Better option than FP Transistions would be to buy into an existing RIA firm while current owner is there.  Talk to the institutional sales staff at the major RIA custodians as they are usually good at putting together potential partnerships if they see it benefiting them.  Schwab, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade would be good starting points.  I use TDA and have let them know I am interested in buying and/or merging if the right opportunity was to arise and they have already introduced me to 2 potential firms where the current owner is in late 50’s and looking at contigency planning.  Both are $50 mil range firms, so they’re not too big to change a little and not too expensive, but big enough to be worthwhile.

Looking at starting my own RIA, anyone have any ideas as far as assets go, what would be the ideal number to have?

There are many firms out there that can support your business as an investment advisor under the corporate RIA or as an RIA registered with the state. What you first need to do is to make a decision on what your business plan is going to be in the future as far as growth and expansion. Next, you want to review your current business needs and the needs to support your growth and finally find a firm that can support all of these items. As far as scalability, you can grow your business using the hybrid model where you can do transaction and fee based business, branch office structure, DBA names where you can operate under your own name, and private labelling websites and technology to give your business more credibility and marketing power.  There are firms that support all of these scalable solutions. As far as assets under management, most firms require minimums of $5 million for investment advisors and $3 million for transaction based business. 

You do not need assets to start your own RIA.  If you need help with this or want to get more info send me an email

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