INTRODUCTION
An era of transformation for the RIA ecosystem
The marketplace for registered investment advisors (RIAs) has seen rapid growth in recent years, reaching more than 10,000 SEC-registered RIA firms serving wealth management clients. Despite this continued growth in the financial advice business, the outlook still indicates that the demand for investment advisory services will continue to outstrip supply through the coming decade.
As we continue to witness ongoing change across the RIA landscape, 2026 is shaping up to mark an inflection point for several trends. Convergence of major trends in technology, evolution in the regulatory environment and, importantly, shifts in client expectations are fundamentally reshaping wealth management.
Through the evolution of this dynamic ecosystem, firms have demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability. In wealth management, RIA professionals have embraced new approaches to investing and revolutionary communications technologies, and integrated expansions of the ways in which they serve clients.
The US RIA Toolkit 2026 from The Wealth Mosaic aims to exhibit the best of RIA wealth management technology and resources. More than just a source of market intelligence, The Wealth Mosaic presents this report as a practical guide showcasing real-world implementation of contemporary solutions. Even as AI maintains its central role in digital transformation, the tools highlighted in this report show solutions that can advance the business objectives of RIA wealth managers, delivering competitive differentiation and a higher level of client satisfaction.
Growth, opportunity, and competitive dynamics in the RIA market
The recent growth of the RIA market has been historic by almost every metric. RIA assets under management reached an all-time high of US$145 trillion by the end of 2024, a year-over-year increase of more than 12 percent. The number of wealth management RIAs also reached an all-time high during the year.
As much as its recent organic growth, the bigger story in the RIA market has been about mergers, acquisitions, and consolidation. Until recently, inorganic growth among RIAs was rare. In recent years, however, a new breed of RIA ‘aggregators’ have pursued a growth strategy that centers on acquisition to fuel further organic growth. By the end of the year, the industry is likely to see 300 or more private equity-backed acquisitions in the RIA space.
Aside from the biggest RIAs growing even bigger, the other salient trend in the RIA space is the ongoing pattern of new RIAs entering the space. Each year, more than 3,000 wealth managers resign from their Broker-Dealer jobs to serve their clients in a way that affords them more independence.
Most wealth management RIAs launch their independent advisory careers by leaving a job as a registered representative of a broker-dealer. RIAs who follow this path are drawn by higher payouts, improved access to technology, and closer alignment with the interests of their clients. Moreover, better technology makes the transition easier for representatives to adapt to an independent mode of client engagement. Many of the providers who partner with The Wealth Mosaic will continue to be instrumental in facilitating entry into the RIA business.
Client preferences have also led to RIAs being allocated larger amounts instead of broker dealers. The value proposition for many wealth management RIAs can be differentiated, with a range of services that goes beyond what a broker dealer might offer. RIAs often personalize their service model for each client, adding in ancillary functions such as financial planning, estate planning or tax strategies. Plus, the growth of the retirement business has created the need for the advice and guidance of an RIA for a wide range of plan fiduciaries as well.
Technology, AI, automation, and the digital RIA
Technology is at the heart of the transformation taking place in the world of RIAs. Yet, the variety of available solutions can be overwhelming for an independent wealth management firm. Mastery of technology can be the differentiator that leads to nimble efficiency, client retention and long-term profitability. Yet, RIA wealth managers often stumble over their technology stack due to lack of familiarity with the systems their business needs.
The biggest news in technology is the arrival of AI in the systems utilized by RIAs. Machine learning algorithms are enhancing asset allocation and risk assessment, and rebalancing strategies. Moreover, applications of AI have introduced a level of personalization that simultaneously augments the wealth manager’s engagement with clients and expands capacity.
The digital revolution in client experience has crept into wealth management. Clients, now accustomed to a fully digital experience in retail banking, discount brokerage and online shopping, are expecting a similarly streamlined, digital experience from the wealth management firm. The challenge, however, is that many wealth managers have not taken steps to match their clients’ user experience with the client’s expectations. Furthermore, the barriers to entry can create a disadvantage for wealth management RIAs who compete with deep-pocketed national brokerage firms and digital-first robo-advisors.
