As the independent space continues to grow, RIAs are growing too.

In Financial Advisor magazine's RIA Survey & Ranking 2017, the top 10 largest advisors by the number of client relationships tended to be fast growing, enterprise-style firms.

While some firms are becoming huge by appealing to advisors—and clients—interested in breaking away from wirehouses and other traditional wealth managers, others are finding efficiencies and using technology to scale down and serve massive numbers of end clients. Still others are looking to the defined contribution plan space as a way to access pools of assets owned by large numbers of participants.

Each firm in our top 10 list has more than 10,000 clients. As of Dec. 31, 2016, the 10 largest RIAs by total client relationships in ascending order were:

10. Brookstone Capital Management - 10,000

Based in Wheaton, Ill., Brookstone had 10,000 clients at the end of 2016, up 500 from the 9,500 reported 12 months previously.