Robert Fragasso, president and founder of Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc., a downtown financial planning firm, has recently been selected as one of the top 100 high-end financial advisors nationwide by The Dow Jones Business and Financial Weekly, Barron's.

Recipients are chosen for this honor from among more than 3,000 financial advisors. Selection criteria include integrity, professionalism and a niche specialty for serving high-wealth individuals, defined as people with $1-10 million or more to invest.

Barron's is the premier publication for private investors, money managers and corporate executives involved with the financial community. With a circulation of more than 300,000, the content of Barron's is comprised of in-depth analyses of the markets and their impacts, industry developments, economic indicators and investment opportunities. The 100 winners were recognized in the September 20th issue of the publication in a special section titled, "Best Brokers."

According to the editors of Barron's, "Financial advisors are the most important professionals when it comes to helping Americans achieve their goals for retirement and for their children's educations. So rating them, however difficult it may be, is clearly worthwhile."

Barron's relied on the services of R.J. Shook who has been ranking top financial advisors nationwide for more than 10 years. The process is as follows: Firms nominate themselves. Then, Shook independently checks the nominated candidates for a range of criteria including regulatory records, amount of assets under management, and firm objectivity when offering investment products to clients. Shook then talks extensively with those working with the candidate as well as clients of the candidate before making a final determination.

This award comes on the heels of two other recent and notable awards for Fragasso Financial Advisors. In May, Bob Fragasso was chosen as one of the top 10 investment professionals nationwide by Registered Rep Magazine. In addition, on October 7 at a luncheon in downtown Pittsburgh, Fragasso Financial Advisors will be recognized as one of the 30 best places to work by The Pittsburgh Business Times.

At a time when public trust of financial advisors and the financial industry in general, including that of affluent investors, is declining, Fragasso Financial Advisors's high standard of quality, ethics and client service seems to be raising the bar for those in the industry.

The Fragasso Group is a Pittsburgh-based financial planning firm that specializes in retirement planning, wealth management, college expense planning, employer plans, insurance needs and estate planning. For more than three decades, Fragasso Financial Advisors has served individuals and corporations as an independent investment advisory firm. The Fragasso Group manages more than $400 million in assets for more than 1,500 households, corporations and retirement plans.