Best CRM for financial advisors and RIAs
A CRM ends up holding the emails, notes and client files an examiner asks for. We read seven CRMs' own pages against the jobs the SEC and FINRA record rules put on that data: keeping it findable, logging changes, limiting who sees it, and handing all of it back when you leave.
Reviewed October 2026
Best overall
Wealthbox
Its own pages state a change history, roles that decide who can export client data, and named custodian and planning links: more of the record-keeping jobs than any other CRM we read.
Read the review of WealthboxBest for reps under a broker-dealer
Redtail CRM
It archives client email inside the CRM, describes supervision workflows for broker-dealers, and makes its texting add-on subject to the broker-dealer's approval.
Read the review of Redtail CRMBest for an RIA with set service models
Practifi
Built for RIA firms, it organises relationships, entities, workflows and service models, and says access controls and auditability come in every product, so the questions left are about detail, not intent.
Read the review of Practifi
The comparison table
| Vendor | Keeps client notes and emails retrievable for an exam204-2(a)(7), (g)(2)(i) | Logs edits and deletions204-2(g)(3)(i) | Feeds the firm's archiving vendor204-2(a)(7); 17a-4(b)(4) | Role-based access to client dataReg S-P 248.30(a)(1) | Full data export on request204-2(g)(2)(ii) | Custodian and planning-software integrations | Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WealthboxAdviser CRM | Partial Note archiving listed; email capture not described | Meets Tracks changes to records over time | Partial MyRepChat texts and Comply listed; no email archiver named | Meets Roles decide who can export data | Partial Data Portability listed; file format not stated | Meets Schwab, Fidelity, Altruist; MoneyGuide, RightCapital, eMoney | Meets Solo advisers to broker-dealers and banks |
Redtail CRMAdviser CRM | Meets Redtail Email archives every client email | Partial Says it maintains audit trails; no log described | Partial Its own email archive; no outside archiver named | Not stated | Not stated Data import named, export not | Meets Orion, Schwab, eMoney | Meets Solo practices to broker-dealers |
PractifiWealth-management CRM | Not stated | Partial States auditability, no detail | Not stated | Partial States access controls, no detail | Not stated | Not stated | Meets CRM for RIAs |
AdvisorEngine CRMAdviser CRM | Not stated | Check with vendor Activity tracking is described for workflows | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Meets CRM for financial advisors |
Capsule CRMGeneral small-business CRM | Partial Email Sync logs email to contacts (Growth plan) | Partial Every action logged; detail not given | Not stated | Partial Team and access controls (Growth plan) | Partial CSV export, no attachments | Not stated | Partial Small advisory teams; no built-in compliance features |
PipedriveGeneral sales CRM | Partial Calls and emails synced to a client timeline | Check with vendor An activity timeline, not a change log | Not stated | Meets User permissions, two-factor sign-in, SSO | Not stated | Not stated | Partial A page for advisers; a general sales CRM |
Salesforce Agentforce Financial ServicesEnterprise CRM | Not stated | Partial Field history in the Shield add-on | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Partial Custodial platforms, none named | Meets RIA accelerator for 25 or fewer staff |
What each column means for a small firm
Feature lists compare pipelines and dashboards. The columns above compare something else: the jobs a CRM takes on the moment it holds client communications. Each row below says why a one-adviser RIA or a small broker-dealer should care, and the exact question to put to the vendor.
The seven columns, and the question each one becomes
| Column | Why a small firm cares | Ask the vendor |
|---|---|---|
| Keeps notes and emails retrievable | Exam staff ask for a client's file; you need every email on advice, orders and money movement for that client. | Show me one client's full history, emails included, as you would hand it to an examiner. |
| Logs edits and deletions | The rule wants records safeguarded from alteration. A log of who changed a note, and when, is how you show it. | Does the log record deletions, and how long is it kept? |
| Feeds the archiving vendor | The CRM holds the working copy; the archive holds the duplicate the rule asks for. | Which archivers do you send email and texts to, and is it automatic? |
| Role-based access | An assistant does not need account numbers for every household. Roles are a safeguard under Reg S-P. | Send the list of roles and what each one can see, edit and export. |
| Full data export | Records outlive vendors. If you switch CRMs in year three, the five-year clock has not stopped. | Send a sample full export: which file format, and does it include notes, files and activity history? |
| Custodian and planning links | Fewer re-keyed account numbers means fewer copies of client data and fewer errors. | Which custodians and planning tools are live today, and which are on a roadmap? |
| Built for RIAs or broker-dealers | An adviser-built CRM tends to arrive with households, review workflows and compliance roles already shaped. | Which firms like mine use it, and what does your compliance team document for them? |
17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(7), (g)(2), (g)(3); 17 CFR 248.30(a)(1)
No CRM we read states every column on its own pages. That is normal for this kind of software, and it is why the vendor cards below end with the exact document to ask for.
