Schwab Advisor Services saw a 45% increase last year in the number of advisor teams transitioning from the independent broker-dealer channel to the RIA model and signing on with Schwab as their custodian.

Schwab now serves more than 6,000 RIAs and at December 31 assets at Schwab Advisor Services stood at $654.9 billion.

According to a recent Schwab Advisor Services study of more than 150 financial advisors employed by independent broker-dealers and insurance firms, 86% of respondents found the RIA model appealing. That figure increased among those advisors who know someone who started or joined an RIA firm, with 95% finding the model appealing.

The survey showed that most of the broker-dealer affiliated advisors considered themselves independent in some way, with 56% feeling somewhat independent and 36% feeling completely independent. However, 81% of advisors indicated their business would be different if they were to join or to start an independent RIA firm.

"We see a growing number of IBD advisors transitioning to the independent RIA model," said Nick Georgis, vice president with Schwab Advisor Services. "In our experience with these advisors, the desire to have more flexibility to develop and grow their own business and the ability to offer more customized solutions to clients are two significant drivers of this trend."

Advisors named these benefits with the RIA model: 43% said it offers more ability to develop and grow their own business, 42% said it delivers more customized solutions and 41% said it enables them to hand pick their own team.

Advisors said the top two macroeconomic changes that would increase their likelihood of transitioning to an RIA format would be a friendlier economic and tax environment for small business owners (45%) and an improvement in the overall economy (43%). Fifty-eight percent said they would prefer to join an existing firm, while 34% said they would prefer to start their own.

On average, 82% of advisors' assets under management are under a fee-based model, according to the survey. The study showed a clear trend toward advisors operating a fee-based practice, with 45% saying their long-term plan is charge mostly or all fees and 46% indicating they expect to maintain a mix of both fee and commission-based business. Only 8% planned to maintain a mostly all-commission based business.

Advisors said the biggest advantages to a fee-based business model are that it offers more predictable revenue and an easier-to-understand pricing model for clients.