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Visionary thinking, emotional intelligence, and technology fluency rise as critical traits for the next generation of RIAs.
Schwab Advisor Services today released its 2025 Independent Advisor Outlook Study (IAOS), offering a snapshot of an industry in motion. Registered investment advisors (RIAs) report that visionary leadership, emotional intelligence, and technology fluency are central to their playbook for the future, as firms adopt AI, expand capabilities, and invest in people to strengthen the model of independence for years to come.
"Independence is not just a business model — it's a mindset," said Jon Beatty, Head of Schwab Advisor Services. "RIAs are proving this every day as they chart a confident path forward — keeping client trust at the center, embracing innovation, and scaling their firms with purpose to deliver stronger outcomes for both clients and their businesses."
What's driving the next chapter of growth?
- Building teams for tomorrow: Strategic thinking, tech fluency, and emotional intelligence
- Advisory firms are growing and evolving; in tandem, advisory roles are becoming multifaceted. Advisors view themselves as client champions (57%) and business builders (54%), with growing roles as mentors, innovators, and legacy builders.
- Top leadership traits for the next three years include: client-centric innovation and strategic vision (41% each), followed by business development innovation (37%), tech fluency (33%), and emotional intelligence (26%).
- From curiosity to capability: RIAs embrace artificial intelligence
- Artificial intelligence is gaining traction across the profession. More than half (57%) of firms are already using AI, with another third (29%) exploring its potential.
- Today's top use cases include research and analysis (45%), client communication (42%), and document creation (37%) — with many advisors (69%) expecting AI to be fully embedded in operations within five years.
- The client playbook: Prioritizing relationships and loyalty
- Growth and relationships go hand-in-hand. Advisors are gauging their progress in terms of more than just AUM (90%), they are also looking at number of clients (40%) and AUM per household (27%) as indicators of growth.
- In line with this, the top priorities for advisors over the next three years include increasing new clients (71%), raising AUM per client (59%), and driving more referrals (55%).
- Growth without inefficiency: Scaling smarter and driving profitability
- Most (70%) advisors say scaling will boost profits in the next three years, with one-third expecting gains of 21% or more.
- Advisors are finding ways to grow efficiently while protecting what matters most: the trust they've built with clients. They plan to scale their businesses by optimizing tech stacks (48%), applying AI (47%), hiring strategically (29%), and exploring outsourcing (26%).
- Building the "best" tech stacks: Efficiency meets flexibility
- Today, more than a third (37%) of firms use a hybrid tech approach, combining a core integrated platform with specialized solutions, versus an approach that prioritizes "best-of-breed" solutions for every function (22%) or fully integrated platforms with end-to-end workflows (19%).
- To better streamline operations and strengthen client relationships, their top tech priorities are tools that are secure (48%), cost-effective (44%), and well-integrated (42%).
"Success in the independent channel isn't about chasing trends—it's about seizing the opportunity to grow on your own terms," said Beatty. "Advisors are embracing change with purpose, scaling smarter, leveraging innovation, and strengthening the trusted relationships that will continue to define and drive the next era of independence."
For a deeper dive into the findings, view the full 2025 Independent Advisor Outlook Study report .
About the study
The study consists of a quantitative online survey, which was conducted by Logica Research from July 21 through August 1, 2025, polling 912 independent investment advisors who custody assets with Schwab Advisor Services, representing a total of $359 billion in assets under management (AUM). Participation was voluntary, participants were not incentivized, and the typical (median) survey length was 15 minutes.
About Charles Schwab
At Charles Schwab we believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who serve them, and championing our clients' goals with passion and integrity.
More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com . Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and LinkedIn .
Disclosures
Schwab Advisor Services™ provides custody, trading, and the support services of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab"), member SIPC, to independent investment advisors and Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. ("CSIM"). Independent investment advisors are not owned by, affiliated with, or supervised by Schwab.
This report was produced by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and is intended for independent investment advisory firms. The report is intended for informational and educational purposes only, and is not intended to provide financial, investment, regulatory, compliance, legal, or tax advice. Any guidance taken from the report is not tailored to the particular circumstances of any reader of the report or their firm.
The report relies, in part, on information provided to Schwab by the advisory firms named and others that participated in Schwab's research and interviews. Schwab did not independently verify that information, and Schwab makes no representations about the accuracy of the information in the report. In addition, the experience and practices discussed in the report may not be representative of other firms or the experience or results you might obtain.
©2025 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab") All rights reserved. Member SIPC .
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Mike Peterson
Charles Schwab
234-255-7553
Mike.Peterson@Schwab.com
Liz Shaw
The Neibart Group (TNG)
732-757-2119
sas@neibartgroup.com
