The first step to transition your business from your old broker/dealer to ePLANNING Securities, Inc. is to accurately complete our Representative Survey. The completed Survey helps us understand your business and helps us create a specific road map to convert your accounts to ePLANNING. It will collect information regarding what kind of clients you work with, how you work with them, how you market, what product and service you use, and other pertinent data.

If most of your account data is in an electronic format our transition team will guide you through the process of pre-populating your new client account documents utilizing the software program LaserApps. This program can either extract client data directly from your contact management database or the needed data can be imported into the system from an excel spreadsheet. The goal is to streamline the accurate completion of the forms prior to mailing them to the clients.

For most non-brokerage business such as held-direct mutual funds, your ex-broker/dealer may sign off on block transfers. If so, a "negative consent" letter is mailed to the client from the ex-broker/dealer stating a change of the broker/dealer of record on their accounts is being initiated. If the client doesn’t want that change to occur they have a set amount of time, typically two to four weeks, to object. If they do nothing the transfer goes through, hence, the "negative consent". If your ex-broker/dealer chooses to not allow or conduct block transfers, then your clients must be sent a "change of broker/dealer" form from you for each affected account.

For account assets that are to be transferred into a brokerage account at our clearing firm National Financial Services (NFS) all requests must be effected by submitting the required transfer and new account paperwork. Block transfers and Broker/Dealer change forms are not accepted as authorization to transfer brokerage account assets. In order to initiate the account transfer to NFS a completed NFS New Account Form, and Account Transfer Form, along with the most recent statement from the contra firm are required. If the assets are currently held at an ACAT eligible brokerage firm, the transfer should be completed within 7-10 business days. Non-ACAT transfers can take up to 3-5 weeks to complete. Typically a cover letter signed by the representative and any other pertinent account documentation such as trust certifications, beneficiary designation forms, etc., would accompany this mailing. For detailed instructions and to obtain the required account documentation please contact the ePLANNING Trading and Operations Desk at 888-815-1000 x154.

The representative is responsible for mailing documentation to their clients. As the forms are being received back to the rep, they can be bundled and delivered to ePLANNING for processing. However, while the responsibility for tracking the transfers and any commissions that may be paid during the transition period ultimately falls on the representative, ePLANNING’s transition team does it best to coordinate, support and lend-assistance to that tracking process. We also pay for all the standard US Post Office delivery expenses and we provide all materials except for the letterhead stationary that was used for the clients’ cover letter. Since our success and your success are inextricably linked we have a strong desire to facilitate your conversion to ePLANNING as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.