RIA custodians are an integral part of both the advisor and client experience. In addition to executing transactions and holding and clearing client assets, a custodian may provide a wide spectrum of product, customer management, technology and service support to RIA firms.
In order to effectively communicate with your clients, you will need to provide performance monitoring to review and analyze each client’s portfolio performance regularly. A strong custodian partner will be able to provide you with performance reporting tools to support you in this area.
Setting up your new practice and converting your clients to a new custodial platform is a critical step that should be handled with care. The custodian you partner with should help you plan your transition budget and may even be able to offer financial assistance under certain circumstances.
Communicating with your clients on a consistent basis is important to the success of your practice. Some custodians do provide a comprehensive client relationship management (CRM) solution, allowing financial advisors to manage clients and their accounts as well as schedule and track communications with them.
You should look for a custodian with comprehensive creative and strategic marketing capabilities who can help you develop a brand and build a marketing plan that fits your style, reflects your standards and connects with your target audience.
A full-service custodian should also possess expertise and intellectual capital services to assist RIAs in growing their practices. When choosing your custodian, ensure there is a dedicated team that can help you to resolve questions or concerns affecting your practice and offer advice on the direction you should consider taking your business over the long term.
To keep all the various components of your practice seamlessly connected, you need access to integrated, efficient technology. During your custodian search, look for a comprehensive technology platform that offers integration to connect your CRM system, trading software, financial planning software and portfolio reporting.
As an RIA, you have the opportunity to choose from a vast array of investment products in order to recommend the investments most appropriate for your clients without the pressure to cross-sell, offer proprietary products or limit account size. Many custodians who offer open architecture support also provide tools to help manage investments via an integrated technology platform.
Independent RIAs are ultimately responsible for compliance. Some custodians have relationships with and can facilitate introductions to outside providers that specialize in helping RIAs establish high compliance standards and procedures to develop a code of ethics, business continuity plan and privacy policy.
Taking the RIA route means setting up shop and hanging out your own shingle – or perhaps joining an already-established RIA firm. There are different ways to establish your own RIA and there are different levels of support to choose from.
As an independent RIA, you get to hand-pick your staff. Your custodian will be able to make recommendations on outsourced solutions and insurance and benefits providers.