 were named 2013 and 367 were named 2014 Five Star Wealth Managers, which represents less than 7% of total wealth managers in the area. The Five Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. For more information, see: http://www.fivestarprofessional.com/awards/wealth_manager_program.php.

2010 – 2011 Five Star Wealth Managers scored highest in overall satisfaction based on surveys conducted by Crescendo, a third-party research firm who evaluated feedback from clients, peers and industry professionals. Scoring based on criteria, including customer service, integrity, knowledge/experience, recommendations and overall satisfaction. Selected are the top scoring candidates representing less than 7% of their market. The rating is not representative of any one client’s experience, as the rating reflects an average, or a sample, of all client experiences, and is no guarantee as to a client’s future investment success of an advisor’s selection or performance in the future.