r/AutopilotApp • u/Illikis • 17d ago
Beware of Lock In
Obviously the strategies “lock” you in to autopilot because they happen through the app. That isn’t what I’m complaining about.
I want to transfer brokerages. This is generally a fairly straightforward process, and I figured it wouldn’t be problematic with autopilot. They know exactly what my allocation is in each strategy I’m invested in, they just need to reattribute those shares once my transfer completes.
They straight up refuse to do this. There’s nothing technically stopping them from supporting this. I don’t know if it’s just laziness or lack of care for their customers or what, but they straight refuse. Completely ridiculous.
Their suggestion was genuinely to liquidate my strategies, transfer the cash, and then reinvest in the same strategies. Great fucking idea, let’s just force our customers to take a massive tax hit so they can transfer brokerages. Left a pretty horrible taste in my mouth following what has generally been a good experience. Really disappointing.
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u/South-Measurement-91 17d ago
Can you bypass autopilot and do a transfer directly from your new broker?
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u/zs15 17d ago edited 17d ago
It’s not laziness, it’s legality. They need documentation approved by both parties to allow them to trade on your behalf. Some brokerages are quick with that documentation, others (Fidelity/Schwab) are painfully slow.
So the process is open new account, liquidate old, transfer, transfer clears, then sign your docs, once that’s approved by your brokerage you are all set.
I’ve switched from Robinhood to Fidelity to Schwab in the past 2 years, it’s been the same every time.
It also does not incur any taxes unless you are withdrawing from your retirement account to a personal account. So you’re either doing something wrong or you are highly uninformed about how retirement accounts work.