Facts checked on October 6, 2026. Rules differ for broker-dealers, SEC-registered advisers and state-registered advisers, so confirm which ones apply to your firm.
Most advisor letters go to people who already know you. A new associate starts working on a household, a new client signs on, an advisor moves to another firm, or a founder steps back. Each of those moments needs a letter, and each one carries a different review question.
The letter itself is rarely hard to write. The harder part is knowing what has to travel with it, who has to approve it, and what your firm must keep afterward. A short, plain letter that answers the reader’s first question usually works better than a long one that tries to reassure.
This guide covers the five letters advisors send most often to existing clients, with a short outline for each and the rule each one touches. It is general information, not legal or compliance advice. OJay Media Marketing builds client-acquisition systems for advisors, so we have a commercial interest in how firms communicate with the people they serve.
What a good client letter does
A letter to an existing client has one job: explain a change and tell the reader what happens next. The reader already trusts the relationship, so the letter does not need to sell anything. It needs to answer the question the client will ask first, which is usually who they should call now.
That shapes the order. Put the change in the opening sentence, then the person it affects, then the next step. Keep investment views, market comments and performance out of these letters. A change letter should answer one question before it raises another. Anything that reads like a recommendation turns a simple notice into a document your reviewer has to treat differently.
Format matters less than review and records. A printed letter, a PDF and an email all count as written communications, so the same rules apply whichever channel you use. Our guide to financial advisor email templates covers prospect, referral and event emails, and the prospecting letter guide covers letters to people who are not yet clients.
Which client letter fits the change?
Start with what changed for the client. Each destination names the letter and the item to check before it goes out.
Routes follow the FINRA and SEC sources checked on October 6, 2026. Your reviewer decides what applies to your firm.
- What prompted this letter?
Pick the event that comes closest.
- A different person will work on the account
- The household is new to your firm
- An advisor is moving to another firm
- An advisor is retiring or the practice is being sold
- A regular review meeting is coming up
- Is the original advisor staying on the team?
The answer decides who signs the letter.
- Yes, a second person is being added
- No, the original advisor has left the firm
- Write an introduction letter
Send it under the current advisor’s name. Ask your reviewer whether the new person’s brochure supplement goes in the same envelope.
- Write a firm letter about the change
Send it from the firm owner or senior advisor, name who now looks after the account, and mention any forms to fill in.
- Write a welcome letter
List the next steps, the documents you still need, and who to contact, and keep advice out of it.
- Check the rules before any letter
Ask your new firm’s compliance team about FINRA Rule 2273 and about any limits from your previous firm.
- Plan the call, then the letter
Speak to clients first, introduce the successor, and ask your reviewer which client consents the change requires.
- Write a review letter
Confirm the meeting, list what to bring, and archive the letter if it contains advice.
Introducing a new advisor to existing clients
When a new associate, planner or successor starts working with a household, the current advisor should sign the introduction. Clients respond to the person they already know. The letter names the new person, describes their role on the team, and explains how the first meeting will happen.
There is also a disclosure step. The SEC’s Form ADV Part 2 instructions require a brochure supplement for any supervised person who formulates investment advice for a client and has direct client contact. The SEC instructions also set the timing: the supplement goes to the client before or when that person starts advising them. The introduction letter is often the natural place to enclose it.
A short outline works well. Open with the news and the person’s name. Add a few sentences about their role and background that your reviewer has checked. Close with how the first meeting will be arranged and who to call meanwhile. You can point clients to FINRA BrokerCheck or the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site so they can look up the new person’s registration themselves.
Dear [Name], I’m writing to introduce [New advisor], who joined our team on [date] as [role]. [He/She/They] will work with me on your planning, and you’ll see [his/her/their] name on [the specific items they will handle].
[One or two reviewed sentences on background and credentials.] I’ve enclosed [his/her/their] brochure supplement, which describes [his/her/their] education and business experience. I’ll suggest a short introductory meeting when we next speak. Until then, please keep calling me at [phone] with anything you need.
The new client welcome letter
A welcome letter goes out after a client signs on and before the real work begins. Its value is practical. It tells the client what happens over the next few weeks, which documents you still need, and who handles which questions. If your firm uses a client portal, this is where the login steps belong.
Resist the urge to restate your philosophy or list every service. Tell new clients what happens next, not why they chose you. Keep the letter to what the client needs to do, and leave planning conclusions for the first meeting, where you can explain them properly.
The welcome letter sits inside a longer process. Our guide to client onboarding for financial advisors covers the sequence of touches in the first months, and the letter is only the first of them.
Dear [Name], welcome to [Firm]. Over the next [time frame], we’ll [first step, such as open accounts or gather documents], and then meet on [date or “a date we’ll agree”] to [purpose of first meeting].
To get started, we still need [list of documents]. [Team member] will contact you about [specific task], and you can reach [him/her/them] at [phone or email]. For anything else, please call me directly at [phone].
