IAA Report Tracks Growth in Adviser Industry, Number of Registered Advisers

The Investment Adviser Association and National Regulatory Services released their 18th annual Evolution Revolution report containing data on 12,578 advisory firms that manage $82.5 trillion for more than 34 million clients. According to the report, the investment adviser industry is experiencing robust growth and that over the past five years, the number of clients benefiting from investment advice grew by more than 20 percent.  Some other findings:

• The number of SEC-registered investment advisers has reached a record high. The report contains data on 12,578 federally registered advisers, reflecting a net increase of 3.3 percent since the 2017 report.
• The industry continues to experience strong job growth. In 2018, SEC-registered advisers reported a total of 805,623 non-clerical employees – up 3.6 percent since 2017. Of these employees, more than half (415,971) provide investment advisory services (including research) – a healthy increase of over 15,000 since 2017.
• The aggregate regulatory assets under management of SEC-registered advisers has grown substantially to a record $82.5 trillion. RAUM managed by advisers grew 16.7 percent from $70.7 trillion in 2017 to $82.5 trillion this year. This RAUM growth is likely primarily a function of strong stock market performance in the past year