RIAs are hiking payouts, employee benefits

Registered investment advisers are starting to increase compensation levels at their firms — and are also spending more on employee benefits — according to a survey of 500 RIAs conducted by TD Ameritrade Institutional.

In the six-month period through April, 39% of RIAs boosted salaries and bonuses for themselves and their employees. That compares with 20% in the previous six-month period, according to the survey, which was released last week.

Those advisers who have increased spending chose to do so by an average of 22% and spent much of that money on technology and marketing, the survey showed.

TD Ameritrade also discovered that 68% had increased their number of clients over the preceding six months.

Because of this growth, the number of advisers who said they are spending more on employee benefits was up 50% from six months earlier. Also, the number of advisers spending more on training was up 32%, while technology spending was up by 17%, and staffing was up by 16%.

In an indication of the turnaround, 83% of all advisers surveyed said they had not been forced to cut costs in the previous six months.