RIA operations outsourcing

Middle-office support, built around your firm.

Outsource one part of your RIA's operations, or all four for a complete outsourced operations department. Every service is white-labeled, so we work as a seamless extension of your team.

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Where we fit

Keep the work your clients see. Hand us the rest.

As work moves away from the front office, it becomes less visible to clients and easier to delegate. That's where we focus.

Front office

Client trust lives here

  • Client experience
  • Advice
  • Reception
  • Brand

Middle office: our focus

Important, but less visible

Four services, white-labeled inside your systems.

Back office

Essential, but commoditized

  • Compliance
  • CFO
  • HR and technology

From signed paperwork to invested assets.

  1. Paperwork
  2. Signed
  3. Funded
  4. Invested

New Business

From first signature to fully invested.

When you bring on new business, there is a lot to do. Our team handles the proposals, documentation, paperwork and regulatory requirements, and we follow through with your clients directly.

Environments we support

  • Schwab
  • Fidelity
  • Pershing
  • Multiple custodians
  • Insurance carriers
  • And more

New account applications and forms

  • Fee-based investment accounts
  • Variable annuities and insurance
  • Fixed annuities and insurance
  • Alternative investments
  • Mutual funds
  • 529s
  • Long-term care
  • Disability
  • Health insurance
  • Financial planning
  • Estate planning
  • Death claims

Plus conversions, rollovers and add-on investments across the same categories.

Follow-through to funded

  • Confirm clients and advisors have signed all paperwork
  • Facilitate funding within service standards for an ideal client experience
  • Submit trade tickets so money is put to work right away
  • Resolve missing information and follow up through account opening and funding
  • Agreements, compliance/suitability forms and notes are complete and stored in the client file

Every request classified at intake.

  1. Intake
  2. Classified
  3. In progress
  4. Closed

Client Service

Every request, handled with care.

After client meetings, your to-do list can be a mile long. Pass it to us. We act quickly so every client feels cared for like family.

Environments we support

  • Your CRM
  • Multiple custodians
  • Client portals
  • And more

Service case types

  • Address and contact changes
  • Beneficiary changes
  • Profile and suitability changes
  • Statement inquiries
  • Balance and performance info
  • RMD, CRUT and QCD inquiries
  • Fee payment setup
  • Billing setup during onboarding
  • Journal requests
  • Life change notifications
  • Power of attorney
  • Contributions and distributions
  • Systematic deposits and withdrawals
  • Technology inquiries
  • Policy coverage questions
  • Banking updates
  • One-time premium payments
  • General requests

Service levels

Every request is classified at intake and carries a clear service level.

Level 1

Closed the same day.

Level 2

Closed within 24 hours whenever possible.

Level 3

Closed based on complexity, with weekly client updates for three weeks before we consult you on next steps.

The analysis behind every plan.

  1. Gather
  2. Organize
  3. Analyze
  4. Deliver

Financial Planning

A turnkey planning experience for your clients.

We gather, organize and prepare the analysis behind every plan, then help you track progress over time. You keep your focus on meeting with clients and building deeper relationships.

Environments we support

  • Planning tools and portals
  • Presentation templates
  • And more

Core service

  • Collect documents and information for your planning tools
  • Create client profiles in your applications and planning tools
  • Prepare recommendations and documents for first-time plan delivery
  • Prepare dashboards, updated analysis and deliverables for review meetings
  • Handle ad hoc data and report requests between meetings

Decisions captured, trades executed.

  1. Committee
  2. Decision
  3. Trade
  4. Maintain

Portfolio Construction and Investments

Institutional investing, built for independent advisors.

The Focus Forward Investments Platform, powered by Opal Capital, pairs institutional-grade investment resources with dedicated investment operations support. Portfolios stay aligned, and your client relationships stay front and center.

Environments we support

  • Multiple custodians
  • Trading platforms
  • Performance reporting
  • And more

Every service on the platform is delivered by the Focus Forward team.

The investments platform

Modular, institutional-quality resources designed for independent advisors and RIAs who want to stay in control of their client relationships.

