Blog 5: What Happens to My Accounts and Investments? (Part 1)

Most questions about a transition like this come down to one thing: will my money be where I can find it? It will. This is the first of two articles on what happens to your accounts and investments on November 14. This one covers what moves on its own, which for most of you is everything. Part 2 covers the accounts that need a little extra effort by us to get them across the finish line.

Your accounts

Each of your accounts moves to LPL electronically, with the same owners and the same registration. Each one receives a new LPL account number, which will appear on your first LPL statement and in your new online access.

If you have an advisory account with us, it moves into the LPL advisory program that most closely matches the one you are in today. The program name on your statement will be different. The way we manage your money will not.

Your investments

Nothing is sold to make this transfer happen. Your stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs move as they are, and you are not out of the market at any point. Your cost basis travels with them and each lot keeps the basis it started with.¹ Your performance history also transfers, so it continues rather than starting over.

One change we are making on purpose. Many mutual funds come in several versions, called share classes, that hold the same investments but carry different internal costs. Some of the funds in our advisory accounts are held in C shares, which carry an ongoing fee that pays for distribution. In an advisory account, where you already pay an advisory fee, the advisory share class of the same fund is typically the less expensive way to own it. LPL would allow most of those C shares to stay as they are. We are using the transition to move them to advisory shares wherever the fund offers one.

One change you may want to weigh in on. Today, neither Commonwealth nor our firm votes proxies on your behalf. In certain LPL advisory programs, LPL will vote proxies for you unless you direct otherwise in writing. If you would rather keep voting your own, let us know and we will take care of it.

Your cash

The cash in your account moves with it. What changes is where that cash sits.

Your sweep balance. Uninvested cash moves from Commonwealth's sweep program into LPL's bank deposit sweep, which is FDIC insured within the applicable limits. There is nothing for you to do.

Your money market fund. Many of you also hold a Fidelity money market fund. Those funds are not available at LPL, so in the last week of October, Commonwealth will exchange them for comparable JPMorgan money market funds. For most of you, that means Fidelity Money Market Premium Class (FZDXX) becomes JPMorgan Liquid Assets Money Market Premier (PJLXX). The usual minimum investment is waived, and if you normally receive trade confirmations when we make a trade in your account, you will receive one for this exchange.

There is one practical difference. Fidelity Money Market Premium Class sells itself automatically to cover a withdrawal when your sweep balance runs low. The JPMorgan funds do not. Someone has to watch the sweep balance and move money out of the fund when it is needed, and that someone is us. If you write checks or use a debit card on your account, please tell us before you make a large payment.

Statements

In November you will receive two statements, one from Commonwealth covering the early part of the month and one from LPL covering the rest. After that, statements come only from LPL, in LPL's format. Two statements in November is expected and is not an error.

Annuities and insurance

Non-advisory annuities and all insurance policies are held by the insurance company, not by Commonwealth, so your contract stays where it is. Behind the scenes, the broker of record on the contract changes from Commonwealth to LPL, which generally requires nothing from you. We continue to service your policy as we do today.

The one exception with a deadline: 529 plans

LPL does not hold 529 education savings accounts the way Commonwealth does. A 529 held in an account with us at Commonwealth has to move to an account held directly with the plan sponsor, and that move requires your consent. If your 529 is one of these, Commonwealth sent you a consent form by email or by mail. We have been working to confirm that every form was signed, and we believe we have received consent from every client who needed to give it. A 529 that is already held directly with the plan sponsor does not need a form. If you have a 529 that we moved into your advisory account and you have not seen a form from Commonwealth, let us know. The deadline is October 23, 2026.

What do I need to do?

• If we moved a 529 into your advisory account and you have not seen a consent form from Commonwealth, let us know before October 23.

• If you want to keep voting your own proxies, let us know.

• If you write checks or use a debit card on your account, tell us before you make a large payment.

• Otherwise, nothing. Watch for a trade confirmation for the money market exchange in late October and two statements in November.

Part 2 covers trusts, business and custodial accounts, beneficiary designations, and the change to who serves as custodian of your IRA. >

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¹Not every share you own of a given investment was necessarily bought at the same time. If you bought shares on different dates, or reinvested dividends over the years, the shares in your account are divided into separate lots. Each lot has its own purchase date and its own cost, which is its tax basis. When shares are sold, the lot that is sold determines the size of the gain or loss and whether it is short term or long term. Those lot-by-lot records are what will transfer to LPL.