Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Howard Chen - Credit Suisse.
Howard Chen - Credit Suisse
Thanks for all the color on the net new asset gathering. Within that $7.8 billion, I guess, could you provide us an update or just for the entire fiscal year could you just provide an update on where your thoughts are for the breakaway broker opportunities and where RIA assets stand today.
Fredric J. Tomczyk
RIA assets currently stand about 30% of our total assets, right around, I think, it's $80 billion or so. And I think we're happy with how our RIA business is doing. I think as we said last year, it was one of our more challenging years, but we're quite happy with the start to 2009.
Having said that, on the breakaway broker market I think there's two things going on here. Number one, we're seeing sales activity and the number of people we're talking to at a very high level with all the dislocation going on at the full-service brokerage organizations. But I would say that the close rate on those sales activities are probably also at the other end of the spectrum at a low end.
And I think there are lots of brokers right now that are getting - if you were a full-service broker today and your revenues were down significantly and your clients were feeling like the way they probably are, I think you'd be asking yourself, "Do I take the retention payment where I am or at another full-service broker or is this really the kind of market - do I want to step out and put my own money up?" And I think a lot of them are hesitating here, and it wouldn't surprise me to see that part of the market pull back a bit here for awhile.
That's not to say that the long-term trends will fundamentally change. I think it will go back to the breakaway broker is very attractive. But I think we could see a bit of a lull here for a period of time because of the current market environment and their views.
Howard Chen - Credit Suisse
And then, Bill, in the revised outlook statement specifically for that average fee-based rate earned and the step down that you assumed in the forward outlook, are you now baking in any money market fee waivers? What's driving that decline?
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