How do I move my current IBKR account underneath an advisor account?

Overview: 

There are two possible methods which can be used to move an existing IBKR account underneath an advisor structure, dependent upon the situation of the account being linked.

Link Account to Advisor/Broker:

Interactive Brokers allows existing accounts to request their full account be 'linked' to a Friends Advisor, Non-Professional Advisor, a Professional Financial Advisor or a Fully Disclosed Introducing Broker.  These linkages include all cash and positions and are available to accounts which are not currently Advisor or Broker clients.  There are a number of checks which are performed which may prevent the linking of an account, such as, but not limited to, trading permission incompatibilities between the Advisor or Broker Master and the client account, commission schedule1 differences, etc.

To use this functionality, the user on the account requesting to be linked will need to log in to Client Portal and choose the User menu (head and shoulders icon in the top right corner) option followed by Account Settings. In the Configuration section click the gear icon next to the words "Create, Move, Link or Partition an Account". You will be presented with a variety of options, one of which is "Move my entire account to an account managed by an Advisor/Broker". Check this option and click Continue.

You will be prompted to enter the account ID and the title of the Advisor or Broker which you are attempting to link to.  After submitting this information, users will be presented with any applicable agreements and will need to confirm the request.

Once confirmed, the advisor or broker will receive an email notifying them of the requested link.  They will need to log into Advisor Portal to either accept or reject the request.  IBKR will process accepted requests at approximately 3:00 p.m. every Friday.

 

1 Please note, accounts which are configured with an unbundled commission schedule will not be allowed to link to an Advisor or Broker account, unless the commission schedule is changed to bundled.  In the Advisor and Broker account structures, commission schedules cannot be defined for client accounts.  If not properly configured at the master level, changing your commission schedule to bundled may result in higher commission charges.

 

Transfer of Assets to Another IBKR Advisor Managed Account

For those clients which have an attached or additional account, in order to move under an Advisor, you must first open a new account directly under the Advisor, which duplicates the existing account.  It is important to ensure that all aspects of the new account (account titles, tax IDs, trading permissions, etc.) match the existing account exactly.  Client accounts can be created by the Advisor through Advisor Portal (click here for detail). Once the new account has been approved, clients will be able to log into Client Portal and select the Internal Transfer option as the Transfer Method in the Transfer Positions section of Transfer & Pay.  Please keep in mind the following:

  • The Advisor Master account is only a shell account that is used to place trades on behalf of Advisor Client accounts.
  • The Advisor Master account cannot hold positions.
  • In order to trade, you must allocate trades to an Advisor Client account.

 

Notes

  • Transfers are processed on a daily basis, with the exception of US option expiration Friday.
  • The new account should be allowed to close positions on the first day of transfer but will not be allowed to open positions as the new account will not have a previous day Equity With Loan value.
  • The Cost Basis cannot be manipulated for Internal transfers, only for ACATs from outside sources.