ProVise Management Group in Clearwater is the largest independent financial adviser in the Tampa Bay area and second largest in the state, according to the latest issue of Bloomberg Wealth Manager magazine.
ProVise, founded in 1986 by Ray Ferrara, had $286-million in assets under management at the end of last year, second only to Evensky, Brown & Katz of Coral Gables. With this year's market recovery, ProVise's client assets have grown to $320-million.
ProVise's five partners sold the company two years ago to National Financial Partners, a financial planning network in New York. Ferrara said the local partners kept control of operations through a management contract that pays them half ProVise's profits. National Financial, which expects to go public this year, has grown to include more than 100 financial planning companies across the country. Its chief executive is Jessica Bibliowicz, a veteran of both the securities industry and business TV shows.
ProVise's average account size of $870,000 ranked sixth in the state and 143rd in the country in Bloomberg's survey. Bloomberg did not include banks, brokerages, insurance companies, trust companies and their affiliates in its rankings.
