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. SignatureFD, LLC’s Form ADV Part 2A states the Financial Design Agreement “will continue in effect until terminated by either party,” with SignatureFD returning “the pro-rated portion of the advance-paid advisory fee.” SignatureFD’s own brochure recommends two custodians: “SignatureFD generally recommends that investment management accounts be maintained at Schwab or Fidelity.” If you are custodied at Schwab, budget $50.00 per account for a full outgoing transfer, per Schwab’s own July 2026 pricing guide. Fidelity’s own official fee schedule lists no equivalent transfer-out line item, an honest gap rather than a confirmed $0.
The published numbers
From SignatureFD, LLC’s own Form ADV Part 2A (March 30, 2026), Item 5: “The Financial Design Agreement between SignatureFD and the client will continue in effect until terminated by either party by written notice… SignatureFD will return to the client the pro-rated portion of the advance-paid advisory fee.” The same brochure names its custodians (Item 12): “SignatureFD generally recommends that investment management accounts be maintained at Schwab or Fidelity.” From the Charles Schwab Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors (July 2026): “Full transfer (out) of assets: $50 per account.” Fidelity’s own Brokerage Commission and Fee Schedule contains no comparable line item; left as an honest gap rather than assumed to be $0.
| What | Figure |
|---|---|
| SignatureFD’s own exit charge | $0.00: pro-rated refund of any advance-paid fee (Form ADV) |
| Full transfer-out at Schwab | $50.00 per account (Schwab’s own July 2026 pricing guide) |
| 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 SignatureFD charges before you decide whether to leave? See the dollar breakdown from SignatureFD’s own fee disclosure.
Sources
- SignatureFD, LLC, “Form ADV Part 2A” (March 30, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1030980
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, SignatureFD, LLC firm summary (CRD 112758): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/112758
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, SignatureFD, LLC Form CRS: https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/crs/crs_112758.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 SignatureFD’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 SignatureFD review.
Before you decide to leave SignatureFD, check whether it owes you a fiduciary duty in the first place.
What does it take to open an account? See SignatureFD’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.