The findings in this blog post come from our annual survey of over 1,350 registered investment adviser (“RIA”) firms that was conducted in the first quarter of 2019. This proprietary RIA in a Box study is paired with publicly accessible data provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The goal of our annual study is to understand different options that comprise each firm characteristic, and to determine whether specific characteristics affect the growth, size, or operational efficiency of an RIA firm. Last week, we discussed how this year’s survey findings closely mirror our findings from recent years with the average advisory fee charged at 0.96%. The focus of this blog post is to explore the total average total fees an investment advisory firm charges, including advisory fees and all underlying investment product or manager fees.
