SEC investment adviser statistics show a large and expanding regulated market. The SEC reported 21,669 investment advisers in 2024 and $146 trillion in regulatory assets under management (RAUM). The 2023 SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report provides the detailed breakdown of registered advisers, firm structures, clients, employees, and reported interests used throughout this article.
Contents
- Adviser population over time
- Regulatory assets under management
- Firm size and legal structure
- Employees and operating scale
- Clients served by SEC-registered advisers
- Reported interests and discretion
Adviser population over time
The SEC reported 21,669 investment advisers in 2024, up 1.4% year over year. This dashboard figure is the latest measurement in the supplied research and should be read separately from the historical series of SEC-registered investment advisers in the SEC report’s Table 1.1.
| Measurement period | SEC-registered investment advisers | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 15,441 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2022 | 15,287 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2021 | 14,699 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2020 | 13,783 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2019 | 13,349 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2018 | 13,101 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2017 | 12,572 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2016 | 12,065 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2015 | 11,855 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2014 | 11,396 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2013 | 10,826 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2012 | 10,662 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2011 | 10,733 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2010 | 11,719 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
| 2009 | 11,458 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 1.1 |
The historical series does not move in a straight line. It rises from 11,458 SEC-registered advisers in 2009 to 15,441 in 2023, while the intermediate figures include 10,662 in 2012 and 10,826 in 2013. The 2024 dashboard count of 21,669 is a separate reported measure and should not be silently substituted for the 2023 Table 1.1 count.
For 2023, the SEC reported 14,973 non-small-entity SEC-registered investment advisers and 468 small-entity SEC-registered investment advisers. These categories describe the regulatory population in Table 1.2 and provide a size classification distinct from the employee bands reported elsewhere.
Regulatory assets under management
The SEC reported $146 trillion in regulatory assets under management in 2024, up 12.8% year over year, on the SEC Investment Adviser Statistics dashboard. The SEC also reported $128 trillion for the end-2023 report period in the publication titled “SEC Staff Publishes New Investment Adviser Statistics Report.” These are measurement-period-specific figures; the 2024 dashboard value and the end-2023 report-period value should remain labeled with their respective periods.
The 2023 Table 2.1 breakdown reported $75.7 trillion in discretionary RAUM and $52.6 trillion in non-discretionary RAUM. Together, those two reported categories describe the 2023 RAUM split presented in that table. The same table reported $0.0 trillion in non-discretionary RAUM in 2009. Because the figures come from named table entries and different periods, comparisons should preserve the distinction between discretionary and non-discretionary assets.
| RAUM measure | Reported amount | Measurement period | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total regulatory assets under management | $146 trillion | 2024 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics dashboard |
| Total regulatory assets under management | $128 trillion | End of 2023 report period | SEC Staff Publishes New Investment Adviser Statistics Report |
| Discretionary RAUM | $75.7 trillion | 2023 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 2.1 |
| Non-discretionary RAUM | $52.6 trillion | 2023 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 2.1 |
| Non-discretionary RAUM | $0.0 trillion | 2009 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 2.1 |
The dashboard also reported the 2024 year-over-year change in total RAUM as 12.8%. That percentage is an SEC-reported change for the dashboard measure, not an estimate derived from the rounded dollar amounts shown here.
Firm size and legal structure
The 2023 SEC report counted 9,614 SEC-registered RIAs organized as LLCs, 3,107 organized as corporations, and 2,697 organized as partnerships. These are the three legal-structure counts supplied from Table 1.3. They show that LLCs were the largest named organizational form in that table, followed by corporations and partnerships.
The employee-size distribution in Table 6.5 gives another view of operating scale. The SEC reported 10,690 RIAs with fewer than 10 advisory-function employees in 2023. A further 3,508 had 10 to 49 advisory-function employees, 847 had 50 to 249, 119 had 250 to 499, and 109 had 500 or more.
| Advisory-function employee band | RIAs in 2023 | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 10 | 10,690 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 6.5 |
| 10 to 49 | 3,508 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 6.5 |
| 50 to 249 | 847 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 6.5 |
| 250 to 499 | 119 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 6.5 |
| 500 or more | 109 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 6.5 |
The employee bands are not interchangeable with the small-entity and non-small-entity classifications. The former counts advisory-function employees; the latter is the regulatory classification reported in Table 1.2. Keeping those definitions separate is important when comparing firm populations.
