TD Ameritrade Institutional released an advisor sentiment survey on Monday which found that the top three reasons their new clients choose to work with an independent registered investment advisor are: because RIAs are required, as fiduciaries, to offer advice that is in the best interest of clients (29%); RIA firms offer more personalized service and competitive fee structure (21%); and investors are dissatisfied with full commission brokers (19%).
In releasing the results of the quarterly survey polling 502 RIAs, Tom Bradley, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, said “the survey results support what we believe is a long-term trend of investors gravitating to the fiduciary model.”
Over the past few years, Bradley continued, “we’ve seen RIAs benefit from money in motion due to disruption at traditional full-commission firms. And as the dust has settled, investors can see more clearly the potential benefits of hiring an RIA.” Investors, he said, “may increasingly seek the confidence that can come from working with independent RIAs who sit on the same side of the table and are required by law to put their clients’ interests first.”
The survey found that the majority of new RIA assets are coming from traditional full-commission firms (55%).