We hope this publication will offer readers perspectives on the tools available to RIA firms. Digital transformation need not be time consuming or expensive but it should happen soon. The risk of failing to modernize the technology stack is formidable and cannot be ignored.
Embracing change, seizing opportunity
For those RIA wealth managers who make a commitment to a lasting future of serving clients, the opportunities abound. In some cases, a change of mindset may be an important first step.
Consider cybersecurity. For any fiduciary handling sensitive client information, protection of data takes top priority. Historically, data protection amounted to locking file cabinets and office burglar alarms. Now, however, although many RIAs have already modernized their approaches to cybersecurity, they still face threats from more sophisticated criminal actors. To serve clients prudently, RIAs must continuously upgrade their systems to stay ahead of the risks.
Clients also expect their RIAs to support them in a wider range of financial services than ever before. For the most part, active management of a securities portfolio continues to be the primary reason why a client engages an RIA. But more robust offerings and ancillary services are migrating into the client’s base level of expectations.
Alternative investments of all types have flourished and many high net worth clients turn to their RIA wealth manager for guidance, pressuring the RIA to raise their analysis of such products and access to them. New investment products are only one of the new areas that RIA clients ask about. It’s common for RIAs now to support their clients with tax strategies, estate planning or charitable giving. With the proliferation of demand for new products and services, RIA firms need to optimize their methods through technology.
The RIA firms that will thrive in this transformative era are those that recognize change not as a threat, but as an opportunity to excel. By strategically embracing technology, expanding service offerings, and maintaining an unwavering focus on client outcomes, forward-thinking RIAs can position themselves for sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Ready to dive into the report and discover more about the US RIA Toolkit 2026? You can read and download the report online here.
A portrait of the RIA segment today
Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) have become one of the most consequential and dynamic segments of the US wealth management landscape today. Approximately 15,000 SEC-registered wealth management RIA firms are collectively advising US$130 trillion in assets, on behalf of an estimated 65 million clients – underscoring both the scale of the market and its central role in both household and institutional finance.
But although the industry remains highly fragmented in terms of the sheer number of firms, it is increasingly concentrated by assets. A relatively small number of very large firms now manage a disproportionate share of total regulatory assets under management (AUM), many individually managing more than US$50 billion AUM. It is these firms that are reshaping the competitive landscape through acquisitions, private equity backing, and brand-driven national expansion.
Further down the scale, we see the mid-size RIAs that manage between US$1 billion and US$50 billion AUM, which have established themselves as regional leaders, or as specialists serving high net worth (HNW) or ultra-high net worth (UHNW) clients. Finally, a very large number of relatively small firms – roughly 90 percent of the total number of firms – manage less than US$1 billion AUM, often operating as boutique practices with niche client bases and highly personalized service models.
Client demand is similarly diverse. RIAs serve a broad range of constituencies, from mass-affluent retail investors to HNW families, as well as institutional clients such as pensions and endowments, and employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Increasingly, their value proposition extends well beyond investment management alone. In addition to portfolio construction and asset allocation, many firms now offer comprehensive financial planning, tax and estate coordination, insurance integration, business succession planning, and – at the UHNW level – family office-style services. These emerging value propositions – and what they mean for RIA practice today – inform several of the Industry Perspectives and Showcases you can find in this Toolkit.
The industry is also being reshaped by a range of powerful trends. One of these is consolidation and M&A, which has accelerated dramatically as private equity firms and strategic buyers target RIAs for their recurring revenues, high margins, and sticky client relationships. Technology adoption, too, is redefining both client experience and advisor productivity – with digital client portals, advanced planning software, and increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) tools leading the way. These technologies, too, are fascinatingly explored by the contributors to this Toolkit in the pages that follow.
Compliance with regulatory requirements is a fundamental obligation for RIA firms. SEC-registered RIAs are subject to ongoing disclosure and compliance requirements, including Form ADV filings that detail fees, services, and potential conflicts of interest. Current regulatory focus areas – such as cybersecurity, custody rules, AI-driven advice, and ESG disclosures – add complexity to the task before RIAs. But they also reinforce the credibility of the fiduciary duty which is a core and valued differentiator that distinguishes the RIA channel from other types of wealth managers.