Which CRM records the books-and-records rules reach
For an SEC-registered adviser, the rule that matters is 204-2(a)(7). It does not mention CRMs. It names written communications on four subjects, and a modern CRM is where many of them get written.
So the email you send from inside the CRM proposing a rebalance is an (a)(7) record. So is the client's reply asking you to wire funds. A call note you type for yourself is not a communication sent or received, so (a)(7) does not name it; many firms keep those notes anyway because they show what advice was given and when. Where your firm draws that line is a question for your compliance counsel, and it belongs in your written policies.
A broker-dealer's scope is wider. Rule 17a-4(b)(4) reaches “all communications” relating to the firm's “business as such”, kept for three years, the first two in an easily accessible place. A rep's CRM email about anything in the business is in scope.
Year 0: End of the fiscal year of the last entry
- In an appropriate office of the adviser2 years
- In an easily accessible place3 years
17 CFR 275.204-2(e)(1)
The clock runs from the end of the fiscal year in which the last entry was made, so a long client relationship keeps its oldest notes alive. Our books and records retention calculator gives the dates for a record type, and the plain guide to Rule 204-2 covers the rest of the list.
A CRM is not your archive
A CRM holds the working copy. The rule asks for more than a working copy. An adviser keeping records electronically must “[s]eparately store, for the time required for preservation of the original record, a duplicate copy of the record”, and must be able to give exam staff a legible, true and complete copy “in the medium and format in which it is stored” on request (204-2(g)(2)(ii)-(iii)). It also needs procedures to safeguard records “from loss, alteration, or destruction” and to limit access to authorized people (204-2(g)(3)).
That is why the table asks whether a CRM feeds an archiving vendor, and whether it logs edits. A CRM where any user can quietly rewrite last year's note makes the alteration safeguard hard to show. The adviser rule does not demand WORM storage; 204-2(g) has no such words. If you want to compare the tools built for the duplicate copy, start with our email archiving comparison, or run the archiving requirements matcher for your channels.
Regulation S-P and the client data in your CRM
Your CRM is the densest file of customer information you own: names, addresses, account numbers, often dates of birth. Regulation S-P covers “any broker or dealer” and “any investment adviser … registered with the Commission”. Each must keep written policies that “address administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for the protection of customer information” (17 CFR 248.30(a)(1)). Permissions set by role are a technical safeguard you can show an examiner on screen, which is why the table has a column for them.
The 2024 amendments also reach your vendors. Your oversight policies must be reasonably designed to make a service provider give notice “as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours after becoming aware that a breach in security has occurred” on a customer information system it maintains, and the duty to notify clients still “rests with the covered institution” (248.30(a)(5)). The adopting release gave larger entities 18 months and smaller entities 24 months after publication on June 3, 2024 (December 3, 2025 and June 3, 2026). Read the breach-notice clause in a CRM contract before you sign it. Our Regulation S-P guide walks through the rest of the amendments.
If you are shopping for a financial planning CRM
A planner's CRM is judged mostly on one link: the one to the planning software. Of the CRMs read for this page, Wealthbox names MoneyGuide, RightCapital and eMoney on its integrations page, and Redtail names eMoney. Practifi, AdvisorEngine, Salesforce, Pipedrive and Capsule name no planning tool on the pages we read, which does not mean none exists; ask for the list.
The record question follows the plan. A written plan or recommendation you send a client is advice given in writing, so it falls under 204-2(a)(7)(i) whether it leaves from the CRM, the planning tool or plain email. Decide which system holds the copy you will produce on request, and make sure the archive gets it too. For the planning, portfolio and website tools that sit around the CRM, see the adviser software stack compared; for firms that serve households, entities and teams, see the best CRM for wealth management firms.
