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. MAI Capital Management, LLC’s Form ADV Part 2A states “All MAI contracts for investment management, financial planning, wealth management, advisory, and non-advisory services may be terminated by either MAI or the client at any time by providing written notice.” MAI Capital Management, LLC names two possible custodians in its brochure, with no single default: Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc., and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.. If you are custodied at Schwab, budget $50.00 per account, per Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own current fee schedule. Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc.’s own published fee schedule has no comparable line item for a full transfer-out, an honest gap rather than a confirmed $0.
The published numbers
From MAI Capital Management, LLC’s own Form ADV, Part 2A Brochure (June 30, 2026), Item 5, Fees and Compensation, “Termination” (page 16): “All MAI contracts for investment management, financial planning, wealth management, advisory, and non-advisory services may be terminated by either MAI or the client at any time by providing written notice. Unless otherwise agreed, the contract termination is effective upon receipt of the notice.” The same brochure names its custodians (Item 12, Brokerage Practices, “Introduction” (page 53)): “MAI will recommend that our clients consider establishing brokerage accounts with Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc. (“Fidelity”) or Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”), among other custodians, all FINRA-registered broker-dealers, to maintain custody of clients’ assets and to effect trades for their accounts. Although MAI recommends that clients establish accounts at a particular custodian, the client decides where to custody their assets.” From Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors: “Full transfer (out) of assets: $50 per account.” Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc.’s own Brokerage Commission and Fee Schedule contains no comparable line item for a full account transfer out; left as an honest gap rather than assumed to be $0.
| What | Figure |
|---|---|
| MAI Capital Management’s own exit charge | $0.00 extra: pro-rated refund of any prepaid fee (Form ADV) |
| Full transfer-out at Schwab | $50.00 per account (Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors) |
| Full transfer-out at Fidelity | Honest gap: no comparable line item found |
| 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 MAI Capital Management charges before you decide whether to leave? See the dollar breakdown from MAI Capital Management’s own fee disclosure.
Sources
- MAI Capital Management, LLC, “Form ADV, Part 2A Brochure” (June 30, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1050494
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, MAI Capital Management, LLC firm summary (CRD 109807): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/109807
- Charles Schwab, “Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors” (July 2026): https://disclosures.schwab.com/SchwabDashboard/61256/REG23060SI.pdf
- Fidelity, “Brokerage Commission and Fee Schedule”: https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/Brokerage_Commissions_Fee_Schedule.pdf
Methodology. This page was built September 28, 2026, drawing on MAI Capital Management’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.
Before you decide to leave MAI Capital Management, check whether it owes you a fiduciary duty in the first place.
What does it take to open an account? See MAI Capital Management’s minimum investment, straight from its own Form ADV Part 2A brochure.
Leaving a different firm? See the exit guides for all 189 firms, with the four steps every exit shares.