RFG Accelerates Advisor Transitions with Faster Day-One Execution

About RFG

RFG Advisory is a registered investment advisor (RIA) that helps independent financial advisors transition their book of business and grow their practice.

With over $8 billion in total assets under advisement (as of 4/16/26) and more than 100 advisors, RFG provides the infrastructure, technology, and operational support advisors need to grow efficiently.

A key part of that support is helping advisors transition their book of business. These transitions are complex and high-stakes. Each one involves moving hundreds of client accounts across custodians, forms, and systems, all while minimizing disruption and getting advisors back to earning as quickly as possible.

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The Challenge

Advisor transitions at RFG were complex, manual, and difficult to scale.

What should have been a repeatable process often became a bottleneck, delaying onboarding, revenue, and advisor confidence.

Each transition required coordinating hundreds of client accounts across custodians, forms, and systems. The process depended heavily on spreadsheets, manual data entry, and back-and-forth coordination between advisors and operations teams. Small issues in one step often created delays that cascaded across the entire transition.

Unstructured data created early bottlenecks

Client data often arrived incomplete, inconsistent, or incorrectly formatted, which slowed the process before onboarding could even begin.

Operations teams had to review and validate every record, going back and forth to resolve missing fields, correct formatting issues, and ensure the data could be used across systems. What should have been a starting point often became the first bottleneck.

• Missing or incorrectly formatted fields
• No standardized structure across data sources
• Repeated back-and-forth to validate data

Manual workflows slowed everything down

Once data was ready, teams had to manually determine which forms were required for each account, assemble documents, and re-enter client information across multiple forms.

For full repapering transitions, each account could require several documents. Multiplied across hundreds of households, this created a significant operational burden.

The process was time-consuming and left room for errors, including missing forms or incorrect data.

Transitions took too long to get started

Full repapering engagements often required significant manual preparation and paperwork assembly, making it difficult to execute transitions consistently at scale.

Transitions involving hundreds of households could take weeks to fully complete, prolonging uncertainty for advisors and extending the time required to onboard clients.

Advisors felt the pressure

Transitions are one of the most critical moments in an advisor’s career. Advisors are moving their entire book of business while managing uncertainty around timing, revenue, and client retention.

At the same time, clients are being asked to move their accounts and place continued trust in their advisor during a period of change. Any delays, errors, or lack of communication can create friction and put those relationships at risk.

Advisors who have spent years building trust with their clients feel a strong responsibility to ensure the transition is smooth, accurate, and well-managed. When the process is slow or unpredictable, that pressure only increases.

Without a structured and predictable process, the experience was often stressful and difficult to manage.

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The Solution

RFG partnered with Feathery to bring structure, automation, and support to the transition process, replacing manual workflows with a more proactive and scalable approach.

Data is validated before the transition begins

Feathery works closely with advisors and operations teams to establish a repeatable transition process before onboarding begins.

Teams identify missing or inconsistent information early, standardize formatting, and guide advisors through corrections so that transitions can move forward in a structured and predictable way from day one.

“We’re able to prepare the workflow in advance instead of scrambling once the transition starts. That changes the entire dynamic of the process.”
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— Ross Thompson, Manager of Advisor Transitions, RFG Advisory

Forms are automatically selected and pre-filled

Feathery automatically determines which forms are required based on account details such as account type, custodian, and fee structure.

It then assembles and pre-fills all required documents with client data.

What previously required manual review and repeated data entry is now handled automatically, reducing both time and risk.

Envelopes are ready to send immediately

Feathery generates complete, ready-to-send DocuSign envelopes.

Teams can review and send envelopes immediately instead of building them from scratch. If something needs to be corrected, it can be quickly updated and regenerated.

This eliminates the need to manually assemble envelopes, removing one of the final bottlenecks in the process.

Advisors are supported throughout the process

Feathery introduces a more structured and supported experience for advisors.

Feathery combines automation with a white-glove approach to onboarding and data preparation, ensuring advisors receive guidance during data preparation and that issues are identified early instead of surfacing during onboarding.

The process becomes more predictable, easier to manage, and less stressful overall.

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The Results

With Feathery, RFG transformed advisor transitions into a more structured, predictable, and scalable operation. Across comparable transitions, the team estimates that transitions can be completed significantly faster than previous processes.

Expanded Day-One Execution

Feathery helped RFG increase the volume of accounts that could be prepared and sent on day one, particularly for full repapering transitions that previously required significant manual effort. Teams are now able to begin transitions in a more structured and predictable way, reducing the amount of manual work required once onboarding begins.

“Transitions used to be one of the most manual and unpredictable parts of our business. With Feathery, we are able to prepare the workflow in advance instead of scrambling once the transition starts. Being able to send accounts out quickly has completely changed how we approach transitions.”
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—Ross Thompson, Manager of Advisor Transitions, RFG Advisory

Faster form generation

Feathery significantly reduced the time required to generate and prepare forms, particularly for full repapering transitions.

• Over 2x faster form generation for repapering transitions

Faster path to revenue

By accelerating account opening and reducing manual bottlenecks, advisors can begin serving clients more quickly and with greater confidence. The streamlined process helps reduce uncertainty during a critical period and allows advisors to focus on maintaining client relationships.

Improved accuracy and fewer errors

Automation reduces manual errors and ensures all required forms are included.

• Fewer missing fields
• More consistent data across documents

A better advisor experience

Advisors experience a smoother and more predictable transition.

They have greater confidence in the process, face less uncertainty, and are able to focus on maintaining client relationships instead of managing operational complexity.

For RFG, this improved experience is not just operational. It becomes a competitive advantage in recruiting and acquisitions, giving advisors confidence that their transition will be handled smoothly from day one.

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Turning Transitions into a Competitive Advantage

By transforming advisor transitions from a slow, fragmented process into a fast and predictable experience, Feathery enables firms like RFG to reduce risk, accelerate revenue, and deliver a significantly better experience for advisors.

What was once a source of friction and uncertainty is now a repeatable, scalable process that supports growth.

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