There was a time when “RIA technology” meant Excel, Outlook, and a filing cabinet. Advisors managed model portfolios manually, tracked client data in spreadsheets, and generated performance reports through a combination of elbow grease and occasionally imprecise calculation. It worked… until it absolutely didn’t.
That evolution is still happening, and understanding where the RIA tech stack has been is the clearest way to predict where it is going next.
How the RIA Tech Stack Evolved from Excel to Integrated Platforms
The first wave of RIA technology was about organization. CRM platforms like Redtail — founded in 2003 to enable independent advisors to provide differentiated client experiences and manage their client base through systematized, repeatable processes — gave advisors a centralized place to manage client relationships and communications. (Source) Portfolio management software replaced manual spreadsheet reconciliation with automated custodian data feeds. Financial planning tools moved the client conversation from rate-of-return to life goals. Each tool solved a problem, but they also created a new one: the fragmented stack.
By the early 2010s, robo-advisor platforms introduced the industry to automation at scale — rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and digital onboarding that previously required hours of manual work. The lesson wasn’t lost on established RIAs. If an algorithm could do it cheaper, the advisor’s value had to live somewhere else. That realization pushed the industry toward deeper planning and away from purely investment-focused service models.
Then came AI. Cerulli research finds that heavy technology users average materially better performance than light users across practice productivity metrics, including clients served per producing advisor and clients per senior advisor, and that nearly 30% of heavy technology users qualify as higher-growth practices over a three-year period, compared to just 9% of light users. (Source) AI is no longer a future consideration. It’s a current operating reality.
What the Rise of Unified Managed Accounts Reveals About Scalable Advisory Infrastructure
The ascent of unified managed accounts (UMAs) tells the industry’s infrastructure story well.
Managed account assets grew 19.8% to reach $13.7 trillion in 2024, with UMA programs leading net flows at $257.7 billion. (Source) UMA and SMA programs exhibited the highest five-year compound annual growth rates at 18.7% and 18.3%, respectively, and Cerulli expects managed account assets to grow at an annualized rate of 12.3% over the next four years, reaching $31.8 trillion by 2028. (Source)
UMAs are an infrastructure statement. Consolidating ETFs, mutual funds, SMAs, and alternatives into a single account with one statement and coordinated tax-loss harvesting requires backend systems that communicate with one another. As managed account sponsor firms continue to consolidate their disparate platforms and demand for personalized portfolios and tax optimization increases, both program types are expected to continue experiencing strong growth. The firms building UMA capabilities are the same ones investing in integrated platforms.
This fragmented data comes at a cost, with 82% of advisors reporting that they lost prospects, and 67% of those who lost clients are due to subpar tech. (Source)
Why Open APIs and Interoperability Define the Next Five Years of RIA Wealthtech
The next chapter of RIA technology centers on one question: Does your stack have a single source of truth?
24% of advisors say disconnected solutions represent their biggest tech challenge, and advisors today use an average of 2.0 platforms — down from 2.2 in 2024 — as consolidation into fewer, deeper integrations accelerates. (Source, Source) Clearly, open APIs and an industry-wide push for systems compatibility are making true interoperability achievable in ways it wasn’t five years ago.
Custodians are committing capital to this thesis. At Schwab IMPACT 2025, Jon Beatty, Head of Advisor Services at Schwab, shared that 90% of Schwab’s current investment is going toward streamlining operations and digitizing advisor and client experiences. (Source)
Among billion-dollar RIAs, the stakes of getting this right are clear: improving data visibility and usage ranks as the top challenge, cited by 35% of firms, ahead of new client acquisition and advisor productivity concerns. (Source) The RIA that thrives in the next five years won’t be the one with the most tools. It will be the one whose tools actually talk to each other.
