Overview
Business model for retainer services
Financial Planning Fees & Clients
Charging for Retainers
Best Clients for Retainer Fees
Compliance and Retainers
Billing for Recurring Fees
Combining Retainer Fees & AUM
Broker-Dealer Compliance & Retainers
Compliance and Payment Processing
Combining retainer fees and AUM
Making use of the retainer model does not mean that you have to abandon AUM completely. In fact, combining retainer fees and AUM can be lucrative if you go about it the right way. Your first step to figuring out whether including AUM in your business model will work for you is understanding the needs of your clients. Do your clients have liquid assets that need to be managed? If not, does it look like they will attain assets in the future? If the answer is yes to either of these questions, incorporating AUM into your business model might be appropriate for you.
It is then up to you to decide whether you want to handle the investment management side of things yourself, or outsource it. You could outsource to a specialist firm or a robo-advisor, if either of these makes sense for your business. Either way, you will be able to charge less for AUM services than other asset managers, as it will not be your main source of revenue. The bottom line is that by providing this additional service to your client, you will grow your per client revenue. You will also increase your client loyalty, becoming somewhat of a one-stop shop for their financial advisory needs. In the long term, this will mean that you will be able to earn more from each client, without having to raise your planning fees too much over time.
Read more about scaling advisor practice management using retainers and AUM.