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RBC Wealth Management

5425 Wisconsin Ave #301
Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-907-2772

Ratings

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?%    
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Consumer Ratings for RBC Wealth Management — 13 Ratings

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Percent of customers who rated service "superior" for:
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Consumer Comments for RBC Wealth Management

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Consumer from WASHINGTON, DC
Jul 23, 2025
Not Recommended
As a seasoned investor, I found RBC Wealth Management to not meet my needs. RBC Wealth Management has 3 characteristics that I have not encountered before: 1. RBC strictly abides by its 10-day rule: “Unless I object in writing within ten (10) calendar days of receipt of my confirmation or statement, confirmations of transaction, statements and/or notices for my Account shall be binding on me. Any communications regarding errors or misunderstandings with respect to my Account should be addressed to the Branch Manager of the branch office where my Account is maintained.” If working with another firm other than RBC, ask what their regulation is in this regard. This is a bottom line for any issues you would have with trades or trading. 2. RBC Wealth Management serves in a dual Broker-Dealer Capacity : “In our capacity as a broker-dealer, you typically pay us for each securities transaction we effect for you. We may recommend investments and investment strategies involving securities, which include recommendations of account types and rollovers or transfers of assets, such as rolling over retirement plan assets into an IRA, however, we cannot buy or sell investments in your brokerage account without first obtaining your authorization.” In my experience, as I was negligent and had not kept records of conversations, the latter requirement would be overridden by the 10-day rule. 3. As above, RBC Wealth Management is a hybrid financial management firm, providing both financial advice and brokerage functions. There can be some grey areas with this duality as indicated above. Registered as a broker-dealer, RBC offers brokerage services where they are held to a suitability standard, which is a lower standard than the fiduciary duty. This means they need to ensure that any recommendations they make are suitable for the client's needs, but not necessarily in their client's best interest. Essentially, when you engage with RBC Wealth Management for investment advice, it's crucial to understand whether they are acting as a fiduciary or a broker-dealer in that specific situation to understand the level of duty they owe you.  Before entrusting RBC — or any financial management firm (or financial advisor) — you will want to do due diligence research through Broker-Check, FINRA and the SEC ( https://brokercheck.finra.org/ ) ( https://www.sec.gov/litigations/sec-action-look-up ) and potentially identify any litigations e.g. https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2024/34-100706.pdf RBC Lessons Learned: Most of my lessons learned with RBC pertained to an Unmanaged account which most investors will not be importing to a financial management firm. 1. I made the decision to keep all of my investments, retirement and brokerage accounts, within one financial management firm. Unfortunately FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) regulations no longer give any additional protections to Unmanaged accounts than to Managed Accounts. If you have a personal stock portfolio that you have built over the decades with firms such as Vanguard or Fidelity, don’t move it into RBC or any financial investment firm. Keep it in Vanguard or Fidelity. 2. RBC Wealth Management does not have a secure, audio recording protocol for documenting trades initiated either by the client or where the Financial Manager requested prior approval for transactions in an Unmanaged account. They state they have no intention of starting this validation practice. This is a particularly important criteria if personal stock portfolios are imported as well as for tax advice and discussions. ( https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2024/34-100706.pdf ) A good rule with RBC and any financial management firm - especially those not using secure phone lines to record trade conversations - is to exchange all substantive information in writing, with confirmation from the recipient (Financial Advisor or Client) required. While RBC is the only one of five firms I have used that do not include this security measure, I have interviewed one other that also does not use secure, audio recordings. 3. Whether it is RBC or any other financial management firm, before signing any account establishment documents establish in writing your clear instructions on any personal portfolio to be imported to a new firm. Include the requirement to receive prior, formal written agreement from the client before any trades are initiated regarding the personal stocks in that portfolio. Be sure it states this overrides any peculiarity in their Disclosure Agreement or Account Establishment contract. 6. Read any Disclosure Document (i.e., 1 above), even if up to 40 pages of fine print and state in writing any objections you may foresee. Get in writing a binding statement from the firm that any such statement will not apply to your personal brokerage accounts. If they defer, go elsewhere. 8. Get your own outside Tax Accountant/Advisor. Best advice in a nutshell: A. Keep your personal stock portfolio in a self managed account in Vanguard, Fidelity or any other firm that provides a Brokerage Platform where you have direct access to continue independently buying and selling your personal stock portfolio and independently transfer money to your bank accounts. B. When selecting a financial management firm and financial advisor discuss their investment philosophy. If you are a buy-hold investor who believes no one can time the stock market — as I am — find out the frequency of trading. My Stock SEP IRA was set up with 55 or so individual companies, with an average of $6,000 investment in each and resulted in up to 85 trade confirmations each month for one $375,000 account. There was a constant “rebalancing” to secure “optimal returns”. C. During Annual reviews your job is not limited to assuring your upcoming expenses are supported by your financial health. For all expenses ask your advisor to commit to the source accounts to be used for drawdowns for those expenses as well as rationale for the source. D. If you like your advisor and the financial management firm, but that firm does not record substantive discussions, take your own notes and follow up all conversations in writing with a cc: to the Branch Manager, with your understanding of the discussions. Require your Financial Advisor to reply in writing their concurrence or if they have any difference in understanding. E. Your Financial Advisor is not your friend; keep your relationship strictly businesslike.
Consumer from ALEXANDRIA, VA
Feb 19, 2025
Recommended
Consumer from Bethesda, MD
Feb 20, 2024
Recommended

...and 10 more consumer comments for RBC Wealth Management

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