{"id":806014,"date":"2026-07-16T16:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/806014\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T16:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:30:10","slug":"schwab-client-referrals-lead-ria-priority-list-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/806014\/","title":{"rendered":"Schwab: Client Referrals Lead RIA Priority List in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Client referrals and recruiting are the top two priorities for registered investment advisors custodied with Charles Schwab, according to the firm\u2019s annual RIA survey of clients<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When asked to name their top three priorities, firms with over $250 million in assets under management most frequently identified client acquisition through new referrals as their No. 1 focus for 2026. That priority shows the continued struggle for RIAs to generate organic growth, which some industry experts have tagged at less than 2% across RIAs and indepdendent broker\/dealers<\/a>. That tracks with Schwab\u2019s surveys, which have ranked client referrals as the highest priority since 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrganic growth is a perennial top focus area for firms,\u201d said Lisa Salvi, managing director of business consulting and education at Schwab Advisor Services. \u201cThis is a thriving growth-oriented industry, and we see this reflected in the top priorities year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:RIA Buyers Predict Valuations to Flatline in Second Half of 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The results, which come from 1,236 RIAs, also showed the importance of having a set client referral program to garner results. According to Schwab, firms with existing client referral plans generated 1.6x more new client assets than those without a set program.<\/p>\n

However, less than half (44%) of firms with over $250 million in assets have referral plans for existing clients, and only 30% of have a documented one for centers of influence. The top performers, while more likely to have plans, were still just at 52% for client referrals and 36% for centers of influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe organic growth is an imperative, and it helps create a very important cycle of opportunity within an advisory firm,\u201d Salvi said.<\/p>\n

Schwab\u2019s survey also highlighted the competitive market for advisor talent<\/a> in the RIA, even as the sector continues to poach from the wirehouses and independent broker\/dealer space. After client referrals, the second-most cited priority was recruiting staff to \u201cincrease the firm\u2019s skill set\/capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the survey, 75% of firms hired in 2025 at a median rate of two new staffers. The sources of that staffing were mixed, with Schwab RIAs finding new employees by percentage through professional and personal networks (56%); colleges and universities (36%); other RIAs (28%); and non-financial professional services firms (19%).<\/p>\n

RIAs expect even more hiring this year, with the median firm planning to add four new roles in 2026 and another 75% planning to hire before the year is out.<\/p>\n

In the hunt for talent, creating a documented path to equity is still an outlier. According to the survey, only one in three RIAs has a documented path to an equity stake for employees.<\/p>\n

Related:AI ‘Arms Race’ Starting Up in RIA Sector<\/a><\/p>\n

For those that do offer equity, 49% said the primary reason is to retain key talent. Another 30% said it is to support a succession strategy, and 11% said sharing company ownership is to help with management continuity.<\/p>\n

The survey also turned up some new priority areas: many RIAs noted improving productivity through the use of AI and integrating AI into their business strategy. Those landed as the sixth- and seventh-most marked priority areas, respectively, in the survey.<\/p>\n

As Wealth Management recently reported<\/a>, many large RIAs have been ramping up investment in AI tools and business integration for both existing advisors and those they are seeking to recruit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Client referrals and recruiting are the top two priorities for registered investment advisors custodied with Charles Schwab, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":806015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132],"class_list":["post-806014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}