Barron’s: Local adviser is nation’s best

PROVIDENCE – Two Merrill Lynch employees have made the list of top financial advisers in Rhode Island recently assembled by Barron’s magazine.
The publication, however, gave the highest ranking to Malcom Makin, 64, who works for Raymond James & Associates Inc. in Westerly.
According to Barron’s “America’s Adviser Rankings,” Makin manages $770 million in assets, with a typical account holding between $1.5 million to $3.5 million and typical net worth of a client between $1.5 million to 4 million.
The magazine, which ranked advisers in each of the 50 states, said the rankings are based on data provided by more than 3,000 of the nation’s productive advisers. Factors included in the rankings: assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, client satisfaction, regulatory record and philanthropic work. Institutional assets were given less weight in the scoring.
Second on the list was Edythe De Marco, from Merrill Lynch’s Providence office. Barron’s said she manages $200 million in assets, with a typical account holding of $2 million and typical net worth of a client of $2.5 million.
The remaining three advisers in the Rhode Island ranking – along with their employers, total assets under management, typical account size, and typical client net worth – were:
• Gary Lincoln, UBS Financial Services in Providence, $110 million, $600,000, $2 million.
• Carl Romanovich, Smith Barney in Providence, $422 million, $250,000, $1.5 million.
• Ronald Loeser, Merrill Lynch in Providence, $430 million, $2 million and $5 million.