Charles Schwab : VIEW INSIGHTS FOR FIRMS OVER $1B IN ASSETS

Advisor Services

2021 RIA

Benchmarking Study

Insights

With insights for firms over $1B in assets

Media contact:

Kerstin Österberg Charles Schwab 347.866.3032 [e-mail]

Lisa Salvi Managing Director

Business Consulting and Education

Schwab's RIA Benchmarking Study is the leading study in the industry-1,340 advisory firms, representing over $1.5 trillion in AUM, participated this year.

The following report focuses specifically on firms with over $1 billion in assets and is organized according to Schwab's Guiding

Principles for Advisory Firm Success, a framework to help advisors address the complexities of growing their firms and creating enduring businesses.

Data collected from January - March 2021.

"Firms with more than $1 billion in assets under management succeeded in a year of change by building on their strong business practices and innovating. Tactics like focusing on their referral plans, optimizing their websites, and offering career paths support their long-term strategic goals."

Key Highlights

Keeping an eye on the fundamentals, firms innovated to move their businesses forward.

Focusing on the fundamentals helped firms pivot and meet their growth goals.

• Larger firms, with over $1 billion in assets, are more likely to document strategic, marketing, and referral plans. The study shows that firms that leveraged planning saw stronger growth in 2020. Being thoughtful about how to move the business forward and aligning with the team on strategies and vision can help firms effectively pivot and develop innovative tactics when situations change. (Slides 10, 12, 13, 14, 25, 26)
• Firms with over $1 billion in AUM continue to prioritize client acquisition, with digital channels increasing in importance. More than half of these firms optimize their websites for lead generation through search engine optimization and content designed for their ideal client persona and use website metrics and analytics to track the effectiveness of their websites to attract and engage prospects. (Slides 4 and 24)

Hiring new talent and retaining existing staff to meet firm needs grew in importance.

• Recruiting staff to expand firm's skill sets and capacity ranked as the second highest strategic priority, the highest it's ever been. Larger firms tend to serve more clients and have more staff, highlighting the importance of this strategic initiative. (Slides 4 and 35)
• Supporting staff development is an important element of an employee value proposition and can help firms attract and retain talent. Larger firms are more likely to offer a client service career path, which can increase staff satisfaction and build bench strength. (Slide 29)

This icon identifies insights from the study

Looking aheadthat highlight the value of key management strategies that can help firms plan ahead.

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Planning

Advisors continue to prioritize client acquisition. Recruiting new staff ranks the highest it has been in the study's history and leveraging digital channels is rising in importance.

			Rank
Top strategic initiatives for firms over $1B in AUM	2021	2020
	Acquire new clients through client referrals	1	1
	Recruit staff to increase firm's skill set/capacity	2	5
	Enhance strategic planning and execution	2	4
	Improve productivity with new technology	4	3
	Acquire new clients through business referrals	5	2
	Acquire new clients through digital channels	6	8

Results for all firms with $1 billion or more in AUM that selected initiative as a top 3 priority. 2021 RIA Benchmarking Study from Charles Schwab, fielded January to March 2021. Study contains self-reported data from 1,340 firms. Participant firms represent various sizes and business models categorized into 7 peer groups by AUM.

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