RIAs Set Record High Registration but AUM Fell in 2022: IAA and NRS

According to the annual Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot published by The Investment Adviser Association (IAA) and National Regulatory Services (NRS), a COMPLY company, the sector had a record 15,114 advisors registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, up 2.1% from 14,806 in 2021 and 8.9% from 13,880 in 2020.

Assets under management in 2022, however, were $114.1 trillion, down 11.1% from $128.4 trillion, representing the first decline since 2008, according to the report.

The number of RIA-serviced clients fell to 61.9 million in 2022 from 64.7 million in 2021. Assets in 2022 were still well above previous years as RIAs had $110 trillion in assets in 2020 and $97.2 trillion in 2019, the IAA and NRS said.

Most advisors are small businesses: 91.7% of RIAs employed 100 or fewer employees last year, and 88.5% of RIAs managed less than $5 billion in assets, while 70.2% managed less than $1 billion.

Firms with more than $5 billion in assets under management continue to dominate the sector, overseeing 90.6% of industry assets.

These firms also witnessed the greatest decline in assets under management in 2022, while firms with less than $100 million saw the greatest gain on a net basis.