The $99 Decision That’s Reshaping The Wealth Management Industry

The $99 Decision That’s Reshaping the Wealth Management Industry

What if your client’s $99 annual account fee was quietly steering billions of dollars away from independent products — and straight into the hands of some of Canada’s largest securities dealers?
That’s the elephant in the room when it comes to custody.

Many large dealers have a simple playbook: use custody fees to nudge advisors and clients away from independent funds, held in client-name, and into their own proprietary products.
It’s happening one $99 decision at a time — multiplied across millions of households and tens of thousands of advisors.

The result?  A seismic, silent shift of hundreds of billions of dollars out of independently advised, client-name products and into the control of the large dealers.

 Why Client Name Is Under Siege

For years, client name custody equalled freedom and independence.
Clients owned their assets directly. Advisors acted as independent stewards.
No interference. No hooks. Just advice.

But…
📉 Manual processes
🔗 Disconnected systems
⚖️ Regulatory pressure

…have made client name custody painfully inefficient.

CIRO is proposing to label client name custody as “outside holdings” — tarnishing its reputation and continuing to exclude it from CIPF coverage.
These proposals lean hard toward nominee custody. And the large dealers are ready to pounce.

The Large Dealers Playbook

Here’s how it works:
1️⃣ Shift clients form client name to nominee custody.
2️⃣ Charge an annual account fee of $99 or more, plus transfer-out fees.
3️⃣ Offer to waive those fees if clients move into the dealer’s proprietary investment products.

On the surface, the $99 fee disappears.
But so does the client’s independence — and yours.

The Advisor’s Dilemma

Every advisor has faced it: a client questions the $99 fee.
Saving them money seems like the right move… but the trade-off is dangerous:
⚠️ Independence sacrificed
⚠️ Client choice narrowed
⚠️ Long-term trust eroded

Multiply that across your entire book and suddenly, what felt like a small concession becomes a structural risk to your practice — and to the very principle of independent advice.

The Stakes

This isn’t just about fees. It’s about the future of independent advice in Canada.

❌ Clients lose access to the best independent funds.

❌ Advisors lose control over product choice.

❌ The industry slides back to the old in-house sales model.

All hidden behind a $99 fee waiver.

A Better Way: NextGen Custody™

Agora believes the answer isn’t to eliminate client name custody — it’s to evolve it. We call it NextGen Custody

✅ No account fees. No platform fees. No transfer-out fees.
✅ Digital-first workflows: paperless onboarding, automated compliance, integrated reporting.
✅ CIPF protection & regulatory alignment without nominee hooks.

✅ Advisor-first economics: no pressure to sell proprietary products.

Clients get transparency, dignity, and choice.
Advisors preserve independence.

The Call to Advisors

Custody is no longer just a back-office detail. It is the silent force reshaping wealth management.

You must decide:
👉 Will you let $99 dictate your clients’ financial future?
👉 Or will you embrace a custody model built for independence, transparency, and long-term value?

Agora has provided the alternative.
NextGen Custody™ is not nominee in disguise.
Its custody redefined — keeping what worked, fixing what didn’t, and preparing for what’s next.

The large dealers know the power of $99.
Now advisors need to know the power of saying NO to it.

Informational purposes only
The information and ideas set out herein are only conceptual and describe views of a possible future. In particular, the whitepaper is being shared to outline some of the ideas of the writer and is provided solely for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES and does not predict with any certainty as too how actual events will unfold. Please do not rely on this information in making business decisions because the development and functionality that becomes available remains subject to a host of factors not under the writer’s control. Further, the white paper may be amended or replaced from time to time. There are no obligations to update the Whitepaper or the Website, or to provide recipients with access to any information beyond what is provided herein.