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. Grimes & Company Wealth Management, LLC’s Form ADV Part 2A states “The Investment Advisory Agreement between Grimes and the client will continue in effect until terminated by either party by written notice in accordance with the terms of the Investment Advisory Agreement.” Grimes & Company Wealth Management, LLC names three possible custodians in its brochure, with no single default: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Fidelity, and Trade-PMR, Inc. If you are custodied at Schwab, budget $50.00 per account, per Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own current fee schedule. If you are custodied at First Clearing / Wells Fargo, budget $49.95 per account, per Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC (d/b/a First Clearing, clearing Grimes’ Trade-PMR accounts)’s own current fee schedule. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC / National Financial Services LLC’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 Grimes & Company Wealth Management, LLC’s own Grimes & Company Wealth Management, LLC, “Form ADV Part 2A Brochure” (September 23, 2026), Item 5, Fees and Compensation, paragraph D (page 12): “The Investment Advisory Agreement between Grimes and the client will continue in effect until terminated by either party by written notice in accordance with the terms of the Investment Advisory Agreement. Upon termination, a pro-rated portion of the earned but unpaid advisory fee shall be due.” The same brochure names its custodians (Item 12, Brokerage Practices, paragraph A (page 17)): “Grimes generally recommends that investment management accounts be maintained at Fidelity, Schwab, and/or TradePMR. Grimes utilizes Trade-PMR, Inc. (“Trade-PMR”) for brokerage and trade execution services. Trade-PMR clears trades and custodies assets with First Clearing, FINRA member broker-dealers. First Clearing is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC., a non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.” From Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own Charles Schwab, “Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors” (July 2026): “Full transfer (out) of assets: $50 per account.” From Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC (d/b/a First Clearing, clearing Grimes’ Trade-PMR accounts)’s own Wells Fargo Advisors, “WellsTrade Fees”: “Outgoing Account Transfer fee: $49.95 per transfer.” Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC / National Financial Services LLC’s own Fidelity, “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. Trade-PMR clears/custodies through First Clearing, a Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC trade name; no Trade-PMR-specific public fee schedule was located, so this figure is cited from Wells Fargo Advisors’ own WellsTrade fee page for the same legal custodian entity. A separate correspondent broker’s published listing for a different First-Clearing relationship shows a higher $95 outgoing-transfer figure, so the amount actually passed through to Grimes/Trade-PMR clients could differ; both figures trace to Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC materials rather than a Trade-PMR-specific document.
| What | Figure |
|---|---|
| Grimes & Company’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 Charles Schwab, “Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors” (July 2026)) |
| Full transfer-out at First Clearing / Wells Fargo | $49.95 per transfer (Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC (d/b/a First Clearing, clearing Grimes’ Trade-PMR accounts)’s own Wells Fargo Advisors, “WellsTrade Fees”) |
| 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 Grimes & Company charges before you decide whether to leave? See the dollar breakdown from Grimes & Company’s own fee disclosure.
Sources
- Grimes & Company Wealth Management, LLC, “Form ADV Part 2A Brochure” (September 23, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1058890
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Grimes & Company Wealth Management, LLC firm summary (CRD 109420): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/109420
- Charles Schwab, “Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors” (July 2026): https://disclosures.schwab.com/SchwabDashboard/61256/REG23060SI.pdf
- Wells Fargo Advisors, “WellsTrade Fees”: https://www.wellsfargoadvisors.com/services/online/fees-expanded.htm
- 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 Grimes & Company’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.
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