Commonwealth Financial Network Review (2026): Fees, Fiduciary Status, and Minimum

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Updated September 19, 2026. Quick answer: Commonwealth Financial Network is registered with the SEC as both a broker-dealer and an investment adviser. Per its own current fee brochure, a $500,000 account would run $11,250 a year under its published fee schedule; the minimum to open an account is $25,000 for PPS Custom Program. Already a client and thinking about leaving? Budget $75 full transfer fee, plus a $125 (NFS) or $100 (Pershing) custodian charge. Is it a fiduciary? Yes, when it is acting as your investment adviser; when the same representative acts as your broker-dealer instead, the applicable standard is best-interest, not fiduciary, and its own Form CRS states representatives can earn commissions in that capacity.

Commonwealth Financial Network at a glance

What Commonwealth Financial Network’s own fee schedule charges

“PPS Program Fee Schedules Following are the maximum allowable fee schedules for the various PPS programs. PPS Custom Program (Transactions) The maximum allowable annual management fee schedule for a new PPS Custom Program (Transactions) account is: Account Value Maximum Annual Management Fee Greater than or equal to Less than $0 $750,000 2.25% $750,000 $1,000,000 2.00% $1,000,000 $2,000,000 1.75% $2,000,000 – 1.50%”

This is Commonwealth’s disclosed maximum allowable annual management fee for the PPS Custom Program (Transactions), a whole-balance breakpoint schedule (the single rate for the bracket the account value falls into applies to the entire balance, per the brochure’s own worked breakpoint-schedule example on the preceding page). $250,000 and $500,000 both fall in the $0-<$750,000 bracket -> x2.25% = $5,625 and $11,250. $1,000,000 falls in the >=$1,000,000 and <$2,000,000 bracket -> x1.75% = $17,500. $2,000,000 falls in the >=$2,000,000 bracket -> x1.50% = $30,000. All Commonwealth advisory program management fees are stated to be negotiable between advisor and client, so this is a maximum, not necessarily what every client pays.

See the full breakdown, including how the figure is calculated, on Commonwealth Financial Network’s own fee page.

Is Commonwealth Financial Network a fiduciary?

Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC, doing business as Commonwealth Financial Network (“Commonwealth,” “we,” “our,” or “us”), is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as both an investment adviser and broker/dealer and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”).

“When we provide you with a recommendation as your broker/dealer or act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests.”

Every time you buy or sell an investment, you will pay a transaction-based fee. A transaction-based fee is commonly known as a “commission.”

Full detail, including the exact registration type and source: Commonwealth Financial Network’s fiduciary status, explained.

The minimum to open an account

“The PPS Custom Program generally involves a $25,000 account minimum.”

$25,000 for PPS Custom Program. See the full minimum-investment breakdown, including what that minimum would cost per year, on Commonwealth Financial Network’s minimum investment page.

What it costs to leave

Commonwealth Financial Network publishes a $75 Full Account Transfer Fee as its own separate, custodian-agnostic line, but Commonwealth custodies client accounts through both NFS and Pershing, and each custodian layers its own additional termination fee on top: $125 at NFS, or $100 at Pershing.

Full mechanics, sources, and the ACATS transfer process: how to leave Commonwealth Financial Network.

What we would compare it against

Before you decide, run the numbers against another firm using the financial advisor fee comparison, or price the dollar cost of any percentage fee over time with the Financial Advisor Fee Calculator and the Fee Drag Calculator.

Sources

• Commonwealth Financial Network Form ADV Part 2A Brochure (March 30, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1032557
• Form CRS (Client Relationship Summary) (July 29, 2022): https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/crs_8032.pdf
• SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Commonwealth Financial Network (CRD #8032): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/8032
• Commonwealth Financial Network, SEC Form ADV filing: https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/8032/PDF/8032.pdf

Methodology. This page was built September 19, 2026, drawing directly on Commonwealth Financial Network’s own current fee brochure and Form CRS, both linked above, plus this site’s own already-published fiduciary, minimum-investment, and (where one exists) how-to-leave pages for the same firm, each independently sourced when it was built. Any distinction we could not independently confirm this session is named as an honest gap rather than presented as verified. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice, and it is not a substitute for reading Commonwealth Financial Network’s own Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS. We have not used Commonwealth Financial Network as a client. Commonwealth Financial Network did not pay for, review, or influence this content. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.