Top RIA Custodians 2026: Market Share, Rankings and Trends

Charles Schwab is the SMA custodian for 67.8% of RIAs, Altruist has moved into the #3 spot, and Fidelity has just told existing RIA clients they need at least $100M on its platform by mid-2027. The custodian landscape is shifting quickly, and the data shows who is gaining, who is holding, and who is being squeezed.

This post is based on AdvizorPro's 2026 RIA Custodian Trends Report, which covers 15,722 RIAs that report at least one SMA custodian on Form ADV, across 20,381 custodian relationships and $11.7T in reported SMA assets. The data was pulled from the AdvizorPro platform on October 1, 2026.

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Top 5 RIA Custodians by Market Share

Schwab and Fidelity hold the top two spots, as they did in 2025. Altruist is the only top 5 custodian to change places, moving from #4 to #3 past Interactive Brokers. TD Ameritrade, which ranked #6 in 2025, no longer appears because its listings are now counted under Schwab.

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Schwab's lead is structural. With 67.8% of RIAs, it has nearly four times Fidelity's share, and it leads among both newer and established firms.

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Top 5 Custodians by SMA Assets

Schwab and Fidelity hold 69.0% of the $11.7T in reported RIA SMA assets, and the top 10 hold 90.4%. To see the largest firms behind these assets, explore AdvizorPro's ranking of the Top 100 Independent RIAs.

SMA assets are the dollar amounts RIAs report per custodian in Section 5 of Form ADV, excluding custodian-affiliated advisory arms.

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Key Takeaways

• Fidelity closes much of the gap on assets. Fidelity has about a quarter of Schwab's RIA count but 80% of its SMA assets, because the average Fidelity RIA relationship is three times larger.
• Pershing ranks #3 by assets, versus #5 by firm count. Its RIAs have a median AUM of $382M, the highest among the top 5 by count.
• Altruist and Interactive Brokers fall outside the top 10 by assets. They rank #3 and #4 by firm count but each holds about 0.3% of SMA assets.

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Altruist Is on the Rise

Altruist went from #10 in 2024 to #4 in 2025 and now ranks #3 among RIA custodians. Its client base is young: 88% of its RIAs manage under $100M, and 45% were founded in the last five years. Altruist RIAs are also the fastest growing, with a median one-year AUM growth of 28.3%, versus roughly 16% for Schwab and Fidelity clients.

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Smaller firms tend to grow faster in percentage terms, but a median near 28% is well ahead of every other top custodian. The next chapter of this ranking is already being written: Vanguard agreed to acquire Altruist on August 26, 2026, with the close expected later in 2026. To see which firms are building on the platform today, read our list of the Top RIAs Using Altruist.

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What Vanguard's Acquisition of Altruist Means for Custodian Market Share

What We Know About the Deal

Vanguard announced on August 26, 2026 that it will acquire Altruist, with the transaction expected to close later this year, subject to closing conditions including regulatory approvals, according to PLANADVISER. Vanguard did not disclose the terms, but press reports put the price at roughly $4 billion to $4.6 billion. Axios reported $4.6 billion in cash, while FinTech Futures cited a Wall Street Journal figure of about $4 billion.

Altruist will operate as a standalone business and keep its current leadership, brand, and operating model. Vanguard has been an investor since 2020, and the platform serves more than 6,000 financial advisors, per FinTech Futures. AdvisorHub notes the move fits Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji's push to expand the roughly $12 trillion asset manager further into advice.

Our Take: A Firm Count Story Meets a Balance Sheet

Today, Altruist's market share is a story about firms, not assets. It is used by 7.4% of RIAs but holds only about 0.3% of SMA assets. The acquisition does not change either number on its own, but it changes who is backing the platform. A custodian that was a venture-funded challenger now has one of the largest asset managers in the world behind it, which may matter to larger RIAs that have so far hesitated to move meaningful assets to a newer custodian.

The timing is notable. Fidelity's new $100M minimum is creating a pool of small RIAs that need a custodian, and Altruist's base is already concentrated in that segment, with 88% of its RIAs managing under $100M. Whether Altruist captures those firms, and whether it can move up-market toward the larger firms that drive custody assets, are the two questions that will decide how this ranking looks in next year's data. We will track both as the deal closes.

Fidelity Is the Scale Custodian, and It Is Making That Official

Fidelity remains the leading alternative to Schwab, particularly for larger firms that prioritize institutional-grade infrastructure and service depth. Usage rises sharply with firm size: 8% of RIAs under $100M use Fidelity, compared with 43% of firms at $1B+.

On October 1, 2026, Fidelity told existing RIA clients they need at least $100M in assets on its platform by June 30, 2027, or must move to another custodian, as reported by Financial Advisor IQ. Fidelity counts only assets held on its own platform, so a multi-custodial RIA with $500M in total AUM but a $60M Fidelity sleeve would fall below the line. With the median RIA managing $103M and the median new RIA managing $55M, the minimum is likely to push some smaller firms toward other custodians.

The Largest RIA Custodians Continue to Shape the Market

Schwab maintains its lead across firm age and size, Fidelity is doubling down on scale, and Altruist is the fastest-growing challenger heading into its Vanguard transaction. Trends such as multi-custodial adoption, new RIA preferences, and Fidelity's $100M minimum will shape where assets and advisors land over the next year.

To track the fastest-growing firms behind these trends, see The $1B Watchlist, and for the largest firms by AUM, explore our Top Independent RIAs ranking.

About AdvizorPro

AdvizorPro is the advisor intelligence platform built for asset managers, ETF issuers, wealthtechs, and distribution teams that need to identify, prioritize, and engage financial advisors. With verified data across 750,000+ RIAs, family offices, and broker-dealers - combined with AI-powered lead scoring, TrafficIQ visitor intelligence, native CRM integrations, and now direct connectivity to Claude and ChatGPT - AdvizorPro powers the go-to-market strategies of leading firms across the wealth management ecosystem.