Changing outsourcing providers:
you can rebuild a portfolio, not the record of why.

Advisors stay years past the point of deciding, and the reason is almost never that they expect improvement. It is that the move looks harder than the problem.

The decision most firms delay too long

It usually is not. But the firms that move well have thought about a specific set of things first.

What actually has to move

Accounts. Whether custody changes or not determines the size of the project. A move between providers on the same custodian is a different exercise from one that repapers every account.

History. Performance history, cost basis, and the record of what was done and why. This is the part firms underestimate, and the part that is unrecoverable if you leave it behind.

Documents. Investment policy statements, agreements, the paper trail behind every recommendation.

Billing. The most common source of client-visible errors during a transition, because the fee cycle rarely aligns with the move date.

The questions to answer before you sign anything new

What comes with you when you leave, in what format, and how quickly. Ask the new provider what they have received from your current one before — the answer tells you what to expect.

Who does the work of the transition, and who at your firm has to be available. A provider who says the move is effortless is describing effort that will land on you.

What happens to accounts that cannot move cleanly. There are always a few, and the plan for them is a better test of a provider than the plan for the clean ones.

What clients should see

Ideally, one letter and no interruption. Practically, if the move also changes custodian they will notice new statements and a gap in online access, so tell them before it happens; when the accounts stay where they are, they notice almost nothing.

Frame it as what it is: an operational decision made to improve their service. Clients do not need the reasoning and they do need the courtesy.

Timing

Not at year end, not in the weeks around a tax deadline, and not while another major project is running. The transition itself is manageable; the transition on top of everything else is where firms get hurt.

How long a move really takes →