Media investment bankers DeSilva+Phillips have announced that their client, The Winner's Circle Organization, has been sold to Barron's, the magazine published by Dow Jones & Company.

The Winner's Circle Organization is a consulting firm which provides analysis of financial advisory practices and rankings, which for the past five years has partnered with Barron's on a highly successful conference business which produces forums for elite financial advisors to meet and discuss the business of delivering wealth management for high-net-worth individuals and institutions. Full release after the jump.

NEW YORK ( Sept. 25, 2008) - DeSilva+Phillips, media investment bankers, announces that its client, The Winner's Circle® Organization, was sold to Barron's, the magazine published by Dow Jones & Company. The Winner's Circle Organization, based in Boca Raton, Florida, is a consulting firm which provides analysis of financial advisory practices and rankings of advisors based on assets under management, revenue generation and practice quality. DeSilva+Phillips Corporate Finance, LLC, advised The Winner's Circle Organization in the transaction.

For the past five years, The Winner's Circle has partnered with Barron's on a highly successful conference business which produces forums for elite financial advisors to meet and discuss the business of delivering wealth management for high-net-worth individuals and institutions. These conferences include The Investment Consultants Summit, The Top Advisors Summit and The Top Women Advisors Summit.
In recent years, Barron's has published The Winner's Circle rankings of The Top 100 Financial Advisors, The Top 100 Women Financial Advisors and The Top 100 Independent Advisors. To name these top advisors, The Winner's Circle screens thousands of candidates, interviews the finalists, speaks with supervisors and reviews internal reports. The Winner's Circle has put this process in place to ensure that the advisors who make it to its highly regarded Top 100 lists follow the investment industry's best practices.

R.J. Shook, who founded The Winner's Circle and is its president, said, "For eight years, The Winner's Circle and its mission of identifying and promoting best practices in the financial advisor industry have been my passion. We are gratified to have partnered with Barron's in recent years and now to have Barron's assume an exclusive leadership role in this important endeavor."

Reed Phillips, managing partner of DeSilva+Phillips Corporate Finance, LLC, said "R.J. Shook created a terrific business that we believe will grow and flourish under Barron's ownership."

"The acquisition of The Winner's Circle Organization further strengthens Barron's leadership position as a producer of premium conferences for the financial industry," said Edwin Finn, editor and president, Barron's Magazine, in a statement released by Dow Jones & Company. "We are optimistic about the future of the wealth management industry, in part because investors today need more advice, and more sophisticated advice, than ever before."

Dow Jones & Company has announced that The Winner's Circle Organization will be absorbed into the New York-based offices of Barron's.
Tombstone for The Winners Circle sale