Schwab polled several dozen non-RIA advisors and found that almost 9 out of 10 find the fiduciary model appealing -- and once they actually know anyone, the appeal rate goes to 95%.

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The sheer preponderance of independent brokerage reps and insurance agents who would at least like to try out life at an RIA was initially noteworthy enough to make me wonder if the question was worded in such a way that participants thought they were expressing abstract interest in the model or a concrete desire to work in it personally.

But Schwab says that the question was a noncommittal "How appealing is the idea of becoming an independent registered investment advisor at some point in the future?"

Interestingly, 92% of the reps already feel like "somewhat" to "completely" independent performers and 82% of their AUM are already in fee-based programs, so they see the RIA channel as the secret to growing their business and fine-tune their service offering and team.

Factors holding them back from taking that step include the economy and the small business tax environment.