  • Outcome-based model portfolios. Multi-asset strategies aligned to client objectives, risk tolerance and time horizon, with continuous monitoring and opportunistic rebalancing.
  • Actively managed ETFs. High-conviction fundamental and systematic ETF strategies, including dividend income strategies.
  • Tax-aware strategies. Integrated tax-loss harvesting, tax-lot management and capital gain deferral SMAs for concentrated or low-basis positions.
  • Opal Advisor Intelligence. A unified dashboard with market overview, portfolio visibility and business analytics, powered by AI-driven insights.

Modular by design

Advisors select the components they need. Our investment team can support custom portfolio construction, join client meetings and provide operational assistance, while the advisor keeps full ownership of the client relationship.

Backed by a team with more than 120 years of combined institutional experience from firms including Goldman Sachs, PIMCO and J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Investment operations

Comprehensive operational support keeps models aligned, cash managed and client service seamless. Our team handles the day-to-day execution so advisors can focus on relationships and growth.

Every day

  • Raise cash
  • Invest deposits
  • Process dollar-cost averaging (DCA) purchases
  • Rebalance accounts back into models after ad hoc trades
  • Consult on complex trades
  • Respond to advisor inquiries
  • Research products and replacement securities as needed

Every week

  • Review accounts with cash out of tolerance from fees, distributions or unallocated deposits
  • Prepare for client meetings with performance, Morningstar, tax analysis and RMDs

Every month

  • Oversee third-party research firms
  • Prepare, facilitate and document investment committee meetings
  • Prepare capital gains and loss harvesting for review
  • Execute model rebalances
  • Isolate protected and non-billable securities
  • Execute client billing
  • Raise cash for underfunded accounts
  • Review accounts over $1 million for accurate billing
  • NIGO review

Every quarter

  • Review no- and low-balance accounts
  • Review no- and low-trade accounts
  • Review high-fee accounts
  • Spot-check quarterly performance statements
  • RMD status updates
  • Review drift and allocation tolerances
  • Audit sample accounts for fee rates, breakpoints, householding, model assignment, risk tolerance, tax status and account type

Ideal for

Scaling RIAs, breakaway advisors and established practices seeking institutional investment resources without sacrificing independence or adding operational headcount.

Focus Forward delivers integrated investment operations support for advisory firms.

Questions

Common questions about outsourcing RIA operations.

Still deciding? See how it works or ask us directly.

What is RIA operations outsourcing?

It means handing the middle-office work behind your client experience to a specialist team. With Focus Forward, that covers four services: new business, client service, financial planning support, and portfolio construction and investments. Use one service, or all four for a complete outsourced operations department.

Will our clients know they're working with an outside team?

No. Every service is white-labeled, so the only brand your clients ever see is yours. To them, it looks like your own office has an expanded team.

Is our client data secure?

Your data never leaves your environment. Our team works only inside your network and your tech stack, with access you control, and every task is completed to industry regulations and compliance standards.

How is outsourced operations support priced?

Support is fractional, so you only pay for what you use, typically for the same or less than your current cost of insourcing. Engagements are one-year contracts at an annual subscription fee, billed monthly.

How does onboarding work?

After a discovery session, we review your structure and volumes and build a proposal with you. Once terms are final, we set a start date, our team joins your environment (getting access can take a few weeks), and we load our workflows and templates into your CRM, with introductions and training throughout.

Do you work in our CRM and custodian platforms?

Yes. We work in the systems you already use, including Schwab, Fidelity and other custodians, CRMs such as Salesforce, Redtail and Wealthbox, and common planning, trading and performance tools. You keep your systems and your processes.

Which firms are a good fit?

Our ideal clients are investing in their growth, looking for a long-term partnership, ready to let go of hiring and managing operations staff, and generating at least $3M in annual gross revenue. We occasionally work with smaller firms, with a minimum annual contract size.

Let's talk

Ready to spend more time with your clients?

Tell us about your firm and what's taking up your team's time. A member of our team will reach out within 24 hours.

Walk Me Through My Options