HERNDON, Va.  — Kehrer Group, an independent, third-party research and consulting firm for the financial institution insurance and securities community, recently named Northwest Financial Advisors’ Senior Vice President Karen Benedict the 2024 No. 1 Top Director among credit union-based investment services firms, mid-size firms and women-led firms.

Representatives from Kehrer Group and presenting sponsor Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group announced the 2024 credit union-based award winners during a ceremony held at the annual PROCU Conference in San Diego, California on October 3. The 2024 Top Directors Awards ceremony in which all category winners were announced, including mid-sized firms and women-led firms, was held in Cary, North Carolina on November 7-8. 

Kehrer Group uses a transparent, data-driven process to select award nominees from hundreds of financial institution investment services executives across the country, then ranks their performance using 16 criteria to select the winners.*

Kevin Fisher, NWFA's president and CEO said, “It is wonderful to see Karen’s talent and dedication to our firm’s success reflected in this prestigious recognition, not only this year but in the past. For a respected, independent firm such as Kehrer Group to recognize her as the ‘best of the best’ in three distinct categories is impressive, and I congratulate her and her team.”

“I am honored to have received this incredible recognition from Kehrer Group, a firm known for its insightful industry research and reliable, neutral data. This recognition is evidence of our advisors’ hard work and dedication to exceptional client service which drives our business growth,” said Benedict.

For more information on Kehrer Group’s Top Directors awards, please visit kehrergroup.com or email info@kehrergroup.com.

About Northwest Financial Advisors

Serving individuals and businesses across the nation for over a quarter century, Northwest Financial Advisors (NWFA) is owned by NW Capital Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Federal Credit Union. The firm offers a comprehensive range of personalized, prudent wealth management advice and solutions to help individuals and business owners work toward creating, growing and preserving their assets. LPL Financial, the nation's leading independent broker-dealer¹ and NWFA's securities custodian, ranked NWFA the No. 3 investment program among its credit union programs and the No. 11 investment program among its bank and credit union programs combined in 2024.² Visit nwfllc.com for more information.

About Kehrer Group

Kehrer Group is the financial advice community’s trusted partner for original thought leadership, insight based in data and strategies that drive success. Kehrer Group’s legacy of research and analysis has advanced the delivery of investment services in banks and credit unions and shaped the industry into what it is today. Kehrer Group’s principals meld the wisdom gained from its long history in the industry with cutting-edge analytics, data that is robust and diverse and a deep understanding of the key drivers of performance. Together with its clients and partners, Kehrer Group moves the industry forward.

*Kehrer Group uses a multi-faceted, data-driven and balanced assessment of firm performance for the 2024 Top Directors Awards. Data sources include the firm’s annual benchmarking surveys, self-nominations and third-party broker/dealer nominations. Nominees were ranked on their performance across 16 criteria to determine the finalists and winners: 1) Household penetration—percent of customer/member households with an investment relationship: 2) Revenue penetration of deposits—revenue per million of FDIC core deposits or NCUA share deposits, 3) Revenue penetration of households—revenue per customer/member household, 4) Profit margin, 5) Advisor revenue productivity—gross revenue per advisor, 6) Advisor asset productivity—assets per advisor, 7) Share of revenue from advisory business, 8) Share of revenue from life insurance revenue, 9) Clients per advisor, 10) Revenue per client, 11) Investment assets per client, 12) Net new assets per advisor, 13) Year-over-year revenue growth, 14) Asset productivity—revenue on assets, 15) Advisor deposit coverage—deposits per advisor, 16) Advisor household coverage—customer/member households per advisor

¹Based on total revenues, as reported by Financial Planning magazine, 1996-2024.

²Rankings based on total production among all LPL Financial Institution Services (FIS) advisors through September 30, 2024.