Fostering success: 2023 Benchmarking Study insights
Results from the 2023 RIA Benchmarking Study show the industry's enduring strength. With 1,300 independent advisory participants, the study is rich with industry, firm, and client insights. Here, you can explore key findings alongside our Guiding Principles for Advisory Firm Success and discover opportunities for your own business.
Effective planning and execution is a leading indicator of success
Nearly 80% of Top Performing Firms have a written strategic plan, which gives them the focus and accountability to help grow faster than other firms. In fact, Top Performing Firms have seen twice as much annualized revenue growth from 2018 through 2022.
RIA 5-year growth metrics¹
RIA 5-year growth metrics¹
RIA 5-year growth metrics¹
AUM
Revenue
Clients
Value is defined through your clients' eyes
Personalization can help deepen client relationships. Customized services, personalized investment strategies, and behavioral finance (BeFi)—increasing awareness around behavioral biases that drive investors' decisions—can help optimize financial outcomes and enhance client satisfaction. Firms using BeFi attracted more than three times the assets from existing clients in 2022, at the median.
Firms offering wealth management services
Firms offering wealth management services
Firms offering wealth management services
Firms under $250M
Firms over $250M
Firms using behavioral finance
Firms using behavioral finance
Operational excellence creates greater capacity for clients
As your firm grows, it can be challenging to balance the client experience with firm performance. That's highlighted by the fact that 56% of firms' clients had $1 million or less in AUM but accounted for only an estimated 22% of revenue in 2022. Client segmentation can help—creating experiences that fit each client group's needs while enhancing the firm's performance. Firms with a client segmentation strategy saw improved productivity—managing more clients per professional, at the median—than those without one.
Firms with a documented client segmentation strategy
Firms with a documented client segmentation strategy
Clients and revenue by client relationship size²
Clients and revenue by client relationship size²
Your reputation is your brand
Referrals are a leading source of organic growth, and having plans is key. Firms with client referral plans and business partner referral plans generated 1.6 times and 4.0 times more new clients in 2022, respectively, from those channels compared with firms without these plans. Growth can also be inorganic: In 2022, 6% of all firms acquired new clients through mergers and acquisitions and 9% grew by bringing on an advisor with a book of business.3
Drivers of new client asset growth in 2022
Drivers of new client asset growth in 2022
Firms with documented referral plans
Firms with documented referral plans
Firms with inorganic activity in past five years⁵
Firms with inorganic activity in past five years⁵
People are your most important asset
Talent is critical to growth and long-term success, and having an employee value proposition (EVP) is essential to attract candidates and keep talent engaged. An EVP explains what a firm offers its employees in return for the skills, capabilities, and experiences they bring. Forty percent of all firms have a documented EVP, with Top Performing Firms more likely to have one.
Firms with documented EVPs
Firms with documented EVPs
Elements offered by firms to support their EVP
Elements offered by firms to support their EVP
From the archives
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Participate in 2024
Participate in 2024
Knowledge is power. When you're faced with key business decisions, understanding data and best practices from other firms can make all the difference. Insights from the annual RIA Benchmarking Study can provide you with what you need to drive your firm forward and optimize how you serve clients.
The RIA Benchmarking Study is the largest study of its kind focusing on independent RIAs—our 2023 study compiled data from 1,300 advisory firms representing over $1.7 trillion in assets under management. Participating RIAs can compare their firms' performance on hundreds of key metrics with those of their peer group to track progress against strategic goals and identify opportunities.
Contact Schwab Advisor Services or visit our resources below to learn more about taking part in the 2024 RIA Benchmarking Study.
1. Median results and compound annual growth rates (CAGR) over the 5-year period from year-end 2017 through 2022 by peer group (based on AUM).
2. Results for firms with $250 million or more in AUM.
3. Results for firms with $25 million or more in AUM.
4. Includes mergers and acquisitions and advisor joins.
5. 2018 through 2022.
Data represents median results by peer group ( based on AUM) unless otherwise noted. Top Performing Firms are those that rank in the top 20% of the Firm Performance Index. The index evaluates all firms in the study according to 15 metrics to arrive at a holistic assessment of each firm's performance across key business areas.
About the 2023 RIA Benchmarking Study from Charles Schwab
Schwab designed this study to capture insights in the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) industry based on survey responses from individual firms. The 2023 study provides information on topics such as asset and revenue growth, sources of new clients, products and pricing, staffing, compensation, marketing, technology, and financial performance. Since the inception of the study in 2006, more than 4,500 firms have participated, with many repeat participants. Fielded from January to March 2023, the study contains self-reported data from 1,300 firms that custody their assets with Schwab or TD Ameritrade and represents over $1.7 trillion in assets under management, making this the leading study in the RIA industry. Schwab did not independently verify or validate the self-reported information. Participant firms represent various sizes and business models. They are categorized into eight peer groups by AUM size. The study is part of Schwab Business Consulting and Education, a practice management offering for RIAs. Grounded in the best practices of leading independent advisory firms, Business Consulting and Education provides insight, guidance, tools, and resources to help RIAs strategically manage and grow their firm.
Past performance is not an indicator of future results.
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab") is a separate but affiliated company and subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation ("Charles Schwab").
TD Ameritrade Institutional, Division of TD Ameritrade, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation. TD Ameritrade is a trademark jointly owned by TD Ameritrade IP Company, Inc. and The Toronto-Dominion Bank..