For much of the past decade, the registered investment advisors (RIA) custody landscape appeared increasingly settled. Schwab and Fidelity built enormous scale and broad ecosystems around independent advisors. Schwab alone now reports more than 16,000 RIA firms and $5.5 trillion in client assets on its custody platform.¹
Suddenly, the landscape looks less settled. Robinhood acquired TradePMR, gaining an RIA custody platform serving roughly 350 firms and more than $40 billion in assets under administration at announcement.² Goldman Sachs acquired Folio Financial and has continued investing in a custody offering that combines open architecture with institutional-grade capabilities.³ Most recently, Vanguard agreed to acquire Altruist, explicitly citing an opportunity to increase competition and innovation in both advisor custody and advisor technology.⁴
These are very different firms making very different strategic bets. Collectively, however, they point toward an important change: custody is evolving from financial infrastructure into a strategic platform through which firms can distribute technology, investment products, banking capabilities—and potentially even clients.
Different Competitors, Different Strategies
Schwab and Fidelity remain formidable incumbents. What makes the emerging landscape interesting is not simply the arrival of additional competitors, but what each brings with it.
| Custodian |
What They Bring |
Potential RIA Impact |
| Schwab |
Scale, retail franchise, mature RIA ecosystem |
Breadth, familiarity, operating scale |
| Fidelity |
Custody, clearing, retail, workplace and technology |
Broad financial ecosystem and flexible technology |
| Goldman Sachs |
Institutional and private wealth capabilities |
Sophisticated investments, financing and UHNW solutions |
| Robinhood / TradePMR |
Large retail investor base and consumer technology |
Next-generation clients, referrals and digital capabilities |
| Vanguard / Altruist |
Scale, low-cost philosophy and modern RIA technology |
Potential cost pressure and faster technology investment |
| BNY Pershing |
Clearing, custody and institutional infrastructure |
Enterprise scale and connected operating capabilities |
There may not be one “best” custodian in this emerging landscape. And that may be the point.
The Next Custody War May Not Be About Custody
More competition should be good for RIAs and their clients. It should create pressure for better service, lower costs, improved technology and broader capabilities. But the next custody price war may not be fought over explicit custody fees. It may be fought over everything surrounding custody.
Custodians increasingly provide or connect advisors with onboarding, trading, portfolio tools, banking, lending, investment solutions, reporting, client portals and artificial intelligence (AI). Goldman, for example, promotes an open-architecture platform with application programming interface (API) integrations and digital onboarding.³ Fidelity offers an open brokerage platform plus hundreds of technology integrations.⁵ Vanguard’s Altruist transaction pushes this convergence further: Vanguard said replicating Altruist’s platform, talent and advisor relationships internally would require significant time and investment.⁶
For RIAs, that creates tremendous opportunity—but also a strategic question: Which capabilities should come from the custodian, and which should remain independent of it?
| What’s Changing |
Potential Benefit |
Question for RIAs |
| More competition |
Better pricing and service |
How will competition affect total client economics? |
| More technology |
Better workflows and automation |
Should core technology be tied to one custodian? |
| More capabilities |
Lending, investments, tax and other services |
Which capabilities truly improve the client experience? |
| More distribution |
Custodians may help acquire clients |
Who ultimately owns the client relationship? |
| More custodial choice |
Match providers to different client needs |
How do you maintain one operating model across them? |
Multi-Custodial by Design
For years, many RIAs became multi-custodial almost accidentally—through acquisitions, advisor recruiting, legacy relationships or client preferences. The emerging landscape creates another possibility: What if being multi-custodial becomes a strategic choice? An RIA may value one custodian for scale, another for sophisticated high-net-worth capabilities, and another for technology or access to a different generation of clients.
That choice also creates complexity: multiple data feeds, account-opening processes, service teams, trading workflows and client experiences. The more differentiated custodians become, the more important it may be for RIAs to maintain a consistent operating layer above custody—one capable of aggregating account data across providers and creating a common view across the enterprise.
This separation matters for another reason. Bundled technology can be inexpensive and convenient, but the more of an RIA’s operating infrastructure that becomes embedded within a single custodial ecosystem, the harder it becomes to change. Moving assets from one custodian to another is challenging enough. Moving your assets and your operating system is something else entirely.
Independence Still Matters
The independent RIA model was built around the freedom to choose the solutions advisors believe are best for their clients. The changing custody landscape should expand that choice—bringing better technology, service, capabilities and potentially new sources of growth.
The winners may be RIAs that take advantage of greater custodial competition without becoming dependent on any single custodial ecosystem. The next generation of RIA infrastructure may not be built around finding one custodian that does everything. It may instead be built around an operating model that allows an RIA to select the right custody, technology, and investment capabilities for its business and clients—while maintaining one consistent view of the client.
More custodial competition is coming. The opportunity is not simply having more choices. It is preserving the freedom to use them.
Important Disclosures & Definitions
1 Why RIAs Choose Schwab. (n.d.). Advisor Services, Schwab. (Retrieved September 9, 2026, from advisorservices.schwab.com/why-schwab).
2 Robinhood To Acquire TradePMR. (2024, November 19). TradePMR. tradepmr.com/hood
3 Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions – Our Solutions. (n.d.). Goldman Sachs. (Retrieved September 9, 2026, from goldmansachs.com/what-we-do/ficc-and-equities/custody-solutions/our-solutions); Goldman Sachs. (2020, September 18). Goldman Sachs Acquiring Folio Financial, Inc. [Press release]. goldmansachs.com/pressroom/press-releases/2020/announcement-sept-2020
4 Vanguard. (2026, August 26). Vanguard to Acquire Altruist, Expanding the Reach and Impact of Financial Advice. [Press release]. corporate.vanguard.com/content/corporatesite/us/en/corp/who-we-are/pressroom/press-release-vanguard-announcement-082626.html
5 Technology and Solutions Designed for RIAs. (n.d); Clearing and Custody Solutions (n.d.). Fidelity Institutional. (Retrieved September 9, 2026, from clearingcustody.fidelity.com/solutions).
6 Vanguard to Acquire Altruist: Frequently Asked Questions. (2026, August 26). Vanguard. corporate.vanguard.com/content/corporatesite/us/en/corp/articles/vanguard-announcement-qa-august-2026.html
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