In terms of function and practice, registered investment advisory firms (RIAs) are similar to brokerage firms.  One of the primary differences lies in their respective regulatory oversight and regulatory obligations.  There is also usually a different forum for resolving disputes.  For example, financial advisors registered through a FINRA registered broker-dealer are regulated by FINRA and any disputes arising from a financial advisors servicing of an investor’s account is generally arbitrated through FINRA dispute resolution, whereas RIAs are not currently regulated by FINRA and usually have their own dispute resolution clause – generally requiring claims to be filed through AAA (American Arbitration Association) or JAMS.

Even though RIAs are not usually regulated by FINRA, this does not mean that there are not extremely large RIAs out there.

Financial Advisor Magazine recently released its 2011 rankings for registered investment advisory and as you can see from the data below, there are many large RIA’s out there:

Firm Name                                                             Location               Year End 2010 Assets ($MM)

1. Hall Capital Partners                                        San Francisco, CA                            $21,584.26
2. Gen Spring Family Offices                            Palm Beach Gardens, FL                   $19,903.75
3. StanCorp Investment Advisors                       Portland, OR                                      $17,219.95
4. Oxford Financial Group                                 Indianapolis, IN                                  $10,440.61
5. Convergent Wealth Advisors                           Potomac, MD                                    $10,391.93
6. Moneta Group                                                     Clayton, MO                                      $10,187.30
7. Mariner Wealth Advisors                                     Leawood, KS                                   $8,210.21
8. Plante Moran Financial Advisors                     Southfield, MI                                   $6,714.32
9. Edelman Financial Services                             Fairfax, VA                                          $5,959.95
10. Johnson Investment Counsel                         Cincinnati, OH                                    $5,835.94
11. Ronald Blue & Co.                                              Roswell, GA                                        $5,833.87
12. Pennant Management                                  Milwaukee, WI                                        $5,608.13
13. BBR Partners                                                      New York, NY                                      $5,391.60
14. myCIO Wealth Partners                                      Philadelphia, PA                               $5,315.26
15. Aspiriant                                                              Los Angeles, CA                                  $4,558.69
16. Geneva Investment Management                  Chicago, IL                                           $4,452.54
17. Federal Street Advisors                                       Boston, MA                                        $4,157.79
18. United Capital Financial Advisors               Newport Beach, CA                              $4,127.45
19. Beacon Pointe Advisors                                  Newport Beach, CA                             $4,016.08
20. The Presidio Group                                         San Francisco, CA                                $3,632.23
21. Ballentine Partners                                         Waltham, MA                                        $3,461.31
22. Clarfeld Financial Advisors                            Tarrytown, NY                                    $3,440.90
23. RSM McGladrey                                               Minneapolis, MN                               $3,385.96
24. Symmetry Partners                                         Glastonbury, CT                                  $3,343.00
25. GW & Wade                                                       Wellesley, MA                                     $3,320.87
26. Cornerstone Advisors Asset                        Bethlehem, PA                                       $3,317.34
27. Welch & Forbes                                                  Boston, MA                                        $3,157.75
28. Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel         Cincinnati, OH                                      $3,027.41
29. Massey, Quick & Co.                                       Morristown, NJ                                 $2,987.60
30. Gresham Partners                                           Chicago, IL                                          $2,938.62
31. Altair Advisors                                                   Chicago, IL                                        $2,642.51
32. Evercore Wealth Management                  New York, NY                                        $2,534.14
33. Hewins Financial Advisors                            San Mateo, CA                                   $2,355.81
34. Bingham Osborn & Scarborough                  San Francisco, CA                             $2,195.14
35. R.M. Davis                                                           Portland, ME                                   $2,180.85
36. Signature                                                             Norfolk, VA                                        $2,157.52
37. Harris SBSB                                                        McLean, VA                                       $2,130.00
38. Homrich Berg                                                     Atlanta, GA                                        $2,099.26
39. RegentAtlantic Capital                                   Morristown, NJ                                   $2,070.55
40. Heck Capital Advisors                                     Rhinelander, WI                                 $2,011.50
41. Mill Creek Capital Advisors                           Conshohocken, PA                             $2,001.54
42. MAI Wealth Advisors                                     Cleveland, OH                                     $1,995.06
43. Savant Capital Management                         Rockford, IL                                        $1,949.85
44. South Texas Money Management               San Antonio, TX                                  $1,927.30
45. Creative Planning                                             Leawood, KS                                       $1,917.53
46. Highmount Capital                                           New York, NY                                    $1,877.22
47. Telemus Capital Partners                              Southfield, MI                                     $1,875.27
48. Signature Estate & Investment                  Los Angeles, CA                                     $1,852.79
49. Molewski Financial Partners                        Bethlehem, PA                                    $1,822.14
50. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel           Pasadena, CA                                          $1,815.77

The foregoing information has been provided by The White Law Group.  The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.  The firm represents individuals in claims against their financial professional and has often litigated matters involving RIAs.

If you are concerned about your investments with an RIA, please feel free to call the securities attorneys of The White Law Group at 312/238-9650 for a free consultation.

For more information on The White Law Group, visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.