RFG Advisory has deployed Feathery to accelerate advisor transitions and improve day-one account execution across its independent registered investment advisor platform.
RFG oversees more than $8 billion in assets under advisement and supports over 100 financial advisors. By implementing Feathery’s wealth management operations platform, the firm more than doubled the speed of form generation for transitions requiring full client repapering.
The technology also increased the number of client accounts RFG could prepare and send on the first day of a transition.
Advisor transitions occur when a financial professional joins a new wealth management firm or changes custodial and operating platforms. The process can require hundreds of client accounts to be transferred, updated or reopened across multiple systems.
Full repapering generally requires clients to complete new account agreements, disclosures, transfer documents and other forms. Each account may have different registration types, ownership structures, investment products and custodial requirements.
For advisory firms, these transitions can be operationally demanding because incomplete information or incorrect forms may delay asset transfers and disrupt the client experience.
The pressure is increasing as advisor recruiting, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions drive more movement across the wealth management industry.
Before adopting Feathery, RFG relied on spreadsheets and repetitive data entry across several systems. This made large repapering engagements difficult to execute consistently and created the potential for missing information, manual errors and uneven processing times.
Feathery worked with RFG’s advisor transition and operations teams to establish a repeatable workflow that could be prepared before the formal transition began.
The platform identifies missing or inconsistent information, pre-populates required documents and generates DocuSign envelopes that are ready to send to clients.
Preparing workflows in advance helps RFG avoid beginning the transition with a large volume of unstructured data and forms requiring manual review.
The implementation resulted in form generation that was more than twice as fast, according to the companies. RFG also expanded its day-one execution capacity while improving data consistency and reducing missing fields and manual errors.
Day-one execution is important because the speed at which documents reach clients can influence how quickly accounts are transferred and funded.
A more structured process can also reduce the amount of time advisors spend coordinating paperwork during their first days with a new firm. This allows them to focus more heavily on communicating with clients and maintaining those relationships.
Feathery describes its technology as an AI operational and decisioning system for wealth management.
The platform automates workflows involving advisor transitions, client onboarding and account opening. It also integrates with customer relationship management systems, custodians and other core wealth management applications.
These connections allow Feathery to use existing client and account information rather than requiring operations teams to enter the same data repeatedly into separate forms and systems.
The platform’s decisioning capabilities can determine which forms, fields and approvals are required based on the account type and transition circumstances.
For example, an individual brokerage account may require different documents than a trust, retirement account or jointly owned account. Custodians may also maintain different forms and processing requirements.
Automating those distinctions can help advisory firms prepare larger account volumes without increasing administrative work at the same rate.
RFG’s use of Feathery reflects the growing role of operational technology in advisor recruiting and acquisitions.
Transition support can affect how quickly a recruited advisor becomes productive and how smoothly clients move to the new platform. Delays or paperwork errors can create frustration at a sensitive point in the relationship.
Feathery Head of Wealth Solutions Chris Mills said advisor transitions represent an important moment for both advisors and their clients.
RFG Manager of Advisor Transitions Ross Thompson said the firm can now prepare workflows ahead of time rather than reacting after a transition begins.
The companies said the more predictable process helps RFG preserve the personalized experience expected by advisors while reducing the manual work required from internal teams.
KEY QUOTES:
“Transitions used to be one of the most manual and unpredictable parts of our business.”
“With Feathery, we are able to prepare the workflow in advance instead of scrambling once the transition starts. Being able to send accounts out quickly has completely changed how we approach transitions.”
Ross Thompson, Manager of Advisor Transitions at RFG Advisory
“Advisor transitions are a defining moment for both advisors and their clients.”
“RFG’s results show how firms can make those transitions faster and more predictable while preserving the high-touch experience advisors expect.”
Chris Mills, Head of Wealth Solutions at Feathery
