IAA AND COMPLY INVESTMENT ADVISER INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT FINDS RECORD NUMBER OF ADVISERS AND STAFF SUPPORTING SECTOR

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Jun 22, 2023, 13:01 ET

Annual industry survey demonstrates resiliency of the advisory industry; demand for adviser services surges as industry grew by 2.1% in 2022

WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, June 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Investment Adviser Association (IAA) and National Regulatory Services (NRS), a COMPLY company, today published its annual Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot (Snapshot) which found the sector grew by 2.1% in 2022, with 15,114 fiduciary investment advisers managing $114.1 trillion in assets for 61.9 million clients.

While assets under management declined for the first time since 2008 due to a vacillating economy, the investment advisory industry was resilient, with both the number of advisers and non-clerical employees climbing to a record high in 2022.

The 2023 Snapshot by the Numbers:

Most Advisers are Small Businesses

91.7% of advisers employed 100 or fewer employees
70.2% of advisers managed less than $1 billion in assets, and 88.5% managed less than $5 billion
Smaller advisers accounted for a high proportion of employees relative to their assets managed
Advisers focused on individuals as clients were likely to be small, with an average of just 9 employees, 2 offices and $330 million in assets under management
Advisers with less than $1 billion in assets accounted for almost all of the new SEC registrations, with new registrants accounting for 10.0% of firms in this size range

"Investors are increasingly engaging investment advisers, which continuously provide investment management advice as fiduciaries, putting their clients' interests ahead of their own," said Karen Barr, the CEO and president of the Investment Adviser Association. "Over the past five years, over 22 million more individuals have engaged an investment adviser for asset management – a rate of growth in both the number of individual clients and assets of roughly 12% per year."

Significant Themes in the Results

Growing Client Base: The number of clients using asset management services increased in 2022 to a record high of 54.3 million, a gain of 2.1%. However, the total number of clients not using asset management services, such as clients using only financial planning services, declined in 2022 as digital advice offerings evolved and providers realigned their platforms. As a result, the total number of clients declined by 4.3%.
Regulatory Uncertainty: Regulatory change looms large. Rule proposals from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have the potential to lead to significant industry change. Of note is the safeguarding proposal which would subject 1/3 of the industry to custody requirements.
Acceleration in Trend: During this period, the number of offices in private residences rose sharply. The 25.6% increase in 2022 suggests that advisers are transitioning to a permanent remote or hybrid model.
PE over Hedge Funds: Over the past 10 years, both the number of funds and assets under management have been increasing more rapidly for private equity funds than for hedge funds. Private equity funds now account for 44.2% of the number of private funds and 32.8% of private fund assets.

"This year's report underscores the diverse nature of the industry and its continued growth, most notably in terms of the number of firms and the number of private funds. These trends are clearly having an impact on the SEC's focus areas for examinations and rulemaking, as evidenced by the proposals made this year which aim to increase protections for private fund investors," said John Gebauer COMPLY's Chief Regulatory Officer.

The full Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot 2023 can be viewed and downloaded from the IAA website or by going to the NRS website.

About the Investment Adviser Association
The Investment Adviser Association (IAA) is the leading trade association representing the interests of fiduciary investment adviser firms. The IAA's member firms collectively manage more than $35 trillion in assets for a wide variety of institutional and individual investors. In addition to serving as the voice of the advisory profession on Capitol Hill and before the SEC, DOL, CFTC and other U.S. and international regulators, the IAA provides extensive practical and educational services to its membership. For more information, visit investmentadviser.org or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

About COMPLY

At COMPLY, we pride ourselves on being the champion for compliance professionals. Merging technology, consulting and education, we help clients navigate the ever-changing regulatory environment. Our portfolio of offerings includes ComplySci, RIA in a Box and National Regulatory Services (NRS), whose more than 7,000 clients include some of the world's largest financial institutions. Clients throughout our portfolio enjoy access to our full suite of industry-leading governance, risk and compliance (GRC) consulting, technology, managed services, analytics and outsourcing solutions.

Learn more at comply.com.

About NRS

National Regulatory Services (NRS), a COMPLY company, is an advanced provider of compliance and registration products and services for investment advisers, broker-dealers, hedge funds, investment companies and insurance institutions. NRS is the consulting and education partner for your compliance program. Combining industry-leading experts and real-world insight to help you stay up to date with the ever-changing regulatory landscape and minimize risk.

NRS is part of the COMPLY portfolio, which includes ComplySci, RIA in a Box and NRS.

Visit nrs-inc.com to learn more.

SOURCE COMPLY