Five things to get in writing before you sign
- 01A sample full-account export, opened on your own machine, with notes, files and activity history in it.
- 02The scope and retention of the change log: edits, deletions, and who made them.
- 03The role list, with what each role can see, edit and export.
- 04The archiving connection: which vendor, which channels, and whether it runs without a person pressing send.
- 05The breach-notice clause, measured against the 72-hour notice Regulation S-P asks your vendor policies to secure.
Down to the two adviser CRMs most small firms shortlist? Our Redtail vs Wealthbox comparison reads them side by side. Starting with no budget for software? The free CRM comparison covers the general CRMs whose own pages offer a free plan, and what they leave to you.
Each vendor, read against the rule
Wealthbox
Adviser CRM- What it is
- A CRM made for financial advisers, from Wealthbox, LLC. Its security page describes an activity history of record changes and permissions set by role, including who may export data.
- Who it fits
- A solo adviser up to a firm with hundreds of users, by its own account, with audience pages for RIAs, broker-dealers, OSJs, banks, trust companies and family offices. Firms that custody at Schwab, Fidelity or Altruist will find those links named.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Keeps client notes and emails retrievable for an examPartialNote archiving listed; email capture not described
- Logs edits and deletionsMeetsTracks changes to records over time
- Feeds the firm's archiving vendorPartialMyRepChat texts and Comply listed; no email archiver named
- Role-based access to client dataMeetsRoles decide who can export data
- Full data export on requestPartialData Portability listed; file format not stated
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsMeetsSchwab, Fidelity, Altruist; MoneyGuide, RightCapital, eMoney
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersMeetsSolo advisers to broker-dealers and banks
- Not verified by us
- A sample full-account export and its file format; whether the activity history records deletions, and for how long; which email archiver it feeds; the breach-notice terms in its service contract.
Redtail CRM
Adviser CRM- What it is
- An adviser CRM with add-ons for email (Redtail Email, which archives every client email), texting (Speak) and document imaging. Its CRM page names Orion and says the firm is SOC 2 Type II certified.
- Who it fits
- Solo practices through broker-dealers, by its own audience tabs. The broker-dealer tab talks about supervising communication and automating review; the texting add-on carries the footnote that it is subject to broker-dealer approval.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Keeps client notes and emails retrievable for an examMeetsRedtail Email archives every client email
- Logs edits and deletionsPartialSays it maintains audit trails; no log described
- Feeds the firm's archiving vendorPartialIts own email archive; no outside archiver named
- Role-based access to client dataNot stated
- Full data export on requestNot statedData import named, export not
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsMeetsOrion, Schwab, eMoney
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersMeetsSolo practices to broker-dealers
- Not verified by us
- Its list of user permission roles; a sample full-account export and its format; how Redtail Email stores archived mail, and its SEC 17a-4(f) attestation if a broker-dealer will rely on that archive.
Practifi
Wealth-management CRM- What it is
- A wealth-management CRM sold as two products: Sentir, described as AI-native, and Naya, described as highly configurable. The home page says access controls and auditability are built into every product.
- Who it fits
- RIA firms past the solo stage: the page says more than 250 RIA firms use it daily, with over 10,000 users across wealth management. It speaks of relationships, entities and service models rather than households.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Keeps client notes and emails retrievable for an examNot stated
- Logs edits and deletionsPartialStates auditability, no detail
- Feeds the firm's archiving vendorNot stated
- Role-based access to client dataPartialStates access controls, no detail
- Full data export on requestNot stated
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsNot stated
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersMeetsCRM for RIAs
- Not verified by us
- The fields its audit log records and how long it keeps them; the access-control roles; its custodian and planning integration list; a sample export and its format.
AdvisorEngine CRM
Adviser CRM- What it is
- A CRM for financial advisers with a workflow engine, activity tracking of workflow progress and unlimited document storage, from AdvisorEngine.
