Compensation Benchmarks for Financial Advisory Firms
Know What Firms Like Yours Actually Pay
Set Pay with Data Built for Your Industry
Compensation is one of the largest line items on your P&L and one of the hardest to get right. Most advisory firm owners rely on generic salary surveys, government databases, or informal benchmarking to set pay. Those sources were not designed for this industry. The data behind them is either self-reported, too broad, or years out of date.
SRG’s Talent Strategy Report is an annual compensation and staffing benchmarking report built specifically for independent financial advisory firms. It draws from SRG’s proprietary valuation database of over 2,600 advisory firm valuations and 8,000+ individual compensation records. Every figure has been collected and verified through SRG’s valuation process, not estimated in a survey.
Real Benchmarks, Built for Real Decisions
The TSR covers more than 20 roles across your team, from administrative and support staff to lead advisors and C-suite executives. Each role includes salary and bonus ranges at the median, first quartile, and third quartile, filtered by firm size, practice type, and region, including large-metro pay premiums.
The report also includes staffing composition benchmarks that show how comparable firms structure their teams. You can see how many people firms your size typically employ in each role category and how that changes as firms grow.
Because SRG’s valuation database is continuously updated with new engagements, the compensation data in the TSR reflects current market conditions, not a static snapshot from a single survey period.
Whether you are preparing for annual reviews, making a new hire, or evaluating whether your current compensation structure still fits your growth goals, the TSR gives you a reliable starting point grounded in real industry data.
See the TSR in 90 Seconds
What the Talent Strategy Report Is and Why It Matters
This short video walks through what the TSR covers, how the data is sourced from real advisory firm valuations, and why it gives firm owners a better foundation for compensation decisions. Watch it before downloading the sample report below.
What's Inside
Download a Sample
The sample report shows exactly what you receive as a TSR subscriber. It includes compensation data for 20+ roles organized by category, with salary and bonus ranges at three benchmark levels, filtered by firm size and region. It also includes staffing composition summaries that show how comparable firms structure their teams. Enter your information below to access the sample.
Book a Consultation
Not sure if your compensation data is keeping up with the market? Book a discovery call to learn how the Talent Strategy Report can give your firm a reliable baseline for every pay decision you make this year.
View Pricing & Service Overview
Download our Talent Strategy Report service overview to view pricing, what’s included, timeline, and how the process works.
Talent Strategy Report FAQs
Here are the most common questions financial advisors ask about SRG’s Talent Strategy Report.
The Talent Strategy Report (TSR) is SRG’s annual compensation and staffing benchmarking report for independent financial advisory firms. It provides salary and bonus ranges for more than 20 roles across your team, filtered by firm size, region, and practice type. The data is drawn from SRG’s proprietary valuation database, not self-reported surveys.
The TSR is designed for owners and leaders of independent financial advisory firms who need reliable compensation data to set pay, make hiring decisions, or evaluate whether their current pay structure is competitive.
Most compensation studies rely on self-reported survey data. The TSR is built on compensation records from over 2,600 real advisory firm valuations and 8,000+ individual compensation records that SRG has reviewed and verified. The data reflects what firms actually pay, not what they report in a voluntary survey.
The report covers more than 20 roles across six categories: administrative, support, technical specialist, advisory, dedicated management, and professional/C-suite. Each role includes median, first quartile, and third quartile benchmarks for salary and bonus.
The TSR is updated annually. Subscribers receive a new report each year calibrated to their firm’s location and revenue size.
When you subscribe, SRG tailors the report to your firm’s location, revenue size, and practice type. You receive both regional and national benchmarks so you can see how your compensation compares to firms like yours and to the broader market.
Basic information about your firm, including location, revenue size, and practice type. SRG uses this to calibrate the report to your specific market.
The TSR provides the data and benchmarks. If you need help building a custom compensation model for a specific role, that falls under SRG’s Compensation Design service, which includes the TSR as part of the engagement.
Julia Sexton, CVA, Director of Strategic Organizational Planning
Courtney Sobkow, Project Coordinator