Guides › Switching Financial Advisors
Updated September 28, 2026. Quick answer: you open an account at the receiving firm and sign the transfer form there; the new firm pulls the account through ACATS. Synovus Securities, Inc.’s Form ADV Part 2A states advisory agreements “may be terminated by either party, without penalty, immediately upon receipt of written notice,” with any prepaid Program Fee refunded pro-rata. Synovus requires “all client accounts, with very limited exceptions, to be custodied at” National Financial Services, LLC (“NFS”), a clearing entity affiliated with the Fidelity family but legally distinct from the retail Fidelity brokerage most investors know. Synovus’s own published fee schedule states “Account Transfer (outgoing) $100”, plus a separate $125 IRA Termination Fee for retirement accounts.
The published numbers
From Synovus Securities, Inc.’s own Disclosure Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A, January 28, 2026), Item 5: “Advisory agreements may be terminated by either party, without penalty, immediately upon receipt of written notice by the other party… the client will receive a refund of the Program Fee prorated based on the number of calendar days left in the billing period.” The same brochure names its clearing firm (Item 12): “National Financial Services, LLC (“NFS”)… was selected by SSI to provide custody, clearing and trade execution for SSI clients… SSI requires all client accounts, with very limited exceptions, to be custodied at NFS.” From Synovus Securities’ own Brokerage Commission and Schedule of Miscellaneous Account and Service Fees (revised January 1, 2026): “Account Transfer (outgoing) $100” and “IRA Termination Fee $125.” NFS does not publish its own separate retail fee schedule; these figures are Synovus’s own published, client-facing charges.
| What | Figure |
|---|---|
| Synovus Securities’ own exit charge | $0.00: agreements terminate without penalty, prepaid fees refunded pro-rata (Form ADV) |
| Account transfer, outgoing (non-retirement) | $100.00 per account (Synovus Securities’ own fee schedule) |
| IRA termination fee | $125.00 per account (Synovus Securities’ own fee schedule) |
| ACATS validation and completion window | 1 day to validate, 3 days to complete under FINRA Rule 11870 (measured in business days) |
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Source: WiserAdvisor’s service descriptionThe sequence
1. Pull a current statement for every account, showing the exact registration, account numbers and complete holdings list. 2. Check the holdings for anything that will not move. Ask the receiving firm directly: “Can you hold every position on this statement?” Anything they cannot hold has to be sold, and in a taxable account that is a realised gain in the year you switch: the categories that commonly do not transfer. 3. Open the receiving account and sign the transfer form there. Under FINRA Rule 11870 the delivering firm then has one business day to validate and three business days after validation to complete. 4. Send a dated termination letter for the record: the generator writes it, and confirm in writing that billing has stopped.
Two things to get right
Cost basis. Under IRC §6045A the delivering broker must furnish a transfer statement carrying basis for covered securities within 15 days of the transfer. Keep your final statements anyway, and check the first statement at the new firm for positions showing a missing or zero basis. Retirement accounts move as a direct transfer, trustee to trustee, not as a distribution to you. Why that distinction matters. Whether a transfer fee is worth paying at all is a question of what you are moving to: our benchmark of published adviser fee schedules puts the weighted median annual cost near $2,000 to $2,500 on $250,000: the benchmark. The general mechanics: switching financial advisors.
Want to know what Synovus Securities charges before you decide whether to leave? See the dollar breakdown from Synovus Securities’s own fee disclosure.
Sources
- Synovus Securities, Inc., “Disclosure Brochure” (Form ADV Part 2A, January 28, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1004545
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Synovus Securities, Inc. firm summary (CRD 14023): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/14023
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Synovus Securities, Inc. Form CRS: https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/crs/crs_14023.pdf
- Synovus Securities, Inc., “Brokerage Commission and Schedule of Miscellaneous Account and Service Fees” (revised January 1, 2026): https://www.synovus.com/-/media/files/synovus-securities/brokerage-commission-schedule.pdf
Methodology. This page was built September 28, 2026, drawing on Synovus Securities’s own Form ADV/wrap-fee brochure/fee schedule plus each named custodian’s own published fee schedule, with sources linked inline; any figure we could not independently confirm this session on a firm-owned or custodian-owned document is named as an honest gap above rather than presented as verified. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.
Weighing whether to move ahead? Read the full Synovus Securities review.
What does it take to open an account? See Synovus Securities’s minimum investment, straight from its own Form ADV Part 2A brochure.
Comparing Synovus Securities against other options? See Synovus Securities alternatives, including a lower-fee full-service firm, a flat-fee route and a robo/hybrid.
Before you decide to leave Synovus Securities, check whether it owes you a fiduciary duty in the first place.
Leaving a different firm? See the exit guides for all 189 firms, with the four steps every exit shares.