{"type":"ria_benchmarks","disclaimer":"Firm-level data as reported on Form ADV to the SEC and state regulators; corrections are made on Form ADV and appear after the next monthly reload.","title":"RIA practice benchmarks","lead":"As of October 2, 2026, the median independent wealth management RIA manages $38.0 million of AUM per advisory employee, has 45 clients per advisory employee and has 2 employees. 91.7% of firms charge a percentage of assets (22,914 firms, from Form ADV).","as_of":"2026-10-02","facts":{"population":"Independent wealth management RIAs, SEC-registered and state-registered: firms whose individual and high net worth clients hold at least half of their AUM and that offer financial planning or portfolio management for individuals. Broker-dealers, banks and their advisory arms, asset managers, private fund managers and pension consultants are not counted.","period":"Form ADV data as of the date above. Each firm's figures are as it last reported them, mostly as of its fiscal year end, which is usually December 31 of the previous year.","minimum_firms_per_group":30,"independent_wealth_management_rias":22914,"all_sizes":{"raum_per_advisor":{"label":"AUM per advisory employee","firms_with_value":19376,"median":38000000,"middle_50_percent_from":12374384.8863636,"middle_50_percent_to":83798890.875},"clients_per_advisor":{"label":"Clients per advisory employee","firms_with_value":19915,"median":45.25,"middle_50_percent_from":20.7321428571429,"middle_50_percent_to":83},"raum_per_client":{"label":"AUM per individual or high net worth client","firms_with_value":18044,"median":800605.052611367,"middle_50_percent_from":385357.681263736,"middle_50_percent_to":1577777.77777778},"employees":{"label":"Employees","firms_with_value":22791,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},"advisory_employees":{"label":"Advisory employees","firms_with_value":22705,"median":1,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":3},"fee_aum_pct":{"label":"Charge a percentage of assets","firms_with_value":22914,"share":0.916601204503797},"fee_fixed":{"label":"Charge fixed fees","firms_with_value":22914,"share":0.597931395653312},"fee_hourly":{"label":"Charge hourly fees","firms_with_value":22914,"share":0.504233219865584},"fee_performance":{"label":"Charge performance-based fees","firms_with_value":22914,"share":0.0716156061796282},"fee_commissions":{"label":"Receive commissions","firms_with_value":22914,"share":0.0209478921183556},"fee_aum_pct_only":{"label":"Charge only a percentage of assets","firms_with_value":22914,"share":0.230863227721044}},"pages":[{"question":"How much AUM does an independent RIA manage per advisor?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/aum-per-advisor/"},{"question":"How many clients does an advisor at an independent RIA serve?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/clients-per-advisor/"},{"question":"How much AUM does an independent RIA hold per client?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/aum-per-client/"},{"question":"How many people work at an independent RIA?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/firm-size/"},{"question":"How do independent RIAs charge fees?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/fee-arrangements/"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/files/investment/data/other/information-about-registered-investment-advisers-exempt-reporting-advisers/ia100226.zip","checked":"2026-10-02","label":"SEC, Information About Registered Investment Advisers (ia100226.zip)"},{"url":"https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/compilation","checked":"2026-10-20","label":"IAPD compilation reports (IA_FIRM_STATE_Feed_10_20_2026.xml.gz)"}],"related":[{"title":"How much AUM does an independent RIA manage per advisor?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/aum-per-advisor/"},{"title":"How many clients does an advisor at an independent RIA serve?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/clients-per-advisor/"},{"title":"How much AUM does an independent RIA hold per client?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/aum-per-client/"},{"title":"How many people work at an independent RIA?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/firm-size/"},{"title":"How do independent RIAs charge fees?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/fee-arrangements/"},{"title":"RIA industry data","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/industry/"},{"title":"How the directory is built","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/methodology/#benchmarks"}],"notes":["A group with fewer than 30 firms reporting is not shown.","Affiliated advisers can report the same assets on their own Form ADV, so totals here may double count across firms, as the SEC's own totals do."],"url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/","citation":"AdvisorIQ, as of 2026-10-02. https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/","license":"https://advisoriq.com/license/","publisher":"AdvisorIQ, independent education for financial advisors"}