With the Right Network of Support, Small RIAs Can Scale and Thrive in a Competitive Landscape

The financial advisory landscape is undergoing significant changes, with small Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) facing unique challenges when it comes to scaling and competing in an increasingly crowded market.

As discussed in a recent Financial Advisor Magazine article written by Editor -in-Chief Evan Simonoff, who was writing about the FSI’s One Voice conference, small RIAs are grappling with issues such as the need for strategic partnerships, adapting to holistic financial planning trends and finding ways to grow amidst stiff competition.

“Advisors who go independent [often] find there are costs they don’t think about,” said Steve Caruso, a senior analyst at Cerulli who has studied the space.

“Many are looking for partners to help them scale,” said Chris Radford, president of AE Wealth.

“The scaling up of the RIA space is unlocking innovation,” said Michael Lane, head of enterprise at U.S. Wealth Advisory at BlackRock.

“These challenges are precisely the reasons that Katie Burke and I began working together as strategically allied RIA firms and, ultimately, established Equita Financial Network as a way to help other women-led RIAs,” added Bridget Venus Grimes, co-founder of Equita Financial Network.

Equita was born out of a need to fuel business success while empowering other women in the financial services industry. Equita became the first platform solely focused on women-led financial planning firms, designed to encourage women to make the leap into launching their own practice and provide solutions to support them every step of the way. And importantly, Equita is a way for like-minded women to not only share resources and run their business at an affordable cost, but to also share ideas on everything from best practices to help with questions regarding client issues.

To read Bridget and Katie’s story, click here: https://equitafn.com/equita-financial-network-our-team/.

A SOLUTION FOR GROWTH AND INDEPENDENCE

Since it’s creation in 2018, Equita has emerged as a powerful ally for small women-led RIAs, offering a community-driven, resource-rich platform tailored to the specific needs of fee-only financial planning firms.

Key Features of Equita Financial Network:

  • Community and Collaboration: Members gain access to a vibrant community to exchange ideas, share best practices, and foster professional growth.
  • Comprehensive Resources: The network provides essential tools for financial planning and investment management, helping RIAs streamline operations and focus on client service.
  • Independent Branding: Equita allows member firms to maintain their own brand and client relationships, supporting the autonomy that is often crucial to small RIAs.
  • Two Membership Levels: Prospective members have the option to join as a full member or just a community member.

Equita Financial Network addresses the core challenges faced by small RIAs. By joining Equita, women-led firms can leverage collective resources and expertise, while maintaining their independence and unique brand identity. This network has been the key to thriving in a competitive financial advisory landscape for full member firms who have joined and fully embrace the tools and resources provided.

Sound interesting?

Let Equita take on the task of paying vendor bills, of sourcing resources, and of making sure compliance, IT, and portfolio management are all taken care of — while you focus on serving clients, growing your business, and providing great financial planning and wealth management expertise.

Start by attending one of the Inspiring Insights webinars. There is a small fee to participate if you are not an Equita member, but you’ll earn CE credits and learn about important topics while also getting a sense of the Equita community. Learn more about upcoming and past webinars here: https://equitafn.com/blog-for-women-advisors/.

Privacy Notice

We recognize the importance of protecting our clients’ privacy. We have policies to maintain the confidentiality and security of your nonpublic personal information. The following is designed to help you understand what information we collect from you and how we use that information to serve your account.

Categories of Information We May Collect

In the normal course of business, we may collect the following types of information:

  • Information you provide in the subscription documents and other forms (including name, address, social security number, date of birth, income and other financial-related information); and
  • Data about your transactions with us (such as the types of investments you have made and your account status).

 
How We Use Your Information That We Collect

Any and all nonpublic personal information that we receive with respect to our clients who are natural persons is not shared with nonaffiliated third parties which are not service providers to us without prior notice to, and consent of, such clients, unless otherwise required by law. In the normal course of business, we may disclose the kinds of nonpublic personal information listed above to nonaffiliated third-party service providers involved in servicing and administering products and services on our behalf. Our service providers include, but are not limited to, our administrator, our auditors and our legal advisor. Additionally, we may disclose such nonpublic personal information as required by law (such as to respond to a subpoena) or to satisfy a request from a regulator and/or to prevent fraud. Without limiting the foregoing, we may disclose nonpublic personal information about you to governmental entities and others in connection with meeting our obligations to prevent money laundering including, without limitation, the disclosure that may be required by the Uniting and Strengthening America Act by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001 and the regulations promulgated thereunder. In addition, if we choose to dispose of our clients’ nonpublic personal information that we are not legally bound to maintain, we will do so in a manner that reasonably protects such information from unauthorized access. The same privacy policy also applies to former clients who are natural persons.

Confidentiality and Security

We restrict access to nonpublic personal information about our clients to those employees and agents who need to know that information to provide products and services to our clients. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect our clients’ nonpublic personal information. We respect and value that you have entrusted us with your private financial information, and we will work diligently to maintain that trust. We are committed to preserving that trust by respecting your privacy as provided herein.