As you look to change firms, you may be wondering what advisor transition services are available.
Making the switch can bring about a ton of benefits, including greater income, improved work/life balance, and more autonomy. On the other hand, the transition process is riddled with challenges.
For starters, you can only bring clients over once you’ve already joined the firm. And data privacy laws won’t allow your team to share client information until authorization is given.
Once you join your new firm, you’ll have to send out a letter officially explaining your move and requesting each client to join you individually. You’ll have to wait for clients to sign and return Transfer Initiation Forms (TIF). Only then can you send out the required forms for onboarding.
For every client you plan to transition, you’ll essentially have to start from scratch when it comes to moving accounts over. This entails a hefty amount of paperwork that needs to be processed, signed, and submitted.
The process can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months. There’s also a possibility of NIGOs or compliance issues arising from missing forms or data errors. All too often, advisors are left frustrated by the business disruptions and lost revenue. As a result, many will seek out advisor transition services for support.
We’ve put together the top resources available for advisor transition services. Take a look!
Financial Advisor Transition Consultants
Advisor transition consultants can help you prepare for the transition process and offer guidance. Consultants can assist with the following tasks:
Cleaning up client data
Preparing paperwork
Reviewing paperwork for accuracy
Ensuring paperwork is sent to clients
Opening new accounts
Tracking transfers
And more
Incoming Broker-Dealer
Many advisors assume the new registered investment advisory (RIA) firm or broker-dealer they are joining will provide advisor transition services. While some firms may maintain onboarding teams to help you and your clients get settled in, for the most part, your new firm won’t be able to assist you with the transition process. This is because of strict privacy laws surrounding client data.
Attorneys
Some advisors choose to work with an attorney who specializes in financial advisor transition services and FINRA arbitration. Oftentimes advisors looking to transition are bound by non-compete clauses and other legal restrictions.
Navigating the complexities of legal jargon can be exhausting, especially when you’re already managing the transition process. An attorney can help you avoid legal repercussions, protect reputations, and handle any possible disputes.
FINRA Regulations on Advisor Transition Services
Financial advisor transition services can help you manage the workload that comes with transitioning. However, most solutions won’t address the biggest issues facing advisors - namely FINRA regulations around client privacy.
Most advisor transition services can only help you manage non-private client data. Unfortunately, you might run into legal issues if you share private client account information with third parties. Advisors regularly get fined by FINRA if they aren’t careful when using software programs or other solutions.
Advisor Transition Services: A Better Solution
Quik! is a leading forms automation and workflow solution that is tackling the headaches of financial advisor transitions head-on.
We’re currently designing a product specifically for advisor transition services, based on our leading forms solution, Quik! App. You’ll be able to utilize pre-fill technology, CRM integration, and generate a bundle of forms for different clients all at once. We’ll also help you clean, organize, and manage client data throughout the entire transition process.
The best part? When you and your clients agree to work with Quik!, you’ll be able to keep their information integrated with our platform throughout your normal business processes and the transition process. This means you’ll be able to share client data seamlessly and in alignment with FINRA regulations.
We’ll be discussing our latest advisor transition services and sharing updates on the product’s development in upcoming content.
In the meantime, make sure to explore our forms automation solutions and the ways they optimize your workflow by eliminating paper forms.