Since the Great Recession ended in the spring of 2009, the business environment for independent financial advisors has rebounded faster than it has for many other businesses. In May 2009, the month that the recession ended, TD Ameritrade Institutional surveyed 500 advisors and found that 49% said they were adding clients. Asked the same question again in November 2010, fully 70% were growing their client bases. Not surprisingly, 64% said that full-commission firms were their primary source of new business, up 7% in the past 12 months.
After RIAs survived a brutal two years, career satisfaction among them stands at 77%, the highest level in the survey's history, and up 10% since early in 2010. Moreover, advisors' upbeat attitude about their own jobs would appear to be influencing their outlook about the economy, with 46% optimistic about the direction of the economy over the next three months. That's up 30% from the previous quarter.
Consequently, 33% of the 500 RIAs surveyed report that they are investing in their own firms. One year ago in late 2009, when memories of the financial crisis were recent, the figure was much lower.
Marketing and technology were top priorities, but spending appears to be headed up across the board. Between 2009 and 2010, 21% of the RIAs polled said they were increasing travel budgets, 8% were expanding salaries and bonuses by 8%, 41% were shelling out more on employee benefits and professional development and 59% were spending more on staffing.
Growth remains the top goal for 71% of the RIAs. This was followed by 36% who cited client satisfaction as a key goal.
Not surprisingly, pending regulatory reform remains the greatest concern of 60% of the RIAs interviewed, with 59% saying they would dedicate more time and money to compliance. More than 40% wish to continue to be regulated by the SEC, while 28% prefer to be regulated by the states. Only a tiny minority want to be regulated by FINRA or by the CFP Board of Standards.