Of the roughly 30,000 RIA firms in existence, 11,800 are registered with the SEC. 

Proponents of outsourcing argue it would be an efficient way to allocate the SEC's exam budget, and that existing consultancies can assume the responsibility quickly. In doing so, the SEC could focus its efforts on the largest firms that pose the greatest systemic threat. 

While the authors of RIA in a Box's report agree that the percentage of RIAs examined is too low, they suggest the 10 percent figure is misleading. 

Of the $64.2 trillion in assets managed by SEC-registered RIAs, the 100 largest firms manage $31.1 trillion. 

As such, SEC exams in 2014 represented about 30 percent of total assets, suggesting the SEC is allocating the lion's share of resources to larger firms. 

And that means the SEC's true challenge is the more frequent examination of smaller SEC-registered firms, according to the RIA in a Box report. 

Most of the SEC-registered RIAs — 7,250 — manage less than $500 million. Some smaller firms — 2,500 — also advise private funds and mutual funds. 

But many of the firms registered with the SEC "like look and feel a bit like classic small-business RIAs serving a local community or region," RIA in a Box said. And that's why it is advocating for states to step in and work with smaller firms. 

The firm's report says states have proven more than competent in accepting the 2010 Dodd-Frank mandate that the SEC move RIAs with $100 million or less to state oversight. 

The $500 million threshold RIA in a Box would like to see represents a bit more than 60 percent of firms currently registered with the SEC. 

Assuming the SEC would cut half of the firms it examines from its roll, the report suggests it could then double examination output. As is, firms are examined by the SEC every 10 to 12 years, on average. 

The higher proposed threshold would also allow the SEC continued and wider focus on larger firms posing the greatest systemic risk. 

But wouldn't swelling the regulatory books at the state level ultimately result in the same funding and efficiency issues at the state level? 

The consultants at RIA in the Box think not. 

"We'd argue that the average $500 million RIA firm looks and feels more like an $80 million advisory firm from a regulatory standpoint than it does a multi-national, multi-billion dollar, or even trillion-dollar RIA operation," write the report's authors. 

Whether or not states would have to appetite to absorb more oversight responsibilities is unclear, according to the report.

But embracing the solution would mean solving a problem that even the financial services industry acknowledges: too many RIAs left unregulated because of too little resources at the federal level.