The custodian space has seen a lot of action lately with new players, acquisitions including TD Ameritrade by Schwab and huge growth investments in firms like Altruist. Our data team decided to take a look at our database of custodians for over 20,000 independent RIAs in the SMA (separately managed accounts) space. We looked at both trends surrounding the largest custodians and rising stars in the space. AdvizorPro has up-to-date data on this due to our proprietary database of custodians constructed from the latest ADV filings. The following analysis is as of April 7, 2023.
Top 5 Custodians By SMA Accounts
| Custodian |
Total RIA SMA Accounts |
Q1 Net | Q1 Change |
| Charles Schwab & Company | 7,951 | 589 | 7.4% |
| TD Ameritrade | 5,531 | -18 | -0.3% |
| Fidelity Brokerage Services | 3,337 | 59 | 1.8% |
| Interactive Brokers | 1,614 | 81 | 5.0% |
| Pershing | 1,357 | -16 | -1.8% |
- Charles Schwab & Company and TD Ameritrade control more than 65% of SMA accounts.
- Market share for 4 of the top 5 custodians by SMA accounts experienced relatively small growth
- Charles Schwab & Company experienced a stunning 7%+ growth during Q1 2023 despite it’s already impressive penetration of the independent RIA space
- It is worth noting that Schwab announced that they are purchasing TD more than three years ago (https://www.aboutschwab.com/announcement) and their deadline for migration is slated to be complete on September 5, 2023, which is a month before their big annual conference.
Rising Custodian Stars
| Custodian | Total RIA SMA Accounts | Q1 Net | Q1 Change |
| Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions | 123 | 73 | 59.4% |
| Altruist Financial | 217 | 117 | 53.9% |
| Apex | 189 | 33 | 17.5% |
| Axos Clearing | 178 | 18 | 10.1% |
| SEI Investments Distribution Co | 207 | 15 | 7.3% |
* Have between 100 and 500 SMA accounts in our database as of April 7, 2023
- 2 smaller custodians experienced 50%+ SMA account growth in Q1 2023
- Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions topped the list at nearly 60% growth. They have been making a concerted effort to grow in the space, including the acquisition of Folio Financial in 2020 which is clearly paying dividends
- Altruist which was just in the news for a massive $112 million series D raise experienced nearly 60% growth in SMA accounts. This growth likely played a significant role in the raise and is likely due in a large part to them self clearing and breaking ties with Apex.