Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) raised their fees for assets
under management fractionally to 1.00% in 2006 from 0.98% in 2005,
according to the Rydex Advisor Benchmarking Survey.
Almost
three-quarters of the 912 advisors surveyed, or 71%, reported some
increase in fees. Most of them cited the trend towards increasingly
customized solutions as the reason for the fee hike, Rydex reports.
In other
developments, the survey found that a growing number of RIAs no longer
fear giving up control over client relationships and delegating greater
responsibility over client management to staffers. Last year, 29% of
the advisors surveyed said they were comfortable delegating meetings
involving clients with modest asset levels to staffers. In 2005, only
9% were willing to do so.