Charles Schwab Corp.'s Advisor Services unit is out with improvements to its practice-management consulting platform for investment advisories. 

The enhancements boil down to making Schwab's M&A Listing a free service, and providing a tool to help firms track employee uptake of Schwab products and services.

Schwab's M&A Listing is an online marketplace that connects those who wish to sell RIAs with potential buyers.

As part of the new offering, Schwab is also giving its institutional custody clients preferred pricing on a variety of tools and resources, including a tool to measure client loyalty and help spot referral opportunities.

Back in June, Schwab said it would waive commissions on electronic equity trades and reimburse transfer of account fees charged by contra brokers through June 30, 2010, for new-to-Schwab clients of independent investment advisors who open accounts by the end of this year. 

Last week Fidelity, whose Institutional Wealth Services unit is next in size to Schwab's Advisor Services business line among RIA custodians, cut or eliminated fees on some of its technology and investment- and trust-support offerings. 

The bi top RIA custodians -- in common with rivals like Bank of New York Mellon's Pershing and TD Ameritrade -- are angling for new business from an influx of new RIAs and RIA-bound advisors from brokerages and banks that have been mauled in the financial crisis. 

Schwab recently said the number of formerly brokerage-based advisor teams that founded new affiliated RIAs or joined existing ones was up 54% in the first half of 2009 over the first six months of 2008.

Schwab's RIA-support unit served more than 5,500 independent firms and custodied $477.2 billion at the end of 2008. Fidelity's custodied more than $320 billion in assets on behalf of more than 3,500 institutional clients at the end of June 2009.