A missed opportunity for RIAs?

Financial advisors may be missing a trick or two when it comes to servicing new client segments. This is one of the findings of Federated Hermes 2025 RIA and Independent Advisor Study, which canvassed the opinions of 271 US advisors overseeing at least $300 million in client assets across the registered investment advisor (RIA) and wealth space. 

We asked respondents to outline how they prioritize winning new business. Their responses suggest a focus on high‑net‑worth, mass‑affluent and small‑business clients. Indeed, very few of our respondents (less than 7%) report not being active in this area. Yet, while nearly half of advisors’ client books are retirement‑focused, workplace retirement plans, such as a 401(k) or 403(b), are underserved. Only 38% said they plan to increase efforts to build business there.

All of which is to say that advisors appear to be servicing a narrow segment of the market and may be missing out on opportunities to win new business. Recent third-party retirement research certainly argues for this being the case, with evidence pointing to apparent strong employee demand for workplace‑based guidance, especially among Gen Z and Millennials.

The trust premium

An additional question we asked our respondents is how they seek to gain the trust of different types of clients. Their responses indicate an overwhelming reliance on centers of influence — especially certified public accountant (CPA) partnerships and hosted events — to attract prospects. This suggests that, despite proven value, RIAs do not prioritize strategic partnerships, ranking them behind referrals and client communications for business growth.

The theme holds true for marketing. Here, our survey indicated most advisors do not consider marketing at all. When asked to highlight the most important action they took to grow in the past year, only 5% cited marketing was a key contributor. This was the case for both advisors in general and RIAs specifically. In fact, in anonymous interviews, some respondents were outwardly dismissive of marketing. This opinion was not true for all. Advisors working in a team showed signs of rethinking negative perceptions around marketing. When asked to list the ways they had improved their team in the past year, 38% reported marketing their services better.

For the average advisory team, part of the issue is the lack of in-house marketing positions. Only 34% of respondents had a marketing professional in their team, compared to 77% with experienced financial advisors, 66% with both administrative and operations roles, and 65% with financial planning professionals.

Add-on services and capabilities

One interesting finding is how advisors may already have access to the services necessary to work with these new client types. More than nine-in-10 of all advisors (94%) said they provide services to clients beyond portfolio management and financial planning, such as insurance and tax planning. This makes sense. Tax planning, for example, is in demand and highly profitable, making it an effective way to align with client needs and enhance firm revenue.

While it takes effort and often specialized knowledge, we think advisors who broaden their business to new types of clients are likely to experience a boost to their top- and bottom line. That will require most to increase their use of marketing and embrace novel approaches to business building.

The 2025 Federated Hermes RIA and Independent Advisor Study is an anonymous, online survey of a respondent panel provided by OpinionRoute, LLC, was fielded between May 28, 2025, and June 16, 2025. The survey had a margin of error of +/- 5% at a 95% confidence level. Advisor respondents included fee- based registered investment advisors (RIAs), independents, dually registered or hybrid advisors, and private client or wealth management advisors. A majority of respondents represented firms with between $300M and $999 million in assets under management and client/household relationships between $25 million and $249 million. The study is augmented by 10 anonymous interviews with survey respondents selected by the vendor.