Barron's Recognizes Charles Zhang As America's #1 Independent Financial Advisor

PORTAGE, Mich., Sept. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Charles Zhang CFP ®, a fee-only financial advisor based in Portage, Michigan and founder and CEO of Zhang Financial, has been recognized as the top-ranked independent advisor in the nation on Barron's list of 2021 Top Independent Financial Advisors*. According to Barron's, the annual list spotlights the nation's top-performing financial planners and advisors, evaluated based on quantitative and qualitative criteria including assets under management, revenue trends, and overall client satisfaction.

Zhang is a NAPFA-registered, fee-only financial advisor. NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisors are financial planners who adhere to the industry's most demanding practice requirements, including fee-only compensation, and meet NAPFA's rigorous accreditation standards. Through membership in the NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor program, Charles Zhang and Zhang Financial have endorsed a powerful message from the financial planning industry regarding the high level of responsibility and care that must be exercised on behalf of each client.

A financial planner who has a financial stake in the course of action that they recommend to a client faces an inherent conflict of interest and should not be considered objective or unbiased. Unfortunately, the vast majority of financial advisors in the United States today are also sellers of financial products. Some or all of their income may be dependent upon their ability to steer their clients to invest in a specific subsector of the thousands of financial products available today. NAPFA and Zhang Financial believe that many of the difficulties and issues that Americans face when dealing with their financial affairs are directly related to the conflicts of interest that pervade the financial planning sphere.

"Fee-only" is a term signifying that a given financial advisor does not receive commissions or additional revenue from financial product providers. This eliminates any potential bias when allocating assets and ensures that the advisor can focus solely on servicing client interests. By contrast, fee-based advisors receive fees from clients as well as commissions from selling financial products or from participation in revenue sharing agreements with product providers. A fee-based structure, therefore, introduces unwanted monetary influence in the way advisors manage client portfolios.

Zhang Financial, with over $4.5 billion dollars in managed assets, sets a new standard in both professionalism and client service within the wealth management landscape. Established three decades ago, Zhang Financial has developed into a prominent industry leader while still maintaining its client-centered focus. As a symbol of their commitment to community support, Charles Zhang and COO Lynn Zhang have personally donated over $10 million dollars to charitable causes in the Portage, Kalamazoo, and greater Grand Rapids region, as well as throughout Michigan. Zhang Financial's comprehensive fee-only solutions are built upon an academic, evidence-based investment philosophy aimed at providing each client with the highest probability of success.

*As reported by Barron's on September 17, 2021. Please see www.zhangfinancial.com/disclosure for full ranking criteria and disclosure.

Elizabeth Edgerton
269.385.5888
Elizabeth.Edgerton@zhangfinancial.com

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SOURCE Zhang Financial