The RIA market is large, it is fast-growing, and it is increasingly influential – but its structural transformation is still an ongoing story. Scale, technology, talent, and trust are emerging as the decisive factors determining which firms will thrive in its evolution still to come.
Featured market topics
For this portrait of the RIA segment in 2026, we’ve examined the following six topics in greater detail.
- Clients – the hyper-personalization era
- Operations – solving the talent gap through technology
- Regulation – RegTech and the future of compliance
- Products – the democratization of alternative investments
- Market – the technology-powered M&A boom
- Custody – the changing landscape
Topic 1
Clients – the hyper-personalization era
How AI is redefining client engagement for the modern RIA
The RIA industry is currently undergoing a foundational pivot. We are moving away from standardized, ’one-size-fits-all’ investment models toward a world of hyper-personalized, tech-enabled engagement. For the modern advisor, AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it is the primary catalyst enabling customized advice at a scale previously reserved only for the UHNW segment.
The demand for this shift is undeniable. Recent research from CapIntel shows that 90 percent of investors, regardless of their age or wealth bracket, prefer a personalized investment proposal over a standardized one. Among Baby Boomers specifically, 80 percent prioritize advice that is tied to their unique, individual goals.
To meet this demand, firms are increasingly turning to AI-driven relationship management. According to a recent survey from Wipro of US wealth management executives, 70 percent of extensive AI users acknowledge the technology’s role in enhancing engagement, and 65 percent of firms expect AI to significantly transform client relationship management within just the next two years.
This transformation is also bridging the generational divide. While common stereotypes suggest older clients prefer analog interactions, 53 percent of Baby Boomers have expressed a willingness to communicate electronically. This aligns with the 73 percent of Millennials who favor digital channels and video meetings. To remain competitive, RIAs must offer a diverse, tech-enabled communication suite that meets clients where they are.
The ultimate goal of these tools is predictive personalization. By leveraging platforms that translate spending, income, and behavioral data into timely portfolio ‘nudges’, advisors can increase both client retention and their share of the client's wallet.
In this new landscape, the human advisor acts as a chief designer, using AI to handle the precision assembly of personalized financial lives.
Topic 2
Operations – solving the talent gap through technology
Automation and the transition to the "smart factory" RIA
The RIA industry is facing a double-pronged challenge: a looming shortage of 100,000 advisors combined with persistent fee compression. To survive, firms must transition from traditional ‘artisan workshops’ – where every task is manual – to ‘high-tech smart factories’. The key to this transition lies in operations technology and workflow orchestration.
Currently, the administrative burden on advisors is a significant drain on growth. According to AdvicePay’s 2025 Fee-for-Service Industry Trend Report, advisors dedicate an average of 11 hours per week to manual tasks, such as meeting transcription and note-taking. This is why 92 percent of firms are now adopting AI to automate these processes. The objective is clear: offload the ‘back office’ weight to AI so human advisors can focus on high-value relationship management.
True efficiency is driven by a well-connected ecosystem. According to AdvicePay, nearly half of all advisors (49 percent) plan to invest in productivity tools, focusing on integrating customer relationship management systems (CRMs) with billing and financial planning software. These integrations ensure a seamless data flow that eliminates redundant data entry.
We see the power of this scalability in specialized sectors like cash management and billing. Cloud-native API architectures have allowed some institutions to cut manual cash-management processing by 90 percent, according to Mordor Intelligence research, even while managing thousands of clients. Similarly, implementing specialized billing technology has led to a 27 percent reduction in manual paperwork for some firms.
By automating these operational hurdles, firms are successfully pivoting their staff toward revenue-generating activities.
Topic 3
Regulation: RegTech and the future of compliance
From reactive spot-checks to AI-powered and real-time monitoring
Compliance has traditionally been viewed as a defensive necessity – a cost center that slows down innovation. However, a shift is occurring as RegTech evolves into a strategic efficiency driver. RIAs are moving away from antiquated ’spot-checking’ methods and toward AI-powered monitoring systems that provide real-time oversight.
The scale of this disruption is significant. Approximately 44 percent of firms report seeing major AI-driven changes in their compliance departments, according to Wipro research. This shift is necessary to meet intensifying regulatory standards from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
For example, traditional spot-checks often cover only a tiny fraction of a firm’s financial plans, leaving the business exposed to significant audit risks. Modern compliance modules, by contrast, enable the real-time review of every plan generated.
