Fidelity's $100 million custody minimum leaves 706 of 986 RIA relationships below it

Fidelity has extended a $100 million custody minimum to 986 RIA relationships. According to the ADV data behind PWD's Oct. 14 report, 706 of those firms hold less than that across all their custodians, which leaves 280 at or above the threshold.

The line tests the advisory firm, not the Fidelity book. Because the ADV tally counts assets at every custodian, the threshold sorts firms by total size rather than by how much of that total sits with Fidelity.

Betterment's wrap-fee waiver for Fidelity RIAs runs through June 30, 2027, and Betterment and Axos are both pitching the firms below the line, PWD reported. The waiver carries a fixed expiration date, so any firm weighing a move is comparing a temporary price against the cost of re-papering accounts at a new custodian.

State Street and Apex Clearing have launched an RIA custody unit aimed at firms managing more than $1 billion, RIABiz reported, returning State Street to a custody business it left about five years ago. RIABiz reports divergent priorities between the two partners. Every one of the 706 holds less than $100 million across all custodians, so none of them clears State Street's stated $1 billion floor.

The two responses point in opposite directions. Betterment and Axos are courting the firms Fidelity's minimum leaves short; State Street's stated target sits ten times higher, above the line altogether.

Mercer Advisors said roughly half of its net new assets in the first half of 2026 came from custodian referrals, including Fidelity's. In a credit-rating report, S&P said the fees paid to custodian partners could limit Mercer's margin expansion, and the same coverage notes Mercer is refinancing $1.9 billion and that Schwab will lift its referral minimum to $5 million.

Referral flow of that size is the asset a custody minimum is measured against: a firm generating half its growth through custodian channels is worth more to a custodian than its balance alone implies.

Mercer's Aspen direct indexing platform, completed across more than 43,000 accounts, runs on Orion-built technology designed to work at Schwab, Fidelity and Raymond James. Multi-custodian plumbing of that kind is what makes a total-asset threshold meaningful, since the same firm can be a Fidelity client and a Schwab client at once.

What the 706 do next is open. Consolidating assets to reach the line, shifting the relationship to Betterment or Axos, and running a smaller share of the business at Fidelity are all consistent with the numbers; the coverage does not say which path firms are taking. Betterment's waiver expires June 30, 2027.