At a glance
- We can make that happen,” Wurster said.
- Fidelity is exiting the sub-$100 million RIA segment on June 30, 2027, according to RIABiz.
- For a $100 million RIA, the swap is a straight comparison: an explicit custody fee against the revenue Schwab earns on that firm's client sweep balances.
Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster told RIAs at Schwab IMPACT in late October that they can ask for a custody fee instead of being defaulted into sweep cash, RIABiz reported. “If you prefer to pay a custody fee, rather than get defaulted into sweep cash, reach out to our team. We can make that happen,” Wurster said. The offer came after an RIA at the event said any other fee would be preferable to Schwab Advisor Services earning revenue on client sweep cash, according to RIABiz. No rate was specified.
Fidelity is exiting the sub-$100 million RIA segment on June 30, 2027, according to RIABiz. Small firms in that segment got no custody-fee option that would have let them buy their way out of re-papering.
For a $100 million RIA, the swap is a straight comparison: an explicit custody fee against the revenue Schwab earns on that firm's client sweep balances. Fidelity has historically charged smaller RIAs an annual platform fee of about $10,000 to $12,000 to offset low asset-based revenue, according to RIABiz. That works out to 1 to 1.2 basis points on a $100 million book.
Industry analysts told RIABiz the offer was an easy-way-or-hard-way rhetorical flourish rather than a strategic direction, and noted it runs counter to Schwab's 2020 pledge that a fee would never be imposed on custody accounts.
Moves Wire logs six moves at Schwab in the past 12 months, two joining and four leaving, and one for Wurster dated Oct. 23, 2026, recorded as a move from Schwab to Schwab with the title president and CEO-in-waiting. His entry is a same-firm change of title, not a departure.
RIABiz reported that custodying assets is getting more expensive, with few alternative revenue sources and rising costs that include adopting artificial intelligence to keep pace with competitors.
Michael Kitces, founder of the XYPN network, told RIABiz by email that because Schwab has not charged a custody fee, it instead has to “turn around and demand revenue-sharing fees from the entire ETF complex.” RIABiz described him as calling the no-fee custody model “broken” and Schwab as, for now, clinging to its roster of small RIAs.
Reported by the RIA desk from RIABiz and Moves Wire. Published . Corrections