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5 Ways for RIAs to Increase Productivity

To compete with larger industry players, RIAs must improve their processes, according to a new study by Aite Group and Envestnet/Tamarac.
Increasingly, this mean building better portfolios and improving technology integration


Check out some facts and figures from the study to illustrate ways RIAs can improve productivity and improve profitability.


Source: Aite Group and Envestnet/Tamarac
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1. Improve Tech Integration

The fact that increasing the level of technology integration topped the list of capabilities advisors would like to improve isn’t surprising, according to the Aite report. Independent RIAs are dominated by small firms, and more than one third of survey respondents said their business applications have no integration. Most had access to only single sign-on and/or manual data sharing between applications.
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2. Time Management

Staff at RIA firms with some technology integration operate more efficiently compared with staffs at practices that lack integration altogether, the report found. The time saved on operations processes for one staff member equaled 37 business days annually that can be dedicated toward other, more value-added activities.
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3. Add Scale (Intelligently)

RIA practices with some level of technology integration show a greater ability to add scale to their business in the form of serving more clients, Aite's study indicated.
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4. Better Integration, Better Revenue

Despite having virtually identically sized teams, the survey indicated that advisory practices with some integration produce an average of $100,000 more in revenue annually compared to those practices without integration.
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5. Better Integration, Better Salaries

Primary advisors affiliated with an independent RIA that has some integration also earn more in take-home pay than those that don’t, the study states. Advisers with firms that have some integration earn approximately 20% more than advisors with firms that have no technology integration.
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