What the RIA Industry Looks Like Now, in 10 Charts

The registered investment advisory industry grew by 2.1% in 2022, with 15,114 fiduciary investment advisors managing $114.1 trillion in assets for 61.9 million clients, according to the Investment Adviser Association and National Regulatory Services’ just-released Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot report.

“Over the past five years, over 22 million more individuals have engaged an investment adviser for asset management — a rate of growth in both the number of individual clients and assets of roughly 12% per year,” Karen Barr, CEO and president of the IAA, said in announcing the report’s findings.

While assets under management “declined for the first time since 2008 due to a vacillating economy, the investment advisory industry was resilient, with both the number of advisers and non-clerical employees climbing to a record high in 2022,” the report states.

The number of clients using asset management services increased in 2022 to a record high of 54.3 million, a gain of 2.1%, according to the report. Other stats show that 91.7% of advisors employed 100 or fewer employees, 70.2% of advisors managed less than $1 billion in assets, and 88.5% managed less than $5 billion.

The total number of clients not using asset management services, “such as clients using only financial planning services, declined in 2022 as digital advice offerings evolved and providers realigned their platforms, the report states. “As a result, the total number of clients declined by 4.3%.”

Rule proposals from the Securities and Exchange Commission “have the potential to lead to significant industry change,” the report states, noting the safeguarding proposal, which the report says “would subject 1/3 of the industry to custody requirements.”

Read the gallery for 10 other stats about the industry from 2022 as described in the snapshot.