# Research Affiliates Research Affiliates is an Asset Manager based in Newport Beach, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Asset Manager - **Headquarters:** Newport Beach, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Newport Beach, CA, United States - **Founded:** 2002 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** researchaffiliates.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/research-affiliates ## Regulatory record - **CRD number:** 120440 - **SEC file number:** 801-61153 - **Registration status:** Registered - **Reports private funds:** Yes - **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/120440 ## About RESEARCH AFFILIATES is an SEC-registered investment adviser in NEWPORT BEACH, CA, registered since 2002. The firm manages $27.8 billion in assets, with $26.2 billion on a discretionary basis. It has 66 employees and 29 investment advisers. ## Sectors - Asset Management Strategies - Factor-Based Investing - Smart Beta ## Offices - London, United Kingdom ## People - Rob Arnott — Founder and Chairman - Chris Brightman — Chief Executive Officer ## Questions ### What is the Fundamental Index methodology that Research Affiliates pioneered? The RAFI (Research Affiliates Fundamental Index) methodology weights index constituents by a composite of four fundamental measures of company size: five-year average sales, five-year average cash flow, five-year average dividends plus buybacks, and latest book value. This severs the link between a stock's weight and its market price — cap-weighted indices mechanically overweight overvalued stocks, while the Fundamental Index avoids that structural return drag by rebalancing toward economic scale. The methodology is applied across geographies and asset classes, including equities, fixed income, and multi-asset indices, and is licensed to ETF and mutual fund sponsors. ### Who runs investment decisions and research at Research Affiliates? Rob Arnott, the firm's founder, serves as Chairman and remains the primary voice of its published investment research. Chris Brightman assumed the CEO role in June 2023, overseeing the firm's commercial partnerships and strategic direction. The investment research team operates collaboratively, publishing under the Research Affiliates banner; key research leadership includes senior strategists focused on asset allocation, factor research, and the refinement of the Fundamental Index methodology. The firm's research is widely published on its website and in practitioner journals, often bearing Arnott's name as lead author. ### Which asset managers license Research Affiliates' strategies, and what products do they offer? PIMCO licenses the RAFI methodology for its PIMCO RAFI ETF and mutual fund series across developed and emerging equity markets. Charles Schwab uses the Fundamental Index for its Schwab Fundamental Index mutual funds and ETFs, covering U.S. large-company, U.S. small-company, international, and emerging market exposures. Nomura Asset Management offers RAFI-based strategies in Japan. Collectively, over $130 billion in assets tracked strategies linked to Research Affiliates' intellectual property as of the firm's last public statements. ### How does Research Affiliates generate revenue, and how is that model different from a traditional asset manager? Research Affiliates operates a research-and-licensing business model: it designs indices and trading strategies, then licenses them to asset managers who package them into funds and mandates. The firm earns royalty fees based on assets under management in those licensed vehicles. This structure means Research Affiliates does not compete with its clients, does not directly manage portfolios for end investors, and its revenue stream hinges entirely on the long-term investment merit of its intellectual property — a sharp contrast to asset managers that earn fees regardless of whether their benchmark-relative performance is driven by genuine alpha or by maintaining a cap-weighted benchmark that embeds a return drag. ### What is the succession structure at Research Affiliates? In June 2023, Chris Brightman was named CEO, succeeding Rob Arnott in the firm's top executive role, while Arnott remained Chairman. Brightman had previously served as the firm's Chief Investment officer. The transition places day-to-day management and commercial leadership under Brightman while keeping Arnott deeply involved in research, client engagement, and the firm's public intellectual presence — a structure designed to institutionalize the business without severing its connection to the founder's analytical voice. ### Does Research Affiliates manage any direct client mandates? No. Research Affiliates does not act as a discretionary investment manager for institutional or individual clients. All assets linked to its strategies are held in vehicles managed by its licensing partners, such as PIMCO and Schwab. The firm's role is strictly that of researcher, index designer, and sub-advisor that provides the intellectual property and ongoing index maintenance for those vehicles. This design avoids any conflict between the firm's research output and an asset-gathering sales function. ## Related profiles - [21ST CENTURY EQUITY ADVISORS CORPORATION](https://altss.com/profile/21st-century-equity-advisors-corporation) - [Capital Asset Management](https://altss.com/profile/capital-asset-management-inc) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/research-affiliates Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology