BILLIONAIRE'S Club: North Carolina-based investment advisers who manage more than $1 billion.

Soaring stocks and bonds made 2021 a great year for most money managers, as is shown in our annual listing of the largest advisers based in North Carolina. Two-thirds of the companies on the list reported more than 20% gains in assets under management, reflecting higher asset values and client additions.

Unfortunately, the music stopped this year with the S&P 500 slumping 17%, the Nasdaq plunging 25% and bond prices declining at press time in mid-May. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, skyrocketing inflation and prospects of a recession spooked investors. Some selling stemmed from profit taking after three years of double-digit gains in stock-market indices.

The data is based on the companies' most recent annual filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which provides snapshots of the number of employees, assets under management and key owners.

Private-equity groups and large asset managers based outside North Carolina are not included in the list. That's why advisers affiliated with major companies such as Fidelity and Morgan Stanley are not listed.

Among the groups showing 50%-plus gains in assets from a year earlier were Biltmore Family Office and Adhesion Wealth Advisors of Charlotte, Salem Investment Counselors of Winston-Salem and Cornerstone Advisors of Asheville.

No. 1 ranked CapFinancial Partners, which is the parent of CapTrust Financial, reported a 46% increase.

ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT (BILLION); [up arrow][down arrow] CHANGE FROM 2020 1. CAPFINANCIAL PARTNERS Raleigh $655 $205 [up arrow]46% The holding company of CapTrust has acquired several dozen advisory firms since 2006 and has 1,046 employees, Private-equity firm GTCR owns a 25% stake. 2. BARINGS Charlotte $307 $30 [up arrow]11% Mutual-fund adviser owned by MassMutual employs 1,019 workers. Insurance company clients have $224 billion managed by Barings. 3. STERLING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT Charlotte $75.3 $5.3 [up arrow]7% Truist Financial owns more than 75% of the company that employs 176 people. Alexander McAlister Is president. 4. WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT INSTITUTE Charlotte $51.2 $45.3 [up arrow]767% Assets grew from $5.9 billion In 2020 as Investment teams shifted accounts from other bank-owned units. It now has 212 employees. 5 ALIGHT FINANCIAL ADVISORS Charlotte $32.1 $0.6 [up arrow]1% The subsidiary of the Blackstone private-equity firm provides fee-based advisory services. 6. GLOBAL ENDOWMENT MANAGEMENT Charlotte $13.2 $1.6 [up arrow]14% Its 29 clients are...