Consider the importance of serving as a judge for the Financial Frontiers Awards. As an expert in the field of financial services, your knowledge and expertise can play an essential role in maintaining the high standards of this program, and more important, help expand the frontiers of the financial advisory profession.

Eligibility

Those competing in the Financial Frontiers Awards are not eligible to review submissions within their category of entry; they may, however, judge papers in the other category. Anyone entering in both categories in the same year is not eligible to be a judge.

Janus Capital Group and the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) will select and assign judges based on their applications. Judges will be extensively recognized for their efforts. Judging applicants may elect to be considered for stage 1 (initial review), stage 2 (second review), or both. If you are selected to be a judge, you will receive, with your batch of entries to review, evaluation forms and detailed judging guidelines.

Stage 1: Initial Review/Selection of Semifinalists

1. Papers will be reviewed by volunteer committees who narrow the entries down to a group of semifinalists. At this stage, the papers are evaluated for their overall quality:
        -  Is the topic pertinent to financial services professionals?
        -  Is the topic compelling and original?
        -  Are the paper's concepts feasible?
2. No proofreading or editing is done by reviewers.
3. The finalists determined at this stage will go through a second, peer-review, blind process, at which point the finer details of the papers will evaluated.
4. Judges will be given an evaluation form for each entry; comments on the form are strongly encouraged, as this helps in the determination of semifinalists.
5. All judges will participate in a committee conference call to determine semifinalists.
6. Time for review: approximately 6 weeks.
7. Maximum number of papers to review: 15.

Stage 2: Second Review/Recommendation of Finalists

1. Semifinalists' papers will go through a blind, peer-review process.
2. Judges at this stage will read papers carefully to evaluate technical accuracy—testing formulas, assessing accuracy of research, etc. As in the first stage of review, they will not be required to edit or proofread.
3. Judges will be given an evaluation form for each entry; comments on the form are strongly encouraged.
4. Judges will make recommendations of each finalist.
5. Time for review: approximately 3 weeks.
6. Maximum number of papers to review: 5 (this is a thorough reading of the papers).

Stage 3: Selection of Award Winners

A volunteer Selection Committee will meet to determine winners based on previous judges' recommendations and evaluations. Committee members will be individually chosen by invitation.

Application

To download an application for judging, go to www.financialfrontiersawards.org.