When an advisor changes firms
A move between firms is the letter with the most rules around it, and the order of steps matters more than the wording. What a departing advisor may take, and when they may contact clients, often depends on the agreements they signed at the previous firm. Ask your new firm’s compliance team and your own counsel before any client hears from you.
For broker-dealers there is a specific delivery rule. FINRA Rule 2273 requires a member firm that hires a registered representative to deliver a FINRA educational communication to that representative’s former customers. The rule asks the firm to provide the communication at the first individualized contact about transferring assets. When a former customer transfers without any such contact, the rule asks for delivery with the transfer approval documentation. If the first contact is a phone call, the rule asks for the communication to be sent within three business days. FINRA Rule 2273 applies this delivery requirement for three months after the representative joins the new member firm.
The letter itself should be short and factual. Say where you are now, how to reach you, and that moving accounts is the client’s decision. Leave out any comparison with your previous firm. Your new firm’s reviewer will decide what else has to go with it.
Takeaway: We settle what a moving advisor may send, and when, with the new firm’s compliance team before writing the letter itself.
Retirement and succession letters
A retirement letter works best as the second contact, after a personal conversation. Long-standing clients should hear the news from you directly, ideally with the successor in the room or on the call. The letter then confirms what you discussed: the retirement date, who takes over, and how the client can meet that person.
A sale or merger of the practice adds a legal question. Section 205 of the Investment Advisers Act requires advisory agreements to provide that the adviser will not assign them without the client’s consent. Whether a particular succession counts as an assignment is a question for counsel, but the letter is often where you ask for that consent. Ask your reviewer which forms have to travel with it. The succession planning guide covers the planning side.
Joint letters signed by both advisors read well because they show a handoff rather than an exit. Keep promises about service levels out of the letter, and describe only what you have actually arranged. Describe the arrangements you have made, not the outcome you hope for.
Dear [Name], this letter follows our conversation on [date] about my retirement from [Firm] on [date]. From [date], your advisor will be [Successor], who works with me on [area]. Please expect a note from [Successor] about a time to meet.
Please call either of us at [phone] with any questions before then.
Where the succession needs each client’s consent, add the form and the wording your reviewer provides.
Who reviews the letter and what you keep
Broker-dealers start by counting recipients. FINRA Rule 2210 defines correspondence as a written communication distributed or made available to 25 or fewer retail investors within any 30 calendar-day period, and anything sent more widely is a retail communication. A registered principal must approve a retail communication before it is used. Correspondence falls under the supervision and review procedures of FINRA Rule 3110 instead.
Registered investment advisers have a different test. The SEC’s marketing rule treats a communication sent to more than one current client as an advertisement when it offers new advisory services. A plain change notice usually stays outside that definition. A letter that promotes an added planning service may not. Records apply either way, because Rule 204-2 requires advisers to keep copies of written communications they send that relate to recommendations or advice, among other subjects.
In practice, both tracks lead to the same habit. Send every client letter through your normal review, and keep the version you actually sent. Archive the sent letter, not the draft your reviewer approved. Our pages on FINRA marketing compliance and the SEC marketing rule for financial advisors go further on both.
Takeaway: We put every client letter through the same review queue, whatever the channel, so nothing goes out unreviewed.
Tick each item once you have a written answer. Progress is saved in this browser when supported; nothing is sent.
- How many retail investors will receive this letter within the same month?
- Does it count as correspondence or as a retail communication for our firm?
- Who approves it, and does that approval have to happen before we send it?
- Does the letter offer any new advisory service to current clients?
- Does it introduce someone whose brochure supplement has to be delivered?
- If an advisor is changing firms, which educational communication goes with the first contact?
- If the practice is changing hands, which client consents do we need?
- Where will the sent copy be archived, and who can retrieve it?
A few common questions
Should a client letter go by email or by post?
Either can work, and many firms send both for significant changes. Email reaches people faster and is easier to archive. A printed letter suits clients who rarely read email and moments such as a retirement, where a signed page feels more personal.
What belongs in an annual review letter?
Confirm the meeting time and place, list what the client should bring, and name any decisions you plan to discuss. If the letter itself contains advice or recommendations, treat it as a record your firm must keep.
Who should sign a departure letter when an advisor leaves?
Usually the firm owner or the senior advisor who will now serve the account. The letter should name that person, say whether the client needs to sign anything, and give a direct phone number.
Related reading
- Financial advisor email templates
- Financial advisor prospecting letters
- Client onboarding for financial advisors
- Succession planning for financial advisors
- Financial advisor email signatures
If you are also rethinking how new clients find your firm before the first letter, we explain the OJay Media Marketing process separately.
OJay Media Marketing is a marketing agency for wealth advisors. This page is general information for advisory firms. It is not investment, legal, or compliance advice. Have your reviewer approve your own materials before you use them.
