Wells Fargo Advisors is set to launch a newly designed fee-only RIA custody platform later this year to be seeded by a few of its Financial Advisor Network firms, according to the executive overseeing the effort.
Wells Fargo’s fee-only RIA channel, which allows advisors to custody through First Clearing, has grown to a few dozen firms over the years. And while the wirehouse would not break out assets under management, its independent solutions head said the division has been working on a new custodial tech stack that will onboard some existing advisors on its broker/dealer model, FiNet, seeking a fee-only model, with a broader market launch in 2027.
“We see ourselves as a platform that can cultivate that advisor lifecycle,” said Erik Karanik, Wells Fargo’s head of wealth and investment management independent solutions. “We really look at it from a wealth management business perspective in that we’re providing services to clients, and we are really agnostic at this point as to how the advisor wants to be employed with us.”
Karanik said the revamped RIA program will oversee due diligence, client transitions, operational support, relationship management and technology integration, along with access to “the full capabilities of the Wells platform.”
Wells Fargo has been pushing in recent years to grow its broker/dealer FiNet channel for independent advisors. It has shown some success there, drawing multiple billion-plus teams in the past year.
Wells Fargo’s Erik Karanik sees the wirehouse as giving advisors the option to become an RIA attached to the bank.
Wells launched its RIA solution through its First Clearing division in 2019. Earlier this year, it promoted Leeann Markovitz to take over First Clearing after having been the director of relationship management. She succeeded Al Caiazzo, who retired after over 40 years with Wells Fargo.
Karanik, who took over the independent channel about two years ago, characterized First Clearing as a true clearing firm that settles transactions and manages risk, paperwork and back-office settlement processes. In contrast, the new RIA Solutions channel will offer a more robust option.
“We’ll bring some of our internal practices onto the platform by the end of the year, and then look to expand that with external practices joining it in ’27,” Karanik said. “There’s pent-up demand, internally and externally, and quite honestly, we want to test this and learn with our existing advisors. Let them use the technology, use the platform … and make sure we have a robust platform when we go external to the marketplace.”
Karanik said Wells Fargo’s RIA side uses a single technology stack for advisors, but offers more flexibility from third-party providers than in its wirehouse channel or even FiNet.
Generally, the RIA space has been a draw for advisors either looking to leave or avoid the wirehouse world. Partly because of that interest, several of the country’s largest RIAs have been adding both scale and resources, pitching the idea that advisors can have the best of both fee-only and fee-based services, along with similar support and services to those of the legacy players.
Karanik frames Wells Fargo as giving advisors the option to become an RIA attached to the bank, which is a draw.
“Advisors get all the resources that we have, whether in the fiduciary space, in the product space, access to an expanding alts platform,” he said. “And then to the extent that the clients need a loan, you have the Wells Fargo Bank and our management there to provide lending to those clients, so you’re not introducing a third party—you’re introducing someone who’s sitting on the same side of the table as you and your client.”
The push by Wells Fargo into the RIA channel is unique when compared to wirehouse peers UBS, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America’s Merrill—the last two of which boast larger advisor headcounts as of the most recent disclosures. But Wells will be competing with a push by the largest broker/dealers to offer a fee-only RIA option. LPL Financial, Osaic, Raymond James and Cetera Financial have all been championing the options they offer to join an RIA platform while retaining access to their wider resources and succession-planning options.
As of 2025, the dominant trend remains advisors starting or joining RIAs, according to recent data from AdvizorPro provided to Wealth Management.
Across all channels, the advisor industry saw more outflows than inflows of producing financial advisors in 2025, with 57,000 leaving and only 53,000 entering the advice profession. However, Wells Fargo itself saw a net gain of advisors in 2025, according to Wolfe Research’s analysis late last year.
Karanik said his division will help bolster that count in 2026 and beyond as it offers advisors not only a step to becoming a fee-only RIA, but also potential for a succession plan when they decide to retire.
“We think we can be a disruptor in the space,” he said.
