Fidelity's $100 million custody cutoff opens a dispute over how many RIAs must leave
Fidelity will require RIAs already on its custody platform to hold at least $100 million there by June 30, 2027, or leave. AdvizorPro data counts about 1,150 firms below that line, The Daily Upside reported, while Fidelity puts the number at a few hundred.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Fidelity told WealthManagement.com the affected firms hold less than 1% of its roughly $5.8 trillion in clearing and custody assets, spread across 3,300 RIAs, family offices and broker/dealers.
- FINTRX, working from public Form ADV filings, put the affected count closer to 1,000, then pulled its post pending clarification from Fidelity while saying it stands behind the data.
- According to Fidelity, most of the affected firms already use more than one custodian.
- Schwab doubled the minimum for RIAs in its Schwab Advisor Network referral program from $250 million to $500 million this year and will raise the client referral minimum to $5 million next year.
- Vanguard is acquiring Altruist, a custodian often viewed as a preferred home for breakaway advisors.
Why it matters
- What doesn't add up contradiction Fidelity disputes the Form ADV counts without giving an exact figure of its own, so the rivals courting these firms are pitching for a pool of advisors and assets of unknown size.
- Who has to decide decision Multi-custodial firms can shift accounts to a custodian they already use, while firms on Fidelity alone must either consolidate enough assets there to clear $100 million or run a full conversion by mid-2027.
- What it costs cost Fidelity keeps nearly all of its custody assets while the conversion work falls on the departing advisors, and Nexus Strategy's Tim Welsh ranks a custodian change among the biggest disruptions an advisor can face.
- What it limits constraint A single-custodian firm below Fidelity's line is at most a fifth of the $500 million Schwab now requires of RIAs in its referral network, so a move to Schwab would bring custody without those referrals.
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Fidelity's asset figure cannot settle the headcount. Less than 1% of about $5.8 trillion is less than $58 billion [17]. If AdvizorPro's count is right and every one of those firms holds under $100 million at Fidelity, their combined balances top out at $115 billion [18]. Fidelity's ceiling only requires them to average below about $50 million apiece [19]. Both claims can be true at once. They part on the client list: AdvizorPro's figure is about 35% of all the RIAs, family offices and broker/dealers Fidelity clears and custodies for [20], and Fidelity refuted it, according to WealthManagement.com [26].
For about a decade, Fidelity has charged firms with under $15 million a $2,500 quarterly fee [5]. That works out to $10,000 a year, or roughly 0.07% of assets for a firm sitting right at $15 million [21]. The smallest firms paid to stay [5]. Under the 2027 rule, a firm with less than $100 million on the platform cannot stay at any price [1]. Fidelity already had a way to price small relationships and chose a cutoff instead; WealthManagement.com placed the rule alongside Fidelity's other moves to push its custody business upmarket [16].
If Fidelity's few hundred is right, it is trimming a tail of small accounts that together hold under 1% of its assets [24]. If the Form ADV counts are closer, it is ending roughly one relationship in three for the same small share of assets [20]. Two separate Form ADV analyses landed near 1,000 or above [25][26]. The asset figure does not rule them out, so I'd put more weight on those counts than on an unquantified few hundred. The counter-case is that Fidelity holds the balances the rule measures, while the data providers work from public filings [1][25]. An exact count from Fidelity in the low hundreds would prove this view wrong.
Altruist, Axos, Betterment, Interactive Brokers and Schwab, the largest RIA custodian, all argued on social media and in the trade press that they could take in exiting advisors [7]. Schwab's raised minimums apply to its referral program, and it is also bidding for the departing firms' custody business [8][7]. The options are also changing: BNY Pershing is retiring Wove as a standalone platform and folding its technology into its broader wealth-solutions business, Wealth Management reported [10]. "We've never seen this many anti-RIA announcements," said Tim Welsh, founder of consultant Nexus Strategy [11].
"We recognize that change requires thoughtful planning, and Fidelity has committed to providing firms with time to evaluate their options," a Fidelity spokesperson said [2]. "To essentially terminate long-standing relationships with good clients, it's surprising and disappointing," said Dagan LaCorte, a managing member at L&L Partners Wealth Management, who has been with Fidelity for 20 years [13]. Stuart Ruff, founder of Ruff Choices Investment Management, has used Fidelity as a custodian for about 15 years and said he will likely have to switch next year [14]. He said he is nowhere near the $100 million line and never will be [15].
