The job of a financial advisor may be, first and foremost, to serve their clients. Still, for independent advisors who own their own firms (or at least their own book of business), there are often many other duties they are responsible for. From marketing their services to meeting their compliance obligations to investment-related functions like research and trading, these tasks span a variety of subject matters. In fact, the breadth of duties is so vast that it would be almost impossible to gain mastery in all of them. And unlike advisors who work as employees of an RIA or wirehouse broker-dealer that provides these services at the firm level, independent advisors must either perform all these functions themselves – despite their lack of expertise – or hire or outsource someone to do it for them.
That's why, ever since the movement toward independence took hold in the 1990s, an accompanying ecosystem of advisor service providers has grown (and continues to grow) around it. And while many of these service providers concentrate around 'core' service functions like marketing, consulting, and investment management, they've also expanded into numerous other niches – from granular marketing strategies like SEO, social media, and video, to virtual paraplanners and client service associates, to outsourced tax and estate document preparation, to outsourced IT and cybersecurity, to advisory firm recruiting and training. Additionally, there's another layer of coaches and consultants in areas such as practice management, marketing and sales, M&A, and succession planning to help advisors improve their businesses.
The caveat, though, is that while many service providers are available to financial advisors, it's not always easy to find them. With many service providers being small businesses, it doesn't always make sense for them to invest in mass marketing or conference booths to attract the attention of advisors (since the provider can only take on so many new clients at once). And so, when an advisor starts to look for a service provider who can help them, they usually end up either turning to other advisors for a recommendation, or to Google – which in either case might not result in them finding the solution that works best for them.
That's why we're now launching the first edition of the Kitces Advisor Service Providers Map. As a categorized compendium of service providers across multiple domains – marketing and business development, business and practice improvement, financial planning, investment management, operations support, legal and regulatory, people and talent, transitions and succession, and turnkey RIA platforms that handle everything for the advisor – the new Map seeks to ease some of advisors' pain in finding providers to help them with the work that they need done. Additionally, we hope to shine a light on the many providers who serve the advisory industry – some of which are well established and known, but many of which could otherwise fly under the radar of an advisor for whom they might be a great fit!
Ultimately, we aim to add to and evolve the Kitces Services Map over time (as we do with the Kitces AdvisorTech Map), to reflect the ongoing evolution of the advisor services landscape. If we've missed some service providers, we welcome submissions for new companies – both from the providers themselves and from advisors who work with them. Eventually, we also plan to launch a searchable Advisor Services Directory to make it even easier to find service providers that are a good fit for the advisor's needs. In the meantime, advisors can use the Services Map to connect with the services and solutions that can help them better succeed as financial advisors and independent business owners!
