Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc. (CIRA)

The world is getting more complicated – regulation is heightened, clients expect more, competitors are offering more for less, technology costs and “must haves” are increasing. These challenges present opportunities to redefine your core value proposition and focus on being the best at fulfilling that mission. This enables you to hire internally or outsource for everything else, including dealing with regulation. If the ever-increasing regulation is not a core competency, then outsourcing your RIA function to Cambridge’s corporate RIA may make sense for your independent firm.

If you are an advisor considering the independent RIA model, you appreciate the merits of having greater control, independence, and flexibility – but you also realize these traits may be offset by increased regulatory burden, liability, and additional resource costs related to time and expense. It is important to recognize the features associated with forming an RIA generally come at a price that may be overlooked or uncalculated.

Benefits of forming your own RIA:

• Greater independence
• Increased flexibility
• More control

Drawbacks to operating under your own RIA:

• Greater liability
• Heightened regulatory burden
• Ownership of reporting requirements
• Significant time and resource investments

Choosing the advantages of the corporate RIA is an option for you to consider in creating your own practice.  At Cambridge, many advisors choose their corporate RIA, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc. (CIRA) because it offers their business advantages.

• The ability to focus on clients, asset gathering, and  management – CIRA assumes most of the burden regarding regulatory/administrative issues
• You can seek to avoid or mitigate the pressures of regulatory scrutiny and audit related issues. In exchange for CIRA shouldering the primary RIA liability to clients and regulators, you will accept slightly less control and flexibility.

Using CIRA as your RIA reduces your administrative and compliance costs while giving you more time to focus on gathering assets, managing client assets, and growing your practice. Cambridge’s technology, business tools, and back-office support can help limit the scope of administrative staff required in your office – enabling you to allocate limited resources like time and money to initiatives focused on increasing revenues.