To fee, or not to fee, that is the question.

As more advisors break away to launch independent practices, fee-only RIAs are growing in number. But among the largest registered investment advisors, their share of industry assets is shrinking as consolidation shifts wealth toward firms with brokerage affiliations and insurance capabilities.

From 2020 to 2025, the number of fee-only RIAs managing more than $5 billion in assets grew from 83 to more than 120. Yet their share of industry assets fell from 42% to 34%, per data from Cerulli and Credent Wealth Management, a fee-only firm. Hybrid RIAs maintained their share, while firms with insurance capabilities gained 7 percentage points over the same period.

Much of that shift stems from mergers and acquisitions, and clients may not realize how their advisor’s business model — and the incentives behind its recommendations — has changed.

“Leading RIAs that are fiduciaries still exist, but it’s getting harder for investors to find them because of all the consolidation,” said Brendan Powers, senior director of product development and institutional at Cerulli.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Nearly 70% of affluent investors — those with at least $250,000 in assets or who are under 40 years old and earn at least $125,000 a year — said they are willing to pay for advice, double the share in 2009, Cerulli reported. Even so, that doesn’t necessarily mean they understand how their advisors are compensated or what their investments cost.

Some mistakenly believe their advisor is a fiduciary but discover their portfolios are filled with commission-based products, said David Hefty, Credent’s CEO. “That’s the type of client who’s most susceptible to seeking a new advisor,” Hefty told Advisor Upside.

Other findings of the report:

• Some 15% of clients are unsure how their provider is compensated. That percentage has decreased in the past decade, but the confusion persists.
• Satisfaction varies. Nearly three quarters of clients who know they work with a fee-only fiduciary said they are satisfied with the advice they receive. 
• That falls to about 50% among those who know their advisor may recommend products that serve the firm’s interests.

How Much Is Your Practice Worth?

This calculator is designed to give you a framework for thinking about how much your personal book or a larger practice is worth. Your inputs are never shared with your firm.

1 Firm Profile 2 Your Profile 3 Valuation Results

How Much Is Your Practice Worth?

This calculator is designed to give you a framework for thinking about how much your personal book or a larger practice is worth. The data inputs are powered by Diamond Consultants, a firm at the center of many of the biggest advisor moves in recent years. Importantly, your inputs are NEVER shared with your firm.

Firm ProfileAnnual Firm Revenue* Fee-Based Revenue %* Revenue Growth Trend*Firm Profile (continued) Total AUM* Average Client Household Size* Top 10 Clients as % of Revenue* Firm Structure*Your Profile

Complete Your Profile to Receive Your Results

First Name* Last Name* Current Affiliation Model* Current Firm Name* Personal Email Address* ZIP Code*Valuation Results

Valuation is an Art, Not a Science

Estimated Firm Value

We used your data to come up with a representative range of what your book (or firm) could be worth. This is just a baseline — valuation will always depend on narratives, buyer demand, scarcity factors and a whole host of other variables.

Low end of the range … High end of the range … Edit Inputs BackNextSubmit

By submitting, I authorize The Daily Upside to share my responses, including my email address, with Diamond Consultants, Mercer Advisors, and Focus Financial for email outreach. See our Privacy Policy for details, including how to opt out of sharing your information.

It’s Just Business. Hefty said he supports different pricing models across the industry but that clients need to understand what they’re signing up for. Not everyone wants the same relationship with an advisor. “For some clients, that transactional relationship is exactly what they’re looking for,” he said. “They want their broker to pitch them a product, and they want to play portfolio manager.”