Wholesaling Support

Optimal Number of Interactions per Year with Top Three External Wholesalers 

The number of in-person meetings between financial advisors and wholesalers has been trending down in recent years, with advisors paring back the number of wholesalers they work with and the frequency of meetings. It is also more challenging for wholesalers to meet with as many advisors as in the past because advisors are less likely to be in the office every day of the week. Specific to the independent RIA channel, the average drops even lower to just under two in-person meetings annually (1.9).

These in-person meetings have been supplemented by the rise in virtual meetings since the pandemic in 2020. Independent RIAs are now looking to have the same number of video conferences as in-person meetings at 1.9 per year. 

Communication Preferences

Advisor Top Needs over the Next Two Years
Note: Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "Greatest Need"

To determine in which areas of support asset managers may be most helpful, FUSE surveyed advisors about what their top needs from asset managers will be over the next two years. Among the 11 areas ranked by advisors, retirement planning topped the list for advisors overall. Interestingly, technology ranked highest out of all of the categories for independent RIAs, with a score of seven out of 10. Ultimately, an asset manager can be seen as a true partner to RIAs if they can provide services that help solve their issues moving forward.

Product Support 

Percent of Advisors Planning to Increase Their Use of Investment Vehicles Over Next 12 Months

In a recent survey of financial advisors, close to two-thirds of advisors (62%) indicated they plan to increase their use of ETFs over the next 12 months. This was slightly lower for RIAs at 56%, which is not surprising given that RIAs already allocate a greater percentage to ETFs compared with advisor respondents overall. ETFs are nearly twice as likely to see increased use than any other vehicle on which FUSE polled. One of the primary drivers for this growth is the increasing availability of active investment strategies in an ETF wrapper.

Separate accounts are the next most likely investment vehicle to see increased use over the next year, with one-third of advisors planning to use them more. Just over a quarter of RIAs plan to increase their use of separate accounts. The continued concentration of separate accounts in the wirehouse channel partially explains this difference.

One in four independent RIAs also expect to increase their use of private alternatives, nearly as much as separate accounts over the next 12 months. A significant reason for this expected growth is the rising availability and use of unlisted closed-end funds, which are comprised of interval funds and tender-offer funds. These products offer an alternative to traditional investment vehicles and can be viewed as a hybrid between a mutual fund and a truly illiquid alternative investment. While these vehicles have been available for decades, they have started to gain much more traction within the past five or six years, especially within the RIA channel.