At a glance
- Schwab has 11,000 RIA clients under $100 million, WealthManagement.com reported, and Wurster said Schwab will keep its custody focus on RIAs under that size.
- For a principal at a sub-$100 million firm, the pledge covers custody but not every product around it.
- Wurster said the Schwab Advisor Network has 100 participating firms out of the 17,000 that custody with Schwab, and 50% of its referrals now fall in the $10 million-in-assets client segment.
Schwab CEO Rick Wurster pledged Wednesday to keep supporting RIAs with less than $100 million in assets, weeks after Fidelity told firms of that size to leave its platform by June 30, 2027.
Schwab has 11,000 RIA clients under $100 million, WealthManagement.com reported, and Wurster said Schwab will keep its custody focus on RIAs under that size. He made the remarks at Schwab Impact in Boston. Fidelity, the second-largest custodian after Schwab, delivered its notice to RIAs in early October. Schwab Impact, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported, opened with more than 6,000 attendees, up from 5,400 in Denver last year.
For a principal at a sub-$100 million firm, the pledge covers custody but not every product around it. Schwab limited its long-short tax strategies to clients with at least $10 million in assets after the offerings were quickly oversubscribed. The Schwab Advisor Network now requires clients with over $5 million and RIAs with at least $500 million in AUM, a firm threshold five times the $100 million line in Wurster's pledge.
“Our job is not to tell you what you should become, how big you should be or what success looks like for you,” Wurster said. “Our job and our role is to provide a platform and a support ecosystem that helps you support your clients and helps your firm thrive.”
Wurster said the Schwab Advisor Network has 100 participating firms out of the 17,000 that custody with Schwab, and 50% of its referrals now fall in the $10 million-in-assets client segment. He said retail clients “below $5 million” are “well served by the Schwab network.”
WealthManagement.com reported Schwab and other custodians are trying to win advisors who may be looking for a new home after Fidelity's move. On long-short strategies, Wurster said Schwab is “working with third-party providers” on expanding options and developing a proprietary offering he alluded to on the Oct. 15 earnings call. He said updates would come “some time soon” and gave no further details.
Schwab's referral network wants firms five times its custody pledge
Asset minimums under Schwab's RIA policies, $M, as stated at Schwab Impact 2026
- Advisor Network firms (AUM)$500M
- Custody pledge (firm AUM)$100M
- Long-short strategy clients (assets)$10M
- Advisor Network clients (assets)$5M
Show as table
| Item | Value ($M) |
|---|---|
| Advisor Network firms (AUM) | $500M |
| Custody pledge (firm AUM) | $100M |
| Long-short strategy clients (assets) | $10M |
| Advisor Network clients (assets) | $5M |
Reported by the RIA desk from WealthManagement.com and Private Wealth Daily's Moves Wire. Published . Updated Oct 28, 2026 · 2:02 p.m. ET. Corrections