The regulatory environment is only becoming more complex. The SEC’s 2025 Internet Adviser Rule and upcoming anti money-laundering (AML) directives are driving up compliance costs, forcing firms to adopt AI guidelines that include automated bias testing and ‘explainability’. This is not just about following the law; it is about ethical governance.
Currently, 68 percent of firms are proactively focusing on the ethical considerations of their AI implementations to manage the risks of biased or discriminatory outputs, according to Wipro’s research. The research also found that, although 55 percent of users identify evolving regulatory standards as a top barrier to AI adoption, those who embrace AI-driven compliance are finding they can navigate these hurdles with greater speed and less risk than their peers.
Topic 4
Products – the democratization of alternative investments
Using technology to scale alternatives and tax alpha
For decades, complex investment strategies like private credit and direct indexing were the exclusive domain of the ultra-wealthy. Today, technology is democratizing these products, lowering minimums and simplifying the administrative burden for the broader RIA market.
Private credit has officially entered the mainstream for RIAs. According to a recent RIA Private Credit Usage Survey published by Alternative Fund Advisors, 62 percent of firms allocate to this asset class, with interval funds serving as the primary vehicle for 64 percent of large RIAs. This shift is supported by alternative asset managers, 93 percent of which now view the independent wealth community as a strategic priority, according to a 2025 survey of alternative asset managers published by CAIS. Platforms such as CAIS, iCapital, and YieldStreet are essential to this growth, allowing advisors to offer private debt and equity to retail clients with ease.
Beyond asset classes, technology is enabling ‘tax alpha’ as a key differentiator. These tax-loss harvesting engines can add between one and two percentage points of net returns for affluent retail accounts – a massive competitive advantage in a fee-compressed environment.
AI is also playing a role in how these products are managed. Some of the most-utilized AI insights today include ‘tax-loss harvesting’ alerts and the identification of underperforming products. These tools allow advisors to proactively optimize portfolios during market volatility, ensuring that complex products deliver maximum value without requiring constant manual oversight.
Topic 5
Market – the technology-powered M&A boom
Why unified tech stacks are driving record valuations
The RIA M&A market is reaching unprecedented heights. H1 2025 was the strongest start to a year on record, with 132 transactions totaling US$182.7 billion in assets, according to Fidelity’s most recent biannual M&A review. As private equity continues to dominate the space – backing 100 percent of the top 20 RIA acquirers – the criteria for a ‘premium’ valuation have shifted. Investors are no longer just buying assets; they are buying scalable technology.
According to Fidelity, private equity-backed ‘integrator’ firms now execute 60 percent of total industry transactions. These firms look for targets with modern infrastructure that can be seamlessly absorbed. In the third quarter of 2025 alone, investors announced 40 WealthTech transactions, highlighting a preference for acquiring modern infrastructure – such as instant account opening and frictionless custody – rather than attempting to build these features from scratch.
A major driver for this consolidation is the institutionalization of client assets. Data from McKinsey shows that 32 percent of investors will switch firms when their individual advisor retires. To mitigate this risk, acquirers are using technology and ‘teaming’ models to shift client trust from the individual personality to the firm itself.
By utilizing a unified, automated back office, these larger firms can absorb smaller practices without a corresponding increase in overhead. In this environment, an RIA's tech stack is no longer just a tool for advisors; it is a core component of the firm's enterprise value.
Topic 6
Custody – the changing landscape
Moving from legacy silos to digital-first ecosystems
A new generation of API-driven, ‘digital-first’ ecosystems is challenging the traditional custody model. As RIAs demand more flexibility and faster integration, the industry is moving away from legacy, siloed architectures that have historically constrained growth.
We are seeing significant movement from large incumbents to meet this tech-native competition. For instance, State Street’s acquisition of a FinTech solutions provider was specifically designed to integrate fractional trading, APIs, and instant account opening. The goal is to deliver institutional-grade services to HNW individuals without the friction of old-school systems.
