March 2, 2023 – Historically, small RIAs have been viewed as “lifestyle” practitioners. In reality, they present a much richer tapestry of business models and styles than that sobriquet would indicate. This brief first presents a new model Aite-Novarica Group developed to segment all RIAs. It then looks at the more granular practice models for further segmenting the small RIA cohort.

This Impact Brief results from over 20 interviews conducted by Aite-Novarica Group associates in H2 2022 with representatives from RIA custodians, super-hybrid RIAs, individual RIA firms from across segments, technology platform and solution providers, and other RIA industry influencers. It was supplemented with data from a survey of 483 financial advisors conducted during Q4 2021 across wirehouse, bank broker-dealer, insurance broker-dealer, national and regional broker-dealer, and independent RIA (including hybrid) channels to examine the adoption of various capabilities.

Clients of Aite-Novarica Group’s Wealth Management service can download this report.

This report mentions Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Envestnet, Orion, Morningstar, LPL, FNZ, SS&C, Fidelity, and Pershing.