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. Valley Wealth Managers, Inc.’s Form ADV Part 2A states “In the case of a client in VWM Investment Strategies, services may be canceled at any time, by either party, for any reason upon thirty (30) days prior written notice to the other party.” Valley Wealth Managers, Inc. names two possible custodians in its brochure, with no single default: Pershing LLC, and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (referral-program clients only). If you are custodied at Pershing, budget $150.00 per account, per Pershing, LLC’s own current fee schedule. If you are custodied at Schwab, budget $50.00 per account, per Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own current fee schedule.
The published numbers
From Valley Wealth Managers, Inc.’s own Form ADV Disclosure Brochure (March 31, 2026), Item 5, Fees and Compensation, “D. Termination and Refunds” (page 11): “In the case of a client in VWM Investment Strategies, services may be canceled at any time, by either party, for any reason upon thirty (30) days prior written notice to the other party. Upon termination of an account, any prepaid, unearned fees will be pro-rated from the date of termination through the end of the billing period and promptly refunded.” The same brochure names its custodians (Item 12, Brokerage Practices, “A. Brokerage Selection / Directed Brokerage” (page 30)): “In general, clients are required to open a brokerage/custody account through VFM, which is introduced to, and carried by, a third-party custodian, Pershing.” From Pershing, LLC’s own Schedule of Maximum Charges: “Account Termination $150.00 per account.” From Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors: “Full transfer (out) of assets: $50 per account.” Pershing is Valley Wealth Managers’ primary named custodian for its main Investment Strategies program; Schwab is available to a smaller cohort through the Schwab Advisor Network referral program.
| What | Figure |
|---|---|
| Valley Wealth Managers’ 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’s own Schedule of Maximum Charges) |
| Full transfer-out at Schwab | $50.00 per account (Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors) |
| 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 Valley Wealth Managers charges before you decide whether to leave? See the dollar breakdown from Valley Wealth Managers’ own fee disclosure.
Sources
- Valley Wealth Managers, Inc., “Form ADV Disclosure Brochure” (March 31, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1039017
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Valley Wealth Managers, Inc. firm summary (CRD 108879): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/108879
- 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
Methodology. This page was built September 28, 2026, drawing on Valley Wealth Managers’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 Valley Wealth Managers, check whether it owes you a fiduciary duty in the first place.
What does it take to open an account? See Valley Wealth Managers’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.