There is a new No. 1 firm at the top of Financial Planning's annual rankings of the largest fee-only financial planning companies in 2024.
The list was compiled by FP's data partner for the RIA Leaders study, COMPLY, through companies' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It includes some top-20 mainstays, such as Moneta Group Investment Advisors, Chevy Chase Trust, Savant Wealth Management, Clearstead Advisors and EP Wealth Advisors, as well as newcomers to the list like Evoke Advisors, Circle Wealth Management and Bridges Trust. Moneta Group replaced Chevy Chase in the No. 1 spot in this year's rankings of the firms based on assets under management.
Massive expansion and consolidation in the registered investment advisory channel has led some financial advisors and other industry experts to question how business goals can sometimes run counter to the fiduciary duty to place their clients' best interest first. The leaders of many of the fastest-growing RIAs acknowledge that their firms are trying to set boundaries on the front end with incoming teams, in order to ensure that their business isn't outpacing their ability to serve clients to the greatest possible extent.
"We're bringing them into the process way before we've signed on the dotted line and before they're a new employee of the firm," said Kay Lynn Mayhue, president of Alpharetta, Georgia-based Merit Financial Advisors. "That is your biggest risk as you grow, is that you lose the good parts of the culture and you start to bring in negatives. It's all about who you let in the door, so you've got to have some pretty strict criteria around that."
At the same time, smaller RIAs are pushing back against the notion that "everybody's huge out here" in a channel of the industry that remains predominantly small businesses, according to Kevin Thompson, CEO of Fort Worth, Texas-based 9I Capital Group. These firms can point out how they're able to "effectively communicate with our clients without having to go through all the layers of compliance," among other advantages, Thompson said.
"Everyone's small, it's just the people who are getting the attention are all the really, really large ones," he said. "We have the ability to pivot. We can make decisions on a dime and not have to move the Titanic."
Scroll down the slideshow below to see the rankings of the 20 largest fee-only RIAs that provide financial planning services to clients. A bigger group of the top 150 firms on the list is available in printable PDF format. To read the RIA Leaders cover story, "How consolidation is testing fiduciary duty in RIAs," click here. For last year's rankings, follow this link.
Notes: FP's data partner for the RIA Leaders feature, COMPLY, produced the below rankings by applying the following six criteria to firms' required SEC Form ADV filings in September 2024:
- Firms must have zero registered representatives of a broker-dealer.
- At least 50% of the firm's clients must be individuals or high net worth individuals.
- Firms must not list commissions as a compensation arrangement.
- Firms must have more than zero financial planning clients.
- Firms must not list commission-taking businesses in "other business activities."
- Firms cannot be affiliated under common ownership with commission-taking businesses.
In the absence of an official regulatory classification and definition for the titles "financial planner" or "financial advisor," FP is using the closest available figure available through Form ADV requiring firms to state the number of employees "registered with one or more state securities authorities as investment adviser representatives."
