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. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s Form ADV Part 2A states “The client’s Advisory Agreement may be terminated at any time upon written or verbal notice by SCA, the client, or the applicable third-party manager or sponsor.” Snowden Capital Advisors LLC names three possible custodians in its brochure, with no single default: Pershing LLC, Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, and Charles Schwab & Co.. If you are custodied at Pershing, budget $150.00 per account, per Pershing LLC / Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC’s own current fee schedule. If you are custodied at Schwab, budget $50.00 per account, per Charles Schwab & Co.’s own current fee schedule. Fidelity (footnoted alternative platform, currently de minimis)’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 Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s own Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1, Wrap Fee Program Brochure (August 18, 2026), Item 4, Services, Fees, and Compensation, “Prepayment of Fees” (pages 9-10): “The client’s Advisory Agreement may be terminated at any time upon written or verbal notice by SCA, the client, or the applicable third-party manager or sponsor. … Upon termination, the client will receive refunds of any prepaid and unearned advisory or wrap fees. Refunds of asset-based fees are prorated based on the time remaining in the applicable billing period. … Any transactional or custodial charges levied by the Custodian after the termination of SCA’s Advisory Agreement will be the client’s responsibility and not the responsibility of SCA, and SCA has no obligation to refund such fees to its clients.” The same brochure names its custodians (Item 4, Services, Fees, and Compensation (page 5)): “For all accounts, client assets are primarily custodied with Pershing LLC, member FINRA, NYSE, SIPC, a BNY Mellon company. Some accounts are held at another custodian as agreed to by SCA and client. Other custodial platforms available include Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC (“PAS”), member FINRA/SIPC, Charles Schwab & Co. (“Schwab”)…” From Pershing LLC / Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC’s own Schedule of Maximum Charges: “Account Termination $150.00 per account.” From Charles Schwab & Co.’s own Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors: “Full transfer (out) of assets: $50 per account.” Fidelity (footnoted alternative platform, currently de minimis)’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. Pershing is Snowden Lane Partners’ PRIMARY named custodian (“primarily custodied with… Pershing LLC”), with Schwab offered as an alternative platform.
| What | Figure |
|---|---|
| Snowden Lane Partners’ own exit charge | $0.00 extra: pro-rated refund of any prepaid fee (Form ADV) |
| Full transfer-out at Pershing | $150.00 per account (“Account Termination”) (Pershing LLC / Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC’s own Schedule of Maximum Charges) |
| Full transfer-out at Schwab | $50.00 per account (Charles Schwab & Co.’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 Snowden Lane Partners charges before you decide whether to leave? See the dollar breakdown from Snowden Lane Partners’ own fee disclosure.
Sources
- Snowden Capital Advisors LLC, “Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1, Wrap Fee Program Brochure” (August 18, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1055309
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC firm summary (CRD 157299): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/157299
- Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, “Schedule of Maximum Charges”: https://www.pershing.com/content/dam/pershing/documents/pdfs/disclosures/pas-schedule-of-maximum-charges.pdf
- 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 Snowden Lane Partners’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 Snowden Lane Partners, check whether it owes you a fiduciary duty in the first place.
What does it take to open an account? See Snowden Lane Partners’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.