- Who it fits
- Firms that run on set workflows. Its pages address executives, operations teams and compliance officers, but do not say which firm types or sizes it serves.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Keeps client notes and emails retrievable for an examNot stated
- Logs edits and deletionsCheck with vendorActivity tracking is described for workflows
- Feeds the firm's archiving vendorNot stated
- Role-based access to client dataNot stated
- Full data export on requestNot stated
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsNot stated
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersMeetsCRM for financial advisors
- Not verified by us
- Everything in the record columns: an audit log sample, the permission roles, the export format, the custodian list, and whether it connects to an email archiver.
Capsule CRM
General small-business CRM- What it is
- A general small-business CRM. Its own guide for advisers says it does not come with built-in financial planning or compliance features. Its pricing page offers a free plan for up to two users.
- Who it fits
- A one- or two-person advisory team that wants a plain contact and pipeline tool and already has archiving and compliance handled elsewhere.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Keeps client notes and emails retrievable for an examPartialEmail Sync logs email to contacts (Growth plan)
- Logs edits and deletionsPartialEvery action logged; detail not given
- Feeds the firm's archiving vendorNot stated
- Role-based access to client dataPartialTeam and access controls (Growth plan)
- Full data export on requestPartialCSV export, no attachments
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsNot stated
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersPartialSmall advisory teams; no built-in compliance features
- Not verified by us
- What its activity log records (edits, deletions, who made them) and how long it is kept; how file attachments are exported, since its full CSV export leaves them out; whether the Growth plan's access controls can limit export.
Pipedrive
General sales CRM- What it is
- A general sales CRM with a page for financial advisers. It shows each client's activity history on a timeline, syncs calls and email, and offers user permissions, two-factor sign-in and single sign-on.
- Who it fits
- An adviser who is mostly prospecting and wants a sales pipeline. It names no custodian, planning tool or archiver, and makes no SEC or FINRA claim.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Keeps client notes and emails retrievable for an examPartialCalls and emails synced to a client timeline
- Logs edits and deletionsCheck with vendorAn activity timeline, not a change log
- Feeds the firm's archiving vendorNot stated
- Role-based access to client dataMeetsUser permissions, two-factor sign-in, SSO
- Full data export on requestNot stated
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsNot stated
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersPartialA page for advisers; a general sales CRM
- Not verified by us
- A change log separate from the activity timeline; its export format; any connection to an email or text archiver.
Salesforce Agentforce Financial Services
Enterprise CRM- What it is
- Salesforce's wealth-management edition, formerly Financial Services Cloud, with a household view that pulls CRM data and financial systems into one desktop. The page offers a 30-day trial of Financial Services Cloud.
- Who it fits
- RIAs first; the FAQ says its adviser accelerator is best suited to RIAs with 25 employees or fewer, and also names broker-dealers and investment managers. Expect a configuration project, not a sign-up.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Keeps client notes and emails retrievable for an examNot stated
- Logs edits and deletionsPartialField history in the Shield add-on
- Feeds the firm's archiving vendorNot stated
- Role-based access to client dataNot stated
- Full data export on requestNot stated
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsPartialCustodial platforms, none named
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersMeetsRIA accelerator for 25 or fewer staff
- Not verified by us
- The wealth page names none of the record columns, and the change history sits in the separate Shield add-on: ask which edition and add-ons your quote includes, its permission documentation, export format, and the custodians it connects to.
How we read these vendors
Questions firms ask
Is a CRM a books-and-records system?
It becomes part of one the moment it holds required records, such as written advice sent to a client. Records kept electronically must be arranged and indexed so any one of them can be found, and produced promptly in the format they are stored in. A CRM can do the finding; most firms still keep the duplicate copy in an archive.
17 CFR 275.204-2(g)(2)(i)-(iii)
How long do we keep emails sent from the CRM?
An adviser keeps an (a)(7) communication for not less than five years from the end of the fiscal year of the last entry, the first two in an appropriate office. A broker-dealer keeps its communications for not less than three years, the first two in an easily accessible place.
17 CFR 275.204-2(e)(1); 17 CFR 240.17a-4(b)(4)
Do advisers have to keep CRM data on WORM storage?
Not under the adviser rule: 204-2(g) asks for safeguards against loss, alteration and destruction, limited access and a separate duplicate copy, and contains no WORM requirement. Broker-dealers are different; FINRA Rule 4511(c) points their records to a format and media that complies with SEA Rule 17a-4.
17 CFR 275.204-2(g)