The main driver of the rise of RIAs was the "breakaway broker" phenomenon, which has seen advisors or teams leave established employee or independent broker-dealers to form their own firms.
The costs for a company to keep its pension liabilities or shift them to annuities purchased from an insurance company were nearly identical in October.
An increasing number of retired workers are ordering just the benefits they want as companies swap out legacy insurance plans for health reimbursement accounts.