SAN FRANCISCO — Will M. Richardson III of San Francisco became a certified financial planner practitioner, with Northwestern Mutual in January 2012.

After he began work with the company in operations and compliance in February 2002, he started his own practice as a financial advisor in January 2008. He is in the top 5 percent of Northwestern Mutual representatives.

In addition, he qualified for the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table, the premier association representing the top 1 percent of the world’s best financial services professionals. A 2000 Magna Cum Laude graduate with a bachelor’s in marketing from the University of Mississippi, Will is the son of Sharon and Jim Barnett.