A new finding by Invesco is sure to make a few exchange-trade fund providers smile.

That’s because registered investment advisors expect to see increased usage of ETFs in client portfolios, while aversion to risk remains high, according to results of the RIA Market Research Study.

The finding revealed that RIAs believe ETFs will make up 24% of portfolio allocations over the next 12 months and 33% over the next three years, representing a 10% increase over results reported in Invesco's survey of RIAs in 2011.

Among other key findings in the Invesco study include:

• Forty percent of RIAs use a blend of active investment vehicles and passive ETFs. Less than a quarter of RIAs utilize an exclusively all active management portfolio (24%) or an all ETF/passive management portfolio (19%).

• RIAs continue to mitigate risk in client portfolios by creating a blended asset allocation of active investments and passively managed ETFs (62%) and applying a more conservative asset allocation (56%).

• Within actively managed mutual funds, RIAs are most likely to increase capital over the next 12 months in alternatives (46%), emerging market equities (43%) and U.S. large-cap funds (40%).

"This year's study continues to show how RIAs are embracing the value of ETFs and the many ways they can be implemented in their clients' portfolios," stated Bobby Brooks, National Sales Director for Invesco PowerShares. "But even as the equity markets have enjoyed a strong run year-to-date, RIAs are still indicating that risk management is a primary focus and they are looking to a variety of products, including alternative assets, to manage risk."

The study was conducted for Invesco by Cogent Research in late August and early September 2012. The study is based on a survey of RIAs around the country with an average of $478 million in investable client assets.