How do I help existing clients consolidate investments held at other institutions?
Clients with accounts in several places often lose track of fees, risk and beneficiaries. Helping them see the whole picture is good advice first.
- Clients have accounts elsewhere.
- How do we raise it?
- What about transfer costs?
Ask about all accounts at reviews, including workplace plans and accounts at other institutions, and offer to include them in the plan. Show the client the whole picture: total fees, overlapping holdings, beneficiaries and risk. Explain the trade-offs of consolidating honestly, including any transfer fees, tax or product features they'd lose. Make transfers simple if they choose to.
A client-first approach
- Whole-picture review of all accounts.
- Honest pros and cons.
- Costs of moving, if any.
- Simple transfer process.
- No pressure.
This is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Your dealer, firm or compliance officer decides what you can do.
How we look at it at ShoutEx
We build planning questionnaires and transfer checklists in your CRM.
- Pressure to move assets.
- Ignoring transfer costs.
- Unsuitable recommendations.
- No documentation.
- Whole-picture view.
- Honest trade-offs.
- Simple process.
- Documented advice.
What advisors and regulators say
Here is what advisors and clients say.
Community summaries describe recurring themes in public threads, not individual posts. Vendor pages describe vendor claims, so test them on your own calls.
Read next
Go deeper in the ShoutEx guides, or check the sources behind this answer.
We'll build questionnaires and transfer checklists.
Book a call →Follow-up questions
Can account aggregation tools help?
Yes, with client consent.
What about workplace plans?
Include them in planning even if they stay.
Is it wrong to ask?
No, asking is good planning.