Advisors have a lot to worry about. Whether it's the proliferation of online advice platforms, market volatility, unpredictable Federal Reserve policy, or growing regulatory oversight, threats to the business abound. In WealthManagement.com's 2013 AdvisorBenchmarking RIA Trend Report, a survey of 381 RIAs, advisors were asked to rank the biggest threats to their businesses on a scale of 1 to 10. Advisors were most afraid of the threat of not finding new clients, government overregulation, and increased compliance demands. This year they're less concerned about poor investment performance and low-profit clients. Go figure.
Many advisors fear a lack of being large enough to compete, and have upped expenses to grow, which has hit thier profitability, the survey found.
“You’ve got to get big or you’ve got to join another firm in order to compete effectively because it’s going to take massive investment in the future to stay competitive with other capable RIAs, and quite frankly, the online offerings," said Ron Carson, founder and CEO of Carson Wealth Management in Omaha, Neb.
Source: WealthManagement.com 2013 AdvisorBenchmarking RIA Trend Report.