The report, which was sponsored by Fidelity Investments, also uncovered key characteristics and drivers for increased profitability among these highly efficient practices.

The report, "Independent Advisor Industry Trends," found that highly efficient practices are able to operate with less support staff than other practices with similar total revenues by focusing on fee-based revenues with larger clients. In addition, highly efficient multi-advisor practices averaged:

• 31 percent higher net effective payout (NEP) per owner than other multi-advisor practices of similar revenues
• 51 percent larger clients than other multi-advisor practices
• 18 percent greater fee-based mix than other multi-advisor practices.

Highly efficient solo practices averaged:

• 19 percent higher NEP per owner than other solo practices of similar revenues
• 30 percent higher NEP per owner than other solos in the critical growth phase of revenue (between $250k - $500k).

The report also found that increasing fee-based revenue and client size are important elements of a strategy to increase profitability, as these drivers help practices grow revenues in a cost effective manner.

This structured growth coupled with a lean, efficient staff are characteristics of highly efficient practices that realize much higher net effective payout per owner than similarly sized practices.