An RIA is a firm or person registered with the SEC or a state that gives investment advice under a fiduciary duty to clients.
Registered Investment Advisor (RIA)
An RIA is a firm or person registered with the SEC or a state that gives investment advice under a fiduciary duty to clients.
A Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) is a firm or individual registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or a state securities regulator that provides investment advice and manages assets under a fiduciary duty to clients. That fiduciary standard requires the RIA to act in the client's best interest, distinguishing it from brokers held to lesser standards.
RIAs are central to the wealth-management market because most independent advisory firms operate as, or under, an RIA. They custody client assets with a third party, charge fees (often on assets under management), and file Form ADV disclosures with regulators.
Because RIAs carry compliance and reporting obligations, software is core to how they run:
- CRM to track clients, meetings, and compliance notes
- Portfolio and performance reporting tied to a custodian
- Billing engines that calculate advisory fees
When evaluating tools, RIAs look across the wealth management software landscape and specialized advisor CRMs that support their fiduciary workflow.