Six things to know about how and where RIAs are growing

It is interesting to see that the aggregate number of firms has stayed roughly static at around 29,000.

I thought the number of new firms would outpace the numbers of those that were acquired or just went out of business.

Thanks for sharing this interesting information.

Mike Byrnes, President
Byrnes Consulting, LLC
http://byrnesconsulting.com/
http://twitter.com/ByrnesConsultin

Julie’s RIA data is the most accurate becuase her team looks at each RIA’s website to see what their business really does. Most of the RIA data we receive inflates the growth of true wealth management.
Julie’s firm is a good reality check that independent wealth management is growing BUT it is still small relative to the large financial services providers.
Hate to say that Sallie Krawcheck might be right…at least until the retention checks expire:)

“We are easily convinced by data.” Nice work. This really is a tiny market segment in terms of numbers and AUM, especially if compared to brokers. If one factors in retirement by Boomer owners, it will likely shrink. It is just a whole lot easier to be a broker.