ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service)

How an ACATS transfer works

1. Receiving firm initiates the transfer based on the client's signed ACAT form.
2. Delivering firm validates the client signature and account information against its records.
3. If validated, the delivering firm sends the position list and transfers the assets.
4. Total transfer time: typically 5-7 business days for clean accounts; longer with reconciliation issues.

What can complicate a transfer

• Mismatched account information — name, address, or SSN differences between the two firms.
• Margin or option positions — require receiving-firm approval before transfer.
• Open trades — cannot transfer until settled.
• Non-ACATS-eligible assets — proprietary funds, certain alternatives, restricted securities — handled separately.
• Residual positions — fractional shares, dividend accruals — often transfer separately after the main batch.

Partial vs. full transfer

Clients can transfer specific positions or the full account. Partial transfers are slower and more error-prone — the receiving firm must specify exactly which positions, and reconciliation across the two firms takes longer.

Client communication best practices

• Set expectations — 5-7 business days for clean transfers, longer for complex ones.
• Communicate when trades cannot happen (during the transfer window).
• Reconcile after settlement — verify all positions arrived, all costs basis preserved.
• Address residual transfers as they arrive in subsequent weeks.

How StratiFi thinks about ACATS

ACATS transfers are operationally routine but produce a meaningful share of client friction in advisory practice. The firms that handle them well treat them as a workflow with explicit communication checkpoints — initiation, validation, settlement, reconciliation — and document each step in the client file. Done well, transfers happen in the background; done badly, they consume disproportionate time.