Employees and operating scale
Across RIAs, the SEC reported 1,005.9 thousand non-clerical employees in 2023 and 531.4 thousand advisory-function employees. These figures appear in Table 6.1 and use thousands as the unit. The advisory-function total is therefore a subset of the broader non-clerical employee measure as presented by the source categories, rather than a separate count of firms.
The distribution of firms helps place those workforce totals in context. Most of the reported RIA employee bands were below 50 advisory-function employees: 10,690 RIAs were in the fewer-than-10 category and 3,508 were in the 10-to-49 category. The larger bands were much smaller in count, with 847 RIAs at 50 to 249 employees, 119 at 250 to 499, and 109 at 500 or more. These are counts for 2023 and are not forecasts.
The SEC’s workforce measures and firm counts answer different questions. Table 6.5 describes how many RIAs fall into each advisory-function employee band. Table 6.1 describes employee totals across RIAs. Neither measure, by itself, identifies average staffing per firm, so no average is stated here.
Clients served by SEC-registered advisers
Table 3.2 reported how many RIAs advised each named client category in 2023. Individuals were the most widely reported category, with 14,121 RIAs advising individuals. High-net-worth individuals were reported by 11,007 RIAs. The table also counted 9,246 RIAs advising other investment advisers and 8,873 advising pension and profit-sharing plans.
| Client category | RIAs advising the category in 2023 | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals | 14,121 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 3.2 |
| High-net-worth individuals | 11,007 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 3.2 |
| Other investment advisers | 9,246 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 3.2 |
| Pension and profit-sharing plans | 8,873 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 3.2 |
| Pooled investment vehicles | 6,964 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 3.2 |
| Corporations or other businesses | 4,146 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 3.2 |
| Charitable organizations | 3,428 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 3.2 |
| State or municipal government entities | 2,113 | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 3.2 |
The remaining named categories were smaller. The SEC reported 1,238 RIAs advising trusts, estates, or estates-related entities; 1,097 advising insurance companies; 977 advising registered investment companies; 642 advising banks or thrift institutions; and 232 advising family offices in 2023. These categories are reported as RIA counts, and a single adviser may appear in more than one client category.
Pooled investment vehicles were reported by 6,964 RIAs, while corporations or other businesses were reported by 4,146. Charitable organizations accounted for 3,428 reported RIA relationships in the table, followed by 2,113 RIAs advising state or municipal government entities. The figures describe the number of RIAs reporting each type of client, not the number of clients or the assets associated with each type.
Reported interests and discretion
Table 8 records the share of advisers reporting selected interest and discretion codes in 2023. The SEC reported that 77.1% of advisers reported proprietary interest code 8A(2), while 16.5% reported sales interest code 8B(2).
Investment or brokerage discretion was reported at different levels depending on the code. The SEC reported 94.0% of advisers with code 8C(2) and 47.3% with code 8C(4). Code 8D was reported by 5.1% of advisers. These percentages should be read as separate reported code shares rather than added together.
| Reported code or category | Advisers reporting it in 2023 | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Proprietary interest code 8A(2) | 77.1% | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 8 |
| Sales interest code 8B(2) | 16.5% | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 8 |
| Investment or brokerage discretion code 8C(2) | 94.0% | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 8 |
| Investment or brokerage discretion code 8C(4) | 47.3% | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 8 |
| Code 8D | 5.1% | SEC Investment Adviser Statistics report, Table 8 |
Taken together, the reported figures cover the main dimensions of the SEC investment adviser market: the number of advisers, the assets subject to regulatory reporting, organizational form, employee scale, client categories, and selected business-interest codes. The detailed firm, client, workforce, and code measures above refer to 2023, while the dashboard totals are explicitly labeled 2024.