Transitioning Your Account

Transferring your account from one investment firm to another is easier than you might think. In fact, moving your assets to Raymond James will require very little effort on your part. The transfer is almost entirely electronic in most cases: investors simply sign a transfer form and about 10 business days later their investment portfolio is transferred over to the new firm. The transfer process has been simplified because of advances in securities holding practices. Most investments held by Canadian investors are held electronically, not as physical certificates; however, some security types, such as GICs and foreign-held securities, take longer to transfer.

These certificates are now mainly held in electronic form by the Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS), a reliable depository subject to legislation and regulations under both federal and provincial law. Because it acts as the principal depository for securities traded between investment dealers, CDS is able to facilitate a fairly quick transfer of most client assets between firms.

Transferring an account from one brokerage firm to another takes about two weeks, depending on the particular investments within the account. The majority of transfers are executed electronically through a CDS system called Account Transfers Online Notification (ATON). Transfers that are not eligible to transfer through ATON, such as bank held GICs, pension plans, or insurance products, will take longer to complete.

The three basic steps for transferring account(s)

  1. Read through the transfer form for completeness and accuracy and then sign and return it to your Raymond James financial advisor.
  2. Raymond James will then use the ATON system to request the transfer from your previous firm.
  3. Your previous brokerage firm will respond to the request within 10 days. It’s as simple as that.

Other considerations

If you are transferring a RRIF account, your previous firm is legally required to make your current year minimum RRIF payment before transferring your account. If you are transferring a registered product, all book values (cost) will be transmitted to Raymond James.

While we endeavour to make the transfer process as simple and straightforward as possible, we understand that you may still have questions about certain procedures. We encourage you to speak with your financial advisor about any concerns or questions you may have.