On the one hand, these companies accelerate their growth rate through customer referrals. In 2023, top-performing companies received about the same number of opportunities as their peers, but closed them at a higher rate, resulting in the addition of about a third more customers in 2023 .

On the other hand, high-performing companies maintain better pricing discipline. Fidelity noted that As RIAs expand the scope of their services to be more competitive, they typically add new services without charging additional fees, thereby eroding their revenue and profitability.

Fidelity’s study showed that high-performing companies, unlike their peers, are better at maintaining pricing discipline. They offer lower discounts on average. The difference between their actual and expected revenues based on reported fees is 17 basis points, compared to 23 points for other companies.

Additionally, only 10.5% of top-performing companies bundle 10 or more services under a single price, compared to 18.5% of other companies that do so.

High-performing companies also have better control over their expenses. This involves both keeping overall spending low and maintaining that discipline across a range of spending categories.

Their overall expenses represent 74% of turnover, compared to 85% of turnover for other firms. Fidelity said this gap is due to consistently lower spending in non-compensation categories.

In fact, of the 21 spending categories surveyed in this group, top-performing companies were lower or tied in all but one: Professional Services: Taxes, excluding payroll taxes.