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They play a critical role in recruiting and supporting advisers. See who made the cut for this year's honoree list.

Mark Holmes is CEO of Waymark Tech.

For a solution, look to deficiencies found in the Markowitz model, one manager says.

Jim Weiss is manager and assistant actuary in the Personal Automobile Actuarial Division at Insurance Services Office (ISO), a Verisk Analytics Company. His primary responsibilities include product development and filing strategy for personal auto predictive modeling initiatives, with a focus on vehicle rating and usage-based insurance (UBI). Weiss was lead actuary on the multi-state filing of both of ISO's telematics-based rating plans, and is a frequent presenter on UBI and personal lines analytical topics. He is co-author of "Beginner's Roadmap to Working with Driving Behavior Data," which was awarded the 2012 Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) Management Data and Information Prize, and author of "Five Simple Rules to Leverage Four Generations of Talent," which placed first in the 2013 Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) Society Diversity Essay Contest. Weiss is a Fellow of the CAS, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a CPCU.

Demographics and competitive forces are destined to weaken the determination to avoid expensive recruiting packages.

None of the FP50 are close to equalizing their ranks of men and women.

The Honorable Sheila Bair is a nationally recognized leader in financial regulation and public service, renowned for protecting Main Street during the 2008 financial crisis.

As chair of the FDIC from 2006 to 2011, she championed accountability for "too big to fail" institutions and earned the JFK Library's Profiles in Courage Award. She was twice named by Forbes Magazine as the second most powerful woman in the world.

She later served as the first female president of Washington College and became the first female chair of Fannie Mae. She has served on several corporate and advisory boards, while continuing her work on public policy issues as founding chair of the Systemic Risk Council and a Founding Board member of the Volcker Alliance.

A respected voice on financial policy issues, Sheila is a frequent op-ed contributor for the Financial Times and other publications. She is also the author of the New York Times best seller "Bull by the Horns," her memoir of the financial crisis and the award-winning Money Tales books for children.

The regional firm continues to snatch multi-million dollar teams from the wirehouses.