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. Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC’s Form ADV Part 2A states “You or we may terminate an Program Account by notifying the other party in writing of the Program Account to be terminated and termination will become effective upon the receipt of the notice.” Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC names five possible custodians in its brochure, with no single default: Pershing, LLC, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, and Folio Investments, Inc. d/b/a Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions. Steward Partners’ own Item 12 directs readers to the Steward Partners Investment Solutions Fee Schedule published on its own site for the exact transfer figure, which is why its own published numbers, not a generic custodian rate, are the operative cost for two of its five named custodians. If you are custodied at Raymond James, budget $125.00 per account, per Steward Partners Investment Solutions, LLC’s own fee schedule for Raymond James-custodied accounts, which states that the fees it lists are the fees charged by Raymond James. If you are custodied at Pershing, budget $125.00 per account, per Steward Partners Investment Solutions, LLC’s own fee schedule for Pershing-custodied accounts, which marks this charge as Steward Partners’ own compensation rather than a Pershing pass-through. If you are custodied at Schwab, budget $50.00 per account, per Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own current fee schedule. Fidelity Brokerage 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 Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC’s own Firm Brochure Form ADV Part 2A (July 30, 2026), Item 5, Fees And Compensation, “Account Termination” (page 18): “You or we may terminate an Program Account by notifying the other party in writing of the Program Account to be terminated and termination will become effective upon the receipt of the notice. If an Program Account is terminated, we will make a pro-rata refund to you of fees paid to us pursuant to the IA Agreement for the period after the date of effectiveness of such termination through the end of the then current fee period.” The same brochure names its custodians (Item 4, Advisory Business (page 4)): “Steward Partners requires that clients select and establish “Account” or “Accounts” with one or more of the following qualified custodians: Pershing, LLC (“Pershing”), Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (“RJA” or “Raymond James”), Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”), Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC (“Fidelity”), Folio Investments, Inc., d/b/a Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions (“Goldman”).” From Steward Partners Investment Solutions, LLC’s own Fee Schedule (Raymond James): $125.00 (ACAT Outgoing Transfer, Advisory Account). From Steward Partners Investment Solutions, LLC’s own Fee Schedule (Pershing): $125.00 (Outgoing Transfer, Advisory Account). 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 LLC’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 |
|---|---|
| Steward Partners Investment Advisory’s own exit charge | $0.00 extra: pro-rated refund of any prepaid fee (Form ADV) |
| Full transfer-out at Raymond James | $125.00 (ACAT Outgoing Transfer, Advisory Account) (Steward Partners Investment Solutions, LLC’s own Fee Schedule (Raymond James)) |
| Full transfer-out at Pershing | $125.00 (Outgoing Transfer, Advisory Account) (Steward Partners Investment Solutions, LLC’s own Fee Schedule (Pershing)) |
| 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 Steward Partners Investment Advisory charges before you decide whether to leave? See the dollar breakdown from Steward Partners Investment Advisory’s own fee disclosure.
Sources
- Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC, “Firm Brochure Form ADV Part 2A” (July 30, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1053449
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC firm summary (CRD 283004): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/283004
- Steward Partners Investment Solutions, LLC, “Fee Schedule (Raymond James)” (July 21, 2025): https://www.stewardpartners.com/files/118678/Fee%20Schedule%20RJ%2098000_20250721.pdf
- Steward Partners Investment Solutions, LLC, “Fee Schedule (Pershing)” (April 1, 2024): https://www.stewardpartners.com/files/118678/Fee%20schedule%20PER%2098000P%202024-4-1.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 Steward Partners Investment Advisory’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 Steward Partners Investment Advisory, check whether it owes you a fiduciary duty in the first place.
What does it take to open an account? See Steward Partners Investment Advisory’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.