Independent RIAs, as fundsters well know, continue to be a key growth driver for several big discount brokerages.

The Wall Street Journal ponders that trend, pointing to RIA custody growth at Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade. The piece provides some updated figures that fundsters in distribution can use as further evidence of the growing importance of their RIA channels.

Yet when it comes to RIA custody, there are two other big players to keep in mind that are barely mentioned in this WSJ article. Fidelity, though it has other big business lines, too, is the second-biggest RIA custodian in the business (after Schwab) and is also a huge discount brokerage. And BNY Mellon's Pershing, though more well known as a clearing and custody titan backing broker-dealers, is the fourth biggest RIA custodian and continues to grow fast in the space.

Devin Ryan, managing director at JMP Securities, and Shirl Penney, CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, both chimed in for the WSJ article. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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