Account paperwork prepared from what the client has already told you, and in good order the first time.
Bluegrass builds account opening systems for RIAs and wealth managers. They prepare custodian applications and transfer forms from data you already hold, check each against the custodian's requirements before signature and track every account until it is funded.
The weeks after a client signs are when the relationship is most fragile, and a rejected transfer or a form signed twice is the first service they receive.
What account opening involves today
A new household can need several accounts, each with its own application, plus a transfer form for every account moving in. An operations associate rekeys the client's details, works out which forms each account needs and sends the package for signature.
Each custodian has its own forms and rules, and one mismatched name or missing page can delay a transfer by weeks. Because the checks are clear and every rejection has a recorded reason, this is one of the most dependable places to start.
How automated account opening works
- 01
Gather what is known
The client's details, accounts and assets are gathered from the CRM, meeting notes, fact finder and statements, so nothing the client has already told you is asked for again.
- 02
Choose the forms
The forms each account needs are identified from its registration, such as joint, IRA, trust or entity, and from the custodian's rules.
- 03
Prepare and check
Forms are prefilled and checked against each other, the delivering firm's statement and the custodian's requirements, so a mismatched name or wrong account number is caught before the client signs.
- 04
Send for signature
The package goes to your operations team for review and then to the client for electronic signature, with a short note explaining what each form is for.
- 05
Track to funded
Each account and transfer is tracked until it is funded, and any rejection is read, corrected and resubmitted, with the advisor and client kept informed.
Where people stay in the loop
Your operations team reviews every package before the client sees it, and the checks are first tested on past rejections. How to register an account, or whether a rollover is in the client's interest, stays with the advisor.
The systems it works with
The system works with your CRM, the custodians' account opening and transfer platforms, your electronic signature tool and your document store, and writes each account's status back to the CRM.
When to build it, and when to buy it
Custodians and the larger CRM and onboarding platforms offer digital account opening, and if you use one custodian and simple registrations, their tools may be enough, particularly once set up well.
A custom build makes sense when you use several custodians or open trust and entity accounts in volume, when you repaper books from recruiting or acquisitions, or when paperwork should start from the meeting.
We hold no reseller agreements, partner quotas or revenue share with any vendor, so a recommendation to buy is made on its merits.
What this work costs you today
A quick way to put a number on the problem before talking to anyone, using your own figures rather than ours.
Enter your volume and the minutes each one takes to see what the work costs in a year.
The numbers stay in your browser and are not stored or sent anywhere. Bring the figure to the first call, since it is the baseline any system should be measured against.
Questions about account opening and transfers
- Which custodians does it work with?
- It is built around the custodians you use, through the platforms and forms each provides, and the evaluation confirms how each connects before anything is built.
- Can it help when we bring over a whole book of business?
- Repapering a recruited advisor's or acquired firm's accounts is where volume peaks, and the same preparation and checks apply to hundreds of accounts at once, with exceptions listed for your team.
- Who signs off before the client sees the paperwork?
- Your operations team reviews every package before it goes to the client, and nothing is submitted to a custodian without the client's signature.
Related systems
A senior team that has done this before
We are a small, entirely senior team with fifty years of combined AI engineering, multiple granted patents and Y Combinator founders, from Yale, MIT, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and Vista Equity Partners. The people who scope your work are the people who write the code.
Selected work
We built the AI transformation roadmap for a top-50 P&C brokerage, and it is saving the firm millions of dollars in vendor fees it did not need to pay.
Clients include some of the largest banks, RIAs, fintechs and AI labs, as well as a top-3 P&C carrier, a top-10 P&C brokerage, a top-5 trucking brokerage, a leading specialty MGA and a leading trucking MGA.
We run only 3 to 5 engagements at a time, so that every client works directly with the senior team.
About the team- Dozens
- of insurance companies, RIAs, banks and fintechs we have worked with
- 50 yrs
- combined AI engineering experience
- 10+ Patents
- granted to members of the team
- 100%
- of the IP we build is assigned to you
Find out whether this is worth building for your business.
A 30-minute call with an engineer usually shows whether this is worth building. Within a week you will have a free written point of view, including whether a packaged product would serve you better.