Do-it-yourself Model Gaining Ground on Investment Advisers

When the going gets tough, investors seek help from investment professionals. That is the conventional wisdom, but it seems that the worst economic downturn in the lives of most of today’s investors has prompted an unconventional response.

New research suggests that after going through a harrowing investment experience during the financial crisis, investors have emerged ready, willing and able to go it alone.

“The mainstream investor is increasingly self-directed in their decision making,” said Sophie Schmidt, an analyst with Aite Group LLC. “The online brokerages grew assets by close to $1 trillion between 2008 and 2010.”

GAINING MARKET SHARE

The consultant estimates that online brokers gained 3 percentage points of market share during that period while the wirehouses lost 1.1 percentage points and other retail brokerages lost 4 percentage points.

Between 2008 and 2010, assets on such direct-investing platforms as Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, TD Ameritrade Inc. and The Vanguard Group Inc. grew to $3.7 trillion, from $2.6 trillion, according to research released last week by Cerulli Associates Inc. Numbers aren’t yet available for last year.

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