Client portability and transition planning.
Understand client portability, Broker Protocol rules, resignation planning, transition timelines, restrictive covenants, and practical move preparation.
What does client portability and transition planning mean?
The short answer: A sound advisor transition plan separates what can be prepared privately from what can happen only after resignation, then tests every step against the advisor's agreements, Protocol status, client relationships, and launch plan.
Portability is not a single retention percentage. It depends on how relationships were built, what information may lawfully move, how the resignation is handled, and whether the destination can serve clients immediately. This collection brings the legal, operational, and relationship questions into one planning sequence.
Articles in this topic.
11 complete guides, ordered from newest to oldest.
TRO: what happens when your old firm goes to court to stop your move
A TRO (temporary restraining order) is a short-lived court order, generally expiring after fourteen days under the federal rules,
ARTICLEThe advisor transition checklist: seven steps from a private decision to day one
An advisor considering a move is running two jobs at once: the practice everyone can see, and a project nobody can know about yet.
ARTICLEFinancial advisor transition timeline: the four phases, and what each one actually involves
The fear here is rarely the decision itself. It is the picture of the middle: clients in limbo, accounts in transit, a practice on pause.
ARTICLEHow many clients do you lose switching firms? What actually decides it
There is no single honest number for how many clients you lose switching firms.
ARTICLEHow to resign as a financial advisor: the five things to get right before you hand in the letter
How to resign as a financial advisor comes down to five things: read the employment agreement you actually signed,
ARTICLEAre non-competes enforceable for financial advisors? What decides it, and the clauses that bind harder
Sometimes. Whether a financial advisor's non-compete is enforceable is decided case by case, not by the fact that you signed it.
ARTICLECan I take clients leaving Morgan Stanley or UBS? What governs a non-Protocol exit
Advisors at Morgan Stanley and UBS ask this question more carefully than almost anyone else in the industry, and they should.
ARTICLELeaving Edward Jones as a financial advisor: four things to get right before you resign
The question advisors actually type is some version of how to quit Edward Jones without losing the practice they spent years building.
ARTICLEWhat is the Broker Protocol, and what can you actually take when you leave?
If you are weighing a move, this document decides more about your first week at a new firm than the recruiting deal does.
ARTICLEWill my clients follow me if I leave my firm? How to read your own book before you bet on it
Whether your clients will follow you if you leave your firm depends less on an industry average than on how each relationship was built.
ARTICLELeaving Merrill Lynch to go independent: the three phases, and what to settle before you resign
The part most advisors can't picture is the gap: the stretch between handing in a resignation and being operational somewhere new, with clients, accounts,
Podcast episodes in this topic.
11 episodes with full transcripts and companion analysis.
Seven steps from a private decision to day one
A walk through the seven-step advisor transition checklist: the private decision, the research, the model choice, and why resignation day should feel boring.
EP 005Will your non-compete actually hold up?
Why a signed advisor non-compete is an opening argument rather than a verdict, and the clauses that often bind harder: non-solicits, garden leave, deferred comp.
EP 008Why does the middle of a move feel like a blur?
Why the four phases of an advisor transition behave nothing alike, and how giving the middle edges turns dread into a plan.
EP 012Will your clients follow you, or is that just the fear talking?
Why no honest single retention number exists, and what actually decides how many clients stay with you through a move you can go assess today.
EP 014Why should resignation day be the most boring day of your move?
Why resigning well is a preparation problem wearing a courage costume, and the five things to settle before you hand in the letter.
EP 015No Protocol, no safety net: how does a wirehouse exit really work?
What actually happens when you leave Morgan Stanley or UBS after both firms left the Broker Protocol, and the three questions that decide it.
EP 016Leaving Edward Jones: four knowable things, worked in order
A walk through the four preparations behind a clean Edward Jones exit, from the Protocol question to the destination you choose first.
EP 023Five fields, two lists, and one check you have to run twice
A walk through what the Broker Protocol actually lets you carry out the door, why advisors still get sued, and the membership check that has to be true twice.
EP 024Fear is a terrible analyst. Read your book instead.
A walk through the three lenses that estimate client portability far better than any industry average, and why the client talk comes last.
EP 025The gap after you resign is the most mappable part
A walk through the three phases of a Merrill Lynch breakaway, from resignation day to the thirty-day build, and what to settle before you give notice.
EP 041When your old firm seeks a TRO
A TRO can briefly restrict a departing financial advisor from contacting clients or using firm data while a transition dispute moves toward FINRA arbitration.
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