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Additional Disclosures and Methodology

Awards and recognitions by unaffiliated rating services, companies, and/or publications should not be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if Kovack Securities, its affiliates, or representatives are engaged, or continue to be engaged, to provide investment services. Kovack Securities makes no representation that the rating is representative of any one client's experience. Neither Kovack Securities, its affiliates, nor its representatives paid a fee to participate in the survey. Investment performance was not evaluated for the award.

Methodology

Data Collection: Participating firms voluntarily provided detailed financial data covering various aspects of their operations, including:

• Revenue
• Fees
• Assets
• Staffing across different categories

Evaluation Criteria: The top-performing firms were determined based on their rankings across several key metrics, including but not limited to:

• Total revenue
• Fee-based revenue
• Account assets
• Average payout per producing representative

Time Period: All financial data and metrics used in the evaluation process pertain to the 2023 calendar year.

Participation: The survey was open to independent broker-dealers who chose to participate and provide the required information.

Compensation and Licensing

No compensation was paid to Investment News or its affiliates by the award recipient in connection with receiving this award. A licensing and copyrighting fee was paid in order to publish the award information on our website.

Please note that while this methodology aims to provide an objective assessment of broker-dealer performance, rankings may not be indicative of future performance.