The best RIA CRM platforms to choose from 

Your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool is by far the most important part of your RIA firm’s tech stack. A recent study showed out of several hundred RIA firms surveyed, 94% of respondents cited a CRM tool as their top priority.  

Given that a CRM tool is so highly valued, it makes sense for an RIA to choose the best CRM tool possible. 

In this article, InvestmentNews aims to help RIA firms in their search for the most suitable CRM tool.    

The best RIA CRMs in 2024 

Having the right tech stack and CRM tools for your RIA in 2024 cannot be overstated, so here are some of the most viable choices for your RIA’s CRM needs.  

While considered among the best tools, note that these different CRM tools excel in different aspects. Pick the CRM tool that best suits your practice.  

1. Salesforce 

Since it was established in 1999, Salesforce has remained the dominant CRM tool across many industries. For RIAs and advisors, it offers a specific product: the Financial Services Cloud. This is a complete software suite that can be assembled and customized to fit the client’s needs. It’s not surprising that Salesforce is the overall best RIA CRM.  

RIAs can expect a well-developed platform that offers integration with multiple other marketing automation tools. Salesforce can work with other data sources to make up a huge database that provides advisors with valuable information, such as insights into clients’ interests, needs, and preferences.  

What makes Salesforce popular among RIA firms? It’s optimized for mobile access on any internet-capable device – perfect for financial advisors who are always on the go.  

Salesforce is also among the few CRM solutions that incorporates AI. This allows it to automate tasks like analyzing data, predicting sales trends, and making recommendations related to your workflow processes. 

2. Wealthbox 

Wealthbox is intuitive, very user-friendly and full of indispensable features. Founded in 2014, this CRM tool is a relative newcomer but is certainly no Johnny-come-lately in the CRM space.  

This CRM tool has made tremendous headway in the CRM industry, garnering the second-largest market share in advisor-specific CRM tools within a few years. Its hassle-free operation, quick startup time and easy-to-navigate platform made Wealthbox soar in popularity. It has become the top choice for smaller RIA firms and independent advisors.  

Wealthbox offers all the CRM essentials for advisors, such as:  

• contact management 
• task management 
• pipeline management 
• project management 
• automated workflows 

Perhaps Wealthbox’s biggest draw is its activity stream, a platform that lets team members collaborate as they do their work processes. 

3. Practifi 

This is a performance optimization platform that is purpose-built for wealth management. Practifi was built on Salesforce, allowing teams to automate workflows, create detailed client records and access advanced analytics while providing a unified experience. 

With its comprehensive APIs, a range of wealth industry integrations and an ecosystem of hundreds of integrated apps, Practifi is excellent at centralizing data for greater visibility across organizations. 

These three CRM options are not the only ones out there; there are many other choices available. Depending on what your RIA practice requires, you can use other less costly tools like Pipedrive, Zapier, or even Google Workspace. The video below suggests non-CRM tools for RIAs:  

Get more tips from RIA enthusiast Tim Welsh as he shares his views on building your RIA tech stack.  

A background on CRM tools 

CRMs began in the 1950s with the Rolodex – this was the way salespeople maintained their own “database” of clients and prospects.  

In the 1970s, some companies started taking notes from their sales reps and leveraging the information to better serve their customers. Companies would collect client feedback, do yearly surveys, and use basic customer database analytics to measure customer satisfaction. With this data, they could then implement measures to manage business relationships or improve them.  

It wasn’t until the 1980s that personal computers were used to handle early forms of CRM software. Fast-forward to today, and the market is filled with many options for CRM tools, along with add-ons from third-party vendors to enhance their capabilities.  

Apart from RIA firms and the financial services industry, many other industries like retail, real estate, and banking use CRM tools and have benefited from them immensely.  

So, what should RIA firms look for in a CRM tool? The best RIA CRM software must be: 

• customizable 
• affordable 

• easily integrated with your RIA’s tech stack 

The right CRM tool for your RIA firm is crucial to make good on your ROI. 

How to choose the best CRM tool for your RIA 

RIA firms should choose the appropriate CRM tool based on their needs. And among those needs, what would have the highest priority? To determine this, meet with the people who will use the tools and map out your workflow. Here are some examples of workflow processes:  

• schedule meetings and activities 
• develop actionable plans to get new clients 
• manage relationships with current clients 
• financial planning for clients 
• onboarding new staff 
• execute marketing plans 

Practifi CEO Adrian Johnstone offers more practical advice: “When firms look for a new CRM, they need to consider more than just what the provider’s brochure says the system can do.” 

It makes good sense to choose a CRM tool that offers basic functionality and other useful features, but the company behind the CRM is crucial for this decision as well. “They should question if the firm they’ll partner with truly understands their business and whether the CRM can serve as the central hub of their tech stack,” Johnstone says. “They should keep looking if the answer is ‘no’ to any of these.” 

Apart from considering what a CRM tool can do and how the company behind it knows their clients’ needs, advisors and RIA firms should be forward-looking. Johnstone adds, “they need to think about the business they’re trying to build and the technology they’ll need five years down the road, and whether the platform they choose will evolve in line with their needs.  

“Firms should be as wary of major platforms that rely on big-dollar consulting investments to make them fit as they are of overly simplistic tools that they’ll grow out of. The CRM is the heart of a well-run business, so these are important considerations.”  

But what about consulting other RIA firms regarding your choice of CRM tool? Johnstone counsels, “If they’re unsure, they should ask peers with businesses that look like the one they’re trying to create, not the one they have today.” 

A CRM is not as helpful unless it can work with other data sources or investment management tools your RIA practice already uses. At the very least, your chosen CRM should have integration, customization, and time management components. 

If you found this guide on the best RIA CRMs useful, read and bookmark our section on RIAs for more industry-leading news and updates.