What to watch
- Whether Fidelity publishes an exact count of affected firms, and whether FINTRX restores its Form ADV analysis once Fidelity responds.
- Any change by Fidelity to the June 30, 2027 deadline or the $100 million line before it takes effect.
- Which custodians report winning departing Fidelity firms, and whether any of them set custody minimums of their own.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
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- [1]
Fidelity told RIAs that beginning June 30, 2027, they must hold at least $100 million in client assets on Fidelity's platform to continue using it as a custodian. The threshold previously applied only to advisors newly joining the platform but will now extend to all firms.
- [2]
"We recognize that change requires thoughtful planning, and Fidelity has committed to providing firms with time to evaluate their options," a Fidelity spokesperson said.
- [3]
Fidelity warned advisors below the threshold that they have until June 30, 2027, to hit the minimum or exit.
- [4]
According to the Fidelity spokesperson, the affected firms account for less than 1% of Fidelity's total clearing and custody assets under administration, which are about $5.8 trillion across 3,300 RIAs, family offices and broker/dealers.
- [5]
A Fidelity stipulation dating back a decade requires firms with under $15 million to pay a $2,500 quarterly fee.
- [6]
The majority of the firms that will be affected are multi-custodial, according to Fidelity.
- [7]
After the news, custodians including Altruist, Axos, Betterment, Interactive Brokers and the largest RIA custodian, Schwab, made their case on social media and in the trade press that they were well-positioned to take in exiting advisors.
- [8]
Next year Charles Schwab will raise the minimum asset level for clients eligible for referral to its Schwab Advisor Network to $5 million; earlier this year it doubled the minimum assets for RIAs participating in the program from $250 million to $500 million.
- [9]
Altruist, often viewed as a preferred custodian for breakaway advisors, is being acquired by Vanguard.
- [10]
BNY Pershing is retiring Wove as a standalone platform and folding its technology into its broader wealth-solutions business, Wealth Management reported.
- [11]
"We've never seen this many anti-RIA announcements," said Tim Welsh, founder of consultant Nexus Strategy.
- [12]
Tim Welsh said changing custodians is one of the biggest disruptions an advisor can face.
- [13]
"To essentially terminate long-standing relationships with good clients, it's surprising and disappointing," said Dagan LaCorte, a managing member at L&L Partners Wealth Management. "I've been with them for 20 years."
- [14]
Stuart Ruff, founder of Ruff Choices Investment Management, has used Fidelity as a custodian for about 15 years and said he will likely have to make a switch next year.
- [15]
"I'm not anywhere near that [$100 million], and I never will be," said Stuart Ruff.
- [16]
The asset level tracks with Fidelity's recent moves to push its custody business upmarket, including a requirement that new firms have more than $100 million in assets.
- [17]
Firms below the line hold less than about $58 billion of Fidelity's clearing and custody assets.
- [18]
If about 1,150 firms each hold under $100 million at Fidelity, their combined balances are at most $115 billion.
- [19]
For 1,150 firms to hold under $58 billion combined, they need only average below about $50 million each.
- [20]
AdvizorPro's count of about 1,150 firms equals roughly 35%, or about one in three, of Fidelity's 3,300 clearing and custody clients.
- [21]
The $2,500 quarterly fee equals $10,000 a year, about 0.07% of assets for a firm at $15 million.
- [22]
A firm with under $100 million is at most one fifth of Schwab's $500 million minimum for RIAs in its referral network.
- [23]
AdvizorPro data identified about 1,150 RIAs across the country that could be affected by Fidelity's $100 million minimum.
- [24]
A Fidelity spokesperson confirmed the universe of advisors who may not meet the new $100 million minimum is a few hundred firms, without giving an exact number.
- [25]
FINTRX, mining public Form ADV filings, put the number of affected firms closer to 1,000, then removed the post from its website until it receives clarification from Fidelity; a FINTRX spokesperson said the firm stands behind the data.
- [26]
A separate report by AdvisorPro, also using Form ADV data, reached a similar conclusion, a finding Fidelity refuted.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- thedailyupside.comFidelity’s New Custody Minimum Impacts 1,150 RIAs
1 article · October 7, 2026
- wealthmanagement.comFidelity: $100M Custody Minimum to Impact a Few Hundred Firms
1 article · October 7, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- RIA Custody
- Wealth management industry