The entry of tech-native disruptors is also accelerating. Robinhood’s entry into the RIA custody space, through its acquisition of TradePMR which added US$40 billion in assets under administration (AUA), signals a clear shift toward capturing younger, tech-savvy investors and the advisors who serve them. These modern firms are built on cloud-native infrastructure, allowing RIAs to plug robo-advisory modules or real-time rebalancing tools directly into the core without needing a wholesale system rewrite.
This evolution is ultimately about front-to-back automation. Major partnerships, such as the collaboration between Envestnet and FNZ, are focused on integrating modern platforms that give advisors greater visibility into client finances through digital automation.
In this new landscape, the ‘custodian’ is no longer just a place to hold assets; it is a high-speed connectivity hub that powers the entire advisory firm.
Summary
As these insights show, the RIA operating model is being rebuilt from the ground up. Rather than incremental improvement, the industry is experiencing intense structural change driven by technology that is now applied across the full advisory lifecycle.
At the client level, hyper-personalization has transitioned from aspiration to expectation. AI-enabled engagement tools now allow advisors to anticipate needs, tailor communication, and deliver goal-based insights continuously, not episodically. Firms that combine digital interaction with human judgment successfully will set a new baseline for client retention, wallet share, and multi-generational relevance, which their competitors will have to reach.
Operationally, RIAs are increasingly employing technological responses to challenges such as talent scarcity and economic pressures. Automation, workflow orchestration, and system integration are prompting higher advisor productivity. That, in turn, is reallocating human efforts toward relationship management, business development, complex planning, and other areas in which human advisors create the greatest value.
The industry’s embrace of RegTech is redefining its approach to compliance. Retrospective reviews are rapidly becoming a thing of the past, replaced by AI-driven monitoring and real-time oversight – reducing exposure while increasing consistency and transparency. As regulatory scrutiny intensifies around AI use itself, together with greater attention to cybersecurity and disclosure, firms that embed governance and explainability into their technology stacks will be better positioned to innovate without triggering compliance concerns.
The M&A environment underscores how central technology has become to enterprise value. Acquirers are prioritizing firms with unified and modern infrastructures that can be integrated quickly and scaled efficiently. Here, technology is not just an enabler of growth. It determines valuation, succession outcomes, and a firm’s long-term durability.
Finally, the custody function is evolving into a digital backbone for advisory firms. API-driven, cloud-native custody ecosystems now enable faster account onboarding, real-time data access, and seamless integration with third-party applications. Through this, we see innovation unlocking across the entire advisory stack.
Tomorrow’s RIA market will not be defined by any single technology or trend, but by the coherence of its ecosystem. Firms that intentionally align client experience, operations, compliance, product offerings, corporate strategy, and custody around a modern and integrated technological foundation will be best positioned to compete, and to lead, in the days and years to come.
Interested in reading the US RIA Toolkit 2026? You can read and download the report online here.
About the US RIA Toolkit 2026
The US RIA Toolkit 2026 describes an era of transformation for the RIA ecosystem. Rapid growth, accelerating consolidation, and rising client expectations are converging with advances in technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to reshape how RIAs compete, scale, and serve clients. This report is intended to help RIAs and those serving the segment to navigate this transformation. It highlights real-world technology solutions, implementation strategies, and resources designed specifically for RIAs operating in an increasingly complex environment.
With RIA assets under management at historic highs, private equity activity accelerating, and a growing number of advisors making the jump to the RIA segment every year, competitive differentiation has never been more important. From digital client experience and automation, to AI-driven personalization and cybersecurity, this report explores the tools that can materially improve efficiency, growth, and client satisfaction.
Our broader Toolkit Report Series covers thematic, geography and wealth manager segment-focused reports, each tasked with delving into the topics and supporting technologies of relevance to help wealth managers of all types better understand how they should bring technology into their business and in which areas.
About The Wealth Mosaic
The Wealth Mosaic is a UK-headquartered online solution provider directory and knowledge resource, focused specifically on the wealth management industry.
For wealth managers, the buy side of our marketplace, The Wealth Mosaic is designed to enable discovery of key solutions, solution providers and knowledge resources by specific business needs.
For solution providers and vendors, the sell side of our marketplace, The Wealth Mosaic exists to support the positioning, exposure and business development needs of these firms in a more complex and demanding market.
For more information, visit: www.thewealthmosaic.com
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