How Do I ACAT Transfer My Portfolio To Another Broker?

What is an ACAT?

An ACAT (Automated Customer Account Transfer) transfer lets you move all of your cash and full stock shares from Stash to another broker (via our custodian, Apex). There are two types of ACATs:

• Partial: Move one or more securities and cash, but not your entire portfolio

• Full: Move all of the securities and cash in your portfolio

The ACAT process must be initiated from the receiving broker, who then reaches out to Apex to begin the process. Once the ACAT has been initiated by the receiving broker, Apex will reach out to Stash to notify us that a transfer is occurring in the account.

What you need to know:

• ACATs only allow full shares to be sent to a new broker. Any fractional shares are sold, and the proceeds are added to your portfolio cash, which is also sent to the receiving broker.

• ACATs cost $100 per account to process. The fee is taken from your cash balance. If there aren’t sufficient funds in your cash balance to cover this fee, the amount is taken from the fractional share sales.

  • If there is not $100 in the account, the ACAT will be canceled.

• If you have a stock in your portfolio that has been delisted (is no longer trading), these shares must be removed to close your account. In these cases, we will begin a “Penny for the lot” exchange where we pay you $0.01 for these delisted shares.

  • We cannot finalize an account closure if the portfolio still holds assets. Stash support may reach out to you if this applies to you.

• The ACAT process can take up to 21 days to complete.

• Securities currently out on loan cannot be transferred to a new broker. If the account you wish to ACAT is enrolled in Securities Lending, you must first opt out of the program, then wait 2-3 business days to allow time for this change to be processed. After this is complete, you may then initiate a new transfer request.

  • Learn how to opt out of Securities Lending here

• Stash uses the DTC number for our custodian, Apex Clearing. The number is 0158.

  • The Depository Trust Company (DTC) is a settlement clearing company for investment firms and broker-dealers.

To start the ACAT process, please reach out to the receiving broker.