Jon Beatty, Chief Operating Officer of Schwab Advisor Services, joined Keith Black, Managing Director of RIA Channel, to discuss the growth trajectory of RIAs.
Beatty notes that wealth in the US is $31 trillion. After tripling assets from 2011 to 2021, RIAs now control $8 trillion. This leaves an opportunity for advisors to capture another $23 trillion. The RIA space is a dynamic one, with advisors moving from one RIA firm to another as well as moving into the RIA space from other channels. In 2022, $1.4 trillion in assets moved within the RIA channel, much of which was driven by merger activity. There was a growth of 45% in the number of advisors joining existing RIAs, often seeking scale or resources to better serve their clients.
One key way advisors seek to better serve their clients is to automate as much of the back office and lower-value activities as possible. Once automation completes time-consuming and repetitive tasks, advisors can spend more time adding value for clients. Advisors do their best work in turbulent markets when investors most need advice. Predictive models and artificial intelligence are increasingly used by advisors to personalize advice for each client.
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