RIAs in a survey released Tuesday by Schwab Advisor Services report that visionary leadership, emotional intelligence and technology fluency are central to their plans for the future.
They are adopting artificial intelligence, expanding capabilities and investing in people to strengthen the RIA model.
“Independence is not just a business model — it’s a mindset,” Jon Beatty, head of Schwab Advisor Services, said in a statement. “RIAs are proving this every day as they chart a confident path forward — keeping client trust at the center, embracing innovation and scaling their firms with purpose to deliver stronger outcomes for both clients and their businesses.”
Logica Research conducted a quantitative online survey from July 21 through Aug. 1 among 912 independent investment advisors who custody assets with Schwab Advisor Services, representing $359 billion in assets under management.
Growth Drivers
As firms grow and evolve, advisory roles are becoming multifaceted. Fifty-seven percent of advisors in the survey view themselves as client champions and 54% as business builders, with growing roles as mentors, innovators and legacy builders.
They identified these leadership traits as the top ones for the next three years:
- Client-centric innovation — 41%
- Strategic vision — 41%
- Business development innovation — 37%
- Tech fluency — 33%
- Emotional intelligence — 26%
The Schwab survey found that AI is gaining traction across the profession. Fifty-seven percent of firms are already using the technology, with 29% exploring its potential. Seven in 10 respondents said they expect AI to be fully embedded in operations within five years.
Today’s top use cases are research and analysis, client communication and document creation, according to the survey.
Growth and relationships go hand in hand, the survey found. While 90% of advisors said they gauge their progress in terms of assets under management; 40% also look at the number of clients as an indicator of growth, and 27% consider AUM per household as a growth indicator.
Over the next three years, 71% said they will prioritize onboarding new clients, 59% will prioritize raising AUM per client and 55% will focus on driving more referrals.
Seven in 10 respondents who planned to scale up expected their efforts to boost profits in the next three years, with a third expecting gains of 21% or more.
Today, the survey results show, 37% of firms use a hybrid tech approach. Twenty-two percent combine a core integrated platform with specialized solutions, rather than an approach that prioritizes “best-of-breed" solutions for every function, and 19% use fully integrated platforms with end-to-end workflows.
To better streamline operations and strengthen client relationships, advisors said their top tech priorities are tools that are secure, cost-effective and well-integrated.
Credit: Diego Radzinschi/ALM
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