While independent financial advisors likely leverage a slate of RIA software and service solutions for their businesses, at the core of their tech stack is their RIA custodian.
The RIA custodian technology can be a central hub for advisors connecting key capabilities like RIA trading, customer relationship management (CRM), fund transfers, and in-depth performance reporting.
How can RIAs be confident that a prospective provider is the right fit for their business? It comes down to matching the capabilities & service their firm needs with a pricing structure that can facilitate their growth.
There are hundreds of reasons why an advisor may want to change providers. Perhaps they’re looking for more centralized technology, or better access to data, or stronger support…
Whatever the reason, RIAs making this change have a tricky task ahead of them: finding the right provider for their unique business.
That means finding a provider with the capabilities, service, and culture that will support their RIA in the long-term. A provider invested in their success with the right offerings to meet their needs day-in and day-out.
Conducting this due diligence on prospective RIA custodians can feel like a big undertaking. That’s why TradePMR has developed a simple 10-step Due Diligence Checklist.
The checklist can help advisors accomplish key tasks, including:
As advisors work through this checklist, they can whittle away their options until they can find the few that could be the right fit for their firm. At that point, it’s time for them to tackle one of the most important steps in the checklist: evaluating pricing proposals.
While some RIA custodians will deliver a one-size-fits-all approach to pricing, others (like TradePMR) offer a more tailored approach. A constricting pricing structure can impact growth potential and could ultimately hold an RIA back from reaching the next level for their business.
When conducting due diligence on providers, RIAs should be sure to invest the time needed to explore different pricing options and identify how those options would play out for their firm in the long-run.
RIA custodian pricing comes in many shapes and sizes – it can help to know what’s out there, what types of firms could benefit from which pricing models, and how to negotiate pricing with a prospective provider.
To help advisors better understand RIA custodian pricing, TradePMR has developed an RIA Custodian Pricing Guide.
The guide dives into different ways that RIA custodians make money, and how advisors can more effectively communicate with a prospective provider about pricing.
Not all RIA custodians approach pricing the same way. Before getting locked into what could be a rigid pricing arrangement, advisors should do the research needed to make sure they’re setting their firm and their clients up for success.
By leveraging the Due Diligence Checklist and RIA Custodian Pricing Guide, RIAs can move forward with confidence in their search for their next provider. These two resources work together to help advisors find not only the capabilities, but the pricing that can work for their firm.
If you’d like to hear about how TradePMR supports RIAs or are interested in speaking about your due diligence process, we’d love to talk. We can dive into your unique needs, what you’re missing from your current provider, and how you can find the right provider for your firm.