The key to sustaining your firm's growth may not be what you think

Summary: After a couple of years of decelerating revenue growth in the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) industry, it's easy to get excited about the topline results revealed in the 2018 InvestmentNews Study of Pricing & Profitability. Firms in the study reported revved-up median revenue growth of 11.7% in 2017, compared with 5.0% in 2016 and 6.9% in 2015. When you couple such heady growth with profit margins that hover around 25%, it's easy to conclude that the industry's growth engine is running smoothly and firms should stick with whatever they're doing now. The message would seem to be: “If it's not broken, leave it the heck alone.”