An RIA is a “registered investment advisor” registered with the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) or one or more U.S. States (Department of Commerce or Securities Agency) to do business as a financial advisor. RIAs manage client portfolios as fiduciaries and typically take fees based on assets managed for services versus commissions on trades or products sold.
Understanding The RIA Channel
WHAT IS AN RIA?
AGGREGATE ASSETS OF TOTAL RIA MARKET
The total RIA market is diverse, and includes any firm registered as a registered investment advisory firm. It consists of banks, broker/dealers, financial planners, hedge funds, family offices, asset managers, wealth managers and more. If firms want to give advice as fiduciaries for a fee, they must register as RIAs to do so. The following chart aggregates total assets for all registered firms.
$97.833 Trillion Total Assets Under Management (AUM)
57.345 Million Total Accounts
$3.275 Trillion Total ETF Investments
$90.101 Trillion Discretionary AUM
41.560 Million Discretionary Accounts
$32.328 Trillion Total Equity Investments
| • | Firms With Assets $0 to $50M | 25,388 Firms $180,327,069,014 |
| • | Firms With Assets $50M to $100M | 2,850 Firms $204,626,272,472 |
| • | Firms With Assets $100M to $200M | 3,084 Firms $440,940,999,808 |
| • | Firms With Assets $200M to $500M | 3,365 Firms $1,077,608,786,432 |
| • | Firms With Assets $500M to $1B | 1,771 Firms $1,258,516,242,816 |
| • | Firms With Assets $1B to $2B | 1,293 Firms $1,829,007,898,944 |
| • | Firms With Assets $2B to $3B | 549 Firms $1,347,320,718,720 |
| • | Firms With Assets More Than $3B | 2,095 Firms $91,495,166,617,856 |
NEW REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISORS (RIA FIRMS)
Total RIA Firms
40,395
200-300 New RIA Firms Register Each Month
Wealth manager segmentation
14,955 Firms
$2.969 Trillion Total Assets Under Management (AUM)
$198 Million Average Assets Under Management (AUM)
$311 Billion Total ETF Assets
$229 Billion Total Equities
$2.456 Trillion Fixed Income, Mutual Funds or SMAs
Wealth Manager Investments
| • | ETFs | 10% |
| • | Fixed Income, Mutual Funds or SMAs | 82% |
| • | Equities | 8% |
Aggregate Firms By Size
Wealth Manager Asset Growth
Total Assets In Trillions
| $1.1T | $1.3T | $1.2T | $1.6T | $1.9T | $2.0T | $2.1T | $2.2T | $2.2T | $2.3T | $2.4T | $2.5T | $2.35T | $2.96T |
Wealth Managers Defined
Wealth managers are a subset of the total RIA market. RIA Database defines wealth managers as firms that provide financial planning, comprehensive wealth services, manager due diligence, asset allocation and investment selection advice to clients. Wealth managers may offer holistic planning including accounting services, tax and estate planning and family office services. Many wealth managers also offer asset management services which may include portfolio management. Pure asset management firms such as fund companies, ETF sponsors or separately managed account firms are not included here.
WEALTH MANAGER OPPORTUNITIES
14,925 Total Advisors
$2.96 Trillion In Total AUM
| • |
Firms under $100 |
| 10,108 Firms (68%) $256 Billion (9%) |
| • |
Firms $100M to $1B |
| 4,299 Firms (29%) $1.27 Trillion (43%) |
| • |
Firms over $1B |
| 518 Firms (3%) $1.44 Trillion (48%) |
ADVISOR PRIORITIES (1,000+ SURVEYS COMPLETED)
Buy A Business
12.11%
Sell Or Merge With Another Business
8.4%
Grow Organically As Much As Possible
44.73%
Start An RIA
5.27%
Break Away From Your Broker/Dealer
3.71%
GROWTH EXPECTATIONS (1,000+ SURVEYS COMPLETED)
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