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Advisors Face Fee Dilemma with Off‑Custodian Cash Solutions

Interesting evolution in the rise of standalone high-yield cash solutions for advisors... at what point are RIAs disintermediating their own assets by using off-custodian providers, and if so when/where is it appropriate to still earn some kind of advisory or servicing fee to support the relationship? ADV disclosures indicate some large firms are earning 10-15bps on the cash referred out to Flourish. Lower than a typical 1% advisory fee for obvious reasons. But the question arises: is this a servicing fee, an advisory fee, or a rev-share commission for placed assets to a product provider? I can really make a case for any of those. Perhaps it's a distinction without a difference. But between the ongoing focus of "fee-only versus not", to the very real fiduciary issues that arise if an advisor is making recommendations (or has outright discretion) to manage over accounts/asset classes that have different billing rates, means it's a potential issue? On the other hand, historically most advisors got paid nothing for held-away/third-party cash, so arguably advisors adding genuine client value there (helping them find much higher/better yields) and getting paid for doing so is a mutual win for advisor and client? What do you think? "Flourish enters into new RIA revenue sharing agreements" https://t.co/BFZsdiBAt4