Telling your clients
you're leaving.

Every departing advisor rehearses why they left. Almost no client cares in the way the advisor expects.

The conversation that decides the transition

Every departing advisor rehearses why they left. Almost no client cares in the way the advisor expects. What the client is working out, in the first thirty seconds, is whether this is going to be difficult for them.

Everything else in the conversation is downstream of that.

This is general information about how these arrangements commonly work, not legal advice. Employment agreements differ, state law differs, and the industry agreements referenced here have changed membership over time. Engage counsel who does this specific work before you act on any of it.

Lead with continuity, not with reasons

The instinct is to explain. Better firm, better technology, fewer conflicts, more independence. All true, all about you, and none of it answers what they are actually asking.

Open with what stays the same. You are still their advisor. Their strategy does not change. Their assets stay at the same custodian, or move to one they will recognise. Then the reason, in one or two sentences, framed around them rather than around your former employer.

Be specific about what they must do

Vagueness here is what loses clients. They need four facts:

• What they sign, and how — electronically, in person, how long it takes.
• Where the assets sit afterwards, and whether anything is sold in the process.
• How long it takes, in days, from signature to settled.
• What happens to anything in flight — standing distributions, scheduled contributions, an in-progress rollover.

An advisor who can answer those four without hesitating sounds prepared. One who cannot sounds like someone whose own transition is not organised, and the client extrapolates.

Expect the questions and answer them plainly

"Will this cost me anything?" Transfer fees at the old firm are common. Say the number, and say whether you are covering it.

"Are there tax consequences?" An in-kind transfer generally does not create a taxable event. Positions that cannot transfer in kind and must be sold do. Know which of their holdings fall into the second category before the call.

"Are my fees changing?" Answer honestly, in dollars. If they are going up, say so in this conversation rather than letting them find it later.

"What if I stay?" Tell them they will be reassigned to another advisor and that it is a legitimate choice. Clients who feel pressured at this moment remember it.

The ones who go quiet

Some clients will not respond. The instinct is to chase, and chasing is usually what confirms their hesitation.

One call, one written summary, then leave the door open with a specific date. A meaningful share of clients who do not move in the first month move in the following six, once they have experienced being handled by someone who does not know them.

Afterwards

Every client who moved took a risk on you. Say so, once, in writing, and then demonstrate it with the first ninety days — because that is the period in which they find out whether the risk was sensible.

What the first ninety days should look like →