NEW YORK, April 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Business Media's Investment Advisor magazine, the leading publication for independent advisors and financial planners, announced the 9th annual IA 25 – the twenty-five people having the most influence on the advisor community. Investment Advisor's editors selected the 25 for the impact they have had and will continue to have on investing, practice management, technology and the regulatory universe in which advisors operate.

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"In the nine years that Investment Advisor has published the IA 25 we've never ranked them in order of importance," commented Investment Advisor's group editor-in-chief, James J. Green. "This year, however, it would be hard to argue with the choice of Mary Schapiro, SEC Chairman, as the most influential person in the professional lives of advisors. She stands at the center of implementing the most wide-ranging legislation to affect the financial services world since the Investment Advisers Act of 1940." Chairman Schapiro has appeared on the IA 25 for six consecutive years, reflecting her role at the SEC during a tumultuous time for the financial community.

The IA 25 are profiled in the May issue of Investment Advisor and include exclusive interviews with Chairman Schapiro, FINRA Chairman Rich Ketchum, PIMCO's Mohammed El-Erian, Fisher Investments' Ken Fisher, Senator Tim Johnson, EBSA's Phyllis Borzi and more, including leading advisors, advisor partners, regulators, legislators and advisor association leaders, Full interviews and more complete profiles will be available throughout the month of May through an AdvisorOne.com special report providing advisors with insights on the issues and trends that will impact them in the coming year. AdvisorOne.com is Summit's comprehensive web portal for investment advisors that changes the information landscape in the investment advisory community by providing all of the content important to today's advisors in one online destination.

The full list of industry notables include:

• Mary Schapiro, SEC Chairman
• Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-AL, Chairman, House Financial Services Committee
• Dale Brown, CEO, Financial Services Institute
• Olivia Mitchell, Executive Director, Pension Research Council
• Richard Ketchum, Chairman and CEO, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
• Robert Pozen, Chairman Emeritus, MFS Investment Management
• Tom Bradley, President, TD Ameritrade Institutional
• Ken Fisher, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Fisher Investments
• Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-Chief Investment Officer, PIMCO
• Mark Tibergien, CEO, Pershing Advisor Solutions
• Julie Littlechild, President, Advisor Impact
• Bruce Berkowitz, Founder, Fairholme Capital Management
• Bill Dwyer, President, National Sales & Marketing, LPL Financial, Chairman, Financial Services Institute
• Phyllis Borzi, Director, Dept. of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration
• Harold Evensky, President, Evensky & Katz
• Eileen Rominger, SEC Director of Investment Management
• Rep. Scott Garrett, R-NJ, Chairman Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets
• Meir Statman, Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara Univ.
• Spenser Segal, Founder and CEO, ActiFi
• David Tittsworth, Executive Director, Investment Adviser Association
• Ron Rhoades, Director of Research and Chief Compliance Officer, Joseph Capital Management LLC.
• Elizabeth Warren, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Blaine Aikin, CEO, fi360
• Michael McRaith, Director, Federal Insurance Office
• Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD, Chairman Senate Banking Committee

"The willingness of these political and regulatory leaders to sit down and discuss the key issues affecting the industry reflects the importance of independent advisors on both Wall Street and Capitol Hill," said John Sullivan, editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor.

About Summit Business Media

Summit Business Media is the leading B2B media company serving the insurance and investment markets. SBM publishes 16 magazines, more than 30 targeted industry Web sites, 150 reference titles, a dozen conferences and is the leading provider of group benefits and retirement prospecting tools and insurance industry financial data. For more information, visit summitbusinessmedia.com.

SOURCE Summit Business Media