The Top RIAs in the Top 5 Metro Areas for 2023

If you're in investment sales, you likely already know that one of the biggest problems of selling to RIAs is the sheer size of it.

The RIA market across the United States consists of over 36,000 firms, which means that while there are more than enough to choose from when looking for new clients, narrowing down the list to only those that allocate to outside managers is going to be key.

Here at Dakota, we’ve raised over $6 billion from over 2,000 RIAs, and that has been possible because we qualify and curate our list to only RIAs that allocate to outside managers.

In an effort to help narrow down the sheer size of the market, we’ve put together a list of the top RIAs in the top 5 metro areas across the country. To determine our list, we looked for three things:

1. An AUM above $200 million
2. A dedicated analyst team
3. An RIA that actively allocates capital to outside investment management firms

In this article, we're highlighting the top 5 RIAs in the top metro areas across the United States from our curated institutional investor database, Dakota Marketplace.

However, this is by no means a “best of” list, as there are so many high quality RIAs across the country. By the end of the article, you'll have a clear idea of the landscape and who you can be calling on.

1. New York City 

1. Brown Advisory
   AUM: $148,000,000
   
   
2. Hightower Advisors LLC
   AUM: $108,200,000,000
   
   
3. Bessemer Trust
   AUM: $107,000,000,000 
   
   
4. Rockefeller Capital Management 
   AUM: $95,000,000,000
   
   
5. Cerity Partners
   AUM: $50,000,000,000

2. Chicago

1. CIBC Private Wealth
   AUM: $73,775,455,095
   
   
2. William Blair
   AUM: $49,965,190,648
   
   
3. Calamos Wealth Management
   AUM: $41,993,109,481
   
   
4. Mesirow Financial
   AUM: $30,500,000,000
   
   
5. Cresset Wealth Advisors
   AUM: $22,967,857,515

3. Boston

1. Fidelity Strategic Advisors
   AUM: $450,000,000,000
   
   
2. SCS Financial Services
   AUM: $32,181,107,000
   
   
3. Partners Capital Group
   AUM: $29,812,849,622
   
   
4. Pathstone
   AUM: $22,604,852,072
   
   
5. The Colony Group
   AUM: $18,638,723,308

4. Los Angeles

1. SageView Advisory Group
   AUM: $176,336,258,193
   
   
2. NFP Retirement Inc
   AUM: $78,717,910,074
   
   
3. Beacon Pointe Advisors
   AUM: $32,000,000,000
   
   
4. Evoke Advisors
   AUM: $22,300,000,000
   
   
5. Whittier Trust Company
   AUM: $19,000,000,000
   

5. Dallas

1. Retirement Advisors of America Inc
   AUM: $45,429,324,282
   
   
2. Avantax Wealth Management
   AUM: $34,340,503,208
   
   
3. First Command Financial Planning
   AUM: $25,000,000,000
   
   
4. CH Investment Partners
   AUM: $11,617,246,000
   
   
5. Tolleson Private Wealth Management
   AUM: $8,181,879,724
   

While the above are some of the RIAs across several metros that are most viewed in Dakota Marketplace, you can access the complete database of RIAs in Dakota Marketplace. To find out more, we'd love to offer a free trial of the platform.