RIA custodians · Form ADV filings, October 2025 to September 2026
BNY Pershing
The wealth-focused RIAs that custody with BNY Pershing: how many, how big, where they are and the largest of them. Every $1 billion+ RIA using BNY Pershing in the RIA database. News and coverage: BNY Pershing hub.
- RIAs using it
- 493 6% · 3rd of 23
- Assets held
- $1.11T 3rd of 23
- Median firm
- $559M 177 firms $1B+
- Only custodian
- 53% 263 firms
Custody vs. clearing
- Pershing LLC (clearing)336 RIAs
- Pershing Advisor Solutions (RIA custody)160 RIAs
Advisers list BNY Pershing’s RIA custody and broker-dealer clearing businesses separately; some name both, so the rows add to more than 493.
RIAs by size
Regulatory assets under management of each RIA naming BNY Pershing.
Largest independent RIAs using BNY Pershing
| # | Firm | Headquarters | Regulatory AUM | Held at BNY Pershing | Individual clients | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hightower Advisors, LLCSEC record | Chicago, IL | $199B | $16B | 62,807 | 1,983 |
| 2 | Empower Advisory Group, LLCSEC record | Greenwood Village, CO | $195B | $38B | 293,347 | 8,051 |
| 3 | CorientSEC record | Miami, FL | $165B | $4M | 25,963 | 1,537 |
| 4 | Cresset Asset Management, LLCSEC record | Chicago, IL | $79B | $6.0B | 4,746 | 496 |
| 5 | SCS Capital Management LLCSEC record | Boston, MA | $49B | $5.9B | 491 | 213 |
| 6 | Focus Advisor Solutions, LLCSEC record | St. Louis, MO | $41B | $3.2B | 33,235 | 309 |
| 7 | Wealthspire AdvisorsSEC record | New York, NY | $34B | $2.8B | 9,736 | 397 |
| 8 | Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLCSEC record | New York, NY | $28B | $6.7B | 1,081 | 175 |
| 9 | Arax Advisory PartnersSEC record | New York, NY | $27B | $2.6B | 15,155 | 361 |
| 10 | Summit Trail Advisors, LLCSEC record | New York, NY | $20B | $6.2B | 639 | 94 |
| 11 | Independent Financial PartnersSEC record | Tampa, FL | $16B | $893M | 52,539 | 328 |
| 12 | Sapient Capital LLCSEC record | Indianapolis, IN | $14B | $11B | 980 | 59 |
| 13 | Tocqueville Asset Management LPSEC record | New York, NY | $10B | $4.9B | 1,159 | 73 |
| 14 | Altair Advisers, LLCSEC record | Chicago, IL | $9.8B | $2.4B | 895 | 75 |
| 15 | Cassaday & Company, Inc.SEC record | McLean, VA | $7.1B | $7.1B | 3,142 | 97 |
| 16 | Miller Investment Management, LPSEC record | West Conshohocken, PA | $7.1B | $624M | 155 | 18 |
| 17 | Dakota Wealth, LLCSEC record | Palm Beach Gardens, FL | $6.9B | $1.2B | 3,728 | 91 |
| 18 | Focus FinancialSEC record | Minneapolis, MN | $6.8B | $1.6B | 13,560 | 189 |
| 19 | Sendero Wealth Management, LLCSEC record | SAN Antonio, TX | $6.5B | $4.5B | 331 | 41 |
| 20 | NWF Advisory Services IncSEC record | LOS Angeles, CA | $6.4B | $6.4B | 11,433 | 111 |
| 21 | Kovack Advisors, Inc.SEC record | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | $6.3B | $1.6B | 12,906 | 320 |
| 22 | Ashton Thomas Private WealthSEC record | Scottsdale, AZ | $6.0B | $2.7B | 3,181 | 93 |
| 23 | T. Rowe Price Advisory Services, Inc.SEC record | Owings Mills, MD | $5.9B | $5.9B | 13,517 | 92 |
| 24 | BalentineSEC record | Atlanta, GA | $5.5B | $3.5B | 439 | 61 |
| 25 | Mainstay Capital Management, LLCSEC record | Grand Blanc, MI | $5.3B | $14M | 3,454 | 33 |
Ranked by regulatory assets under management. “Held at” is the separately managed account assets each firm reports at BNY Pershing; many firms split assets across custodians.
Where they are
Also custody with
Questions
How many RIAs use BNY Pershing?
493 wealth-focused SEC-registered RIAs name BNY Pershing as a custodian on Form ADV, about 6% of those that report one, ranking it 3rd of the 23 custodians we track, according to Financial ADVSR’s review of filings from October 2025 to September 2026.
How much RIA money does BNY Pershing hold?
The RIAs that use BNY Pershing report $1.11T held there in separately managed accounts, 3rd among custodians. The median firm keeps $347M at BNY Pershing and manages $559M in all.
What is the largest RIA that uses BNY Pershing?
Among independent wealth managers, Hightower Advisors, LLC of Chicago, IL is the largest firm naming BNY Pershing, with $199B in regulatory assets under management, $16B of it reported at BNY Pershing.
Do RIAs that use BNY Pershing also use other custodians?
53% of them name BNY Pershing as their only custodian. The most common second custodian is Charles Schwab, named by 153 of BNY Pershing’s RIAs.
How we built this
Every SEC-registered adviser lists, in Schedule D, Section 5.K(3) of Form ADV, each custodian that holds 10% or more of its separately managed account assets, with the amount held. We took each adviser’s latest filing from October 2025 to September 2026 and kept the 9,157 wealth-focused firms, which manage at least half of their assets for individuals and high-net-worth clients; 8,572 of them report custodians. Custodian legal entities are grouped by parent, so Schwab’s entities count as one custodian and Fidelity’s RIA custody and clearing businesses as another. A custodian’s own affiliated advisers aren’t counted toward it. The firm counts match our RIA Custody Tracker.
Largest-firm tables show independent wealth managers only, the same test as the Largest RIAs: firms that offer financial planning, aren’t broker-dealers themselves and hold less than half their assets in wrap programs they sponsor or manage. Firm size and headquarters come from the SEC’s registered-adviser list.
What it doesn’t show
- Custodians holding less than 10% of a firm’s separately managed account assets aren’t listed, so smaller relationships are missed.
- Assets held cover separately managed accounts only, not pooled funds, and are as of each firm’s fiscal year-end.
- Broker-dealer clearing firms appear alongside RIA custodians because advisers list them the same way; Fidelity and Pershing pages show the split.
- State-registered advisers, most with under $100 million, aren’t in SEC data.
The data is free to use with credit to Financial ADVSR. Questions or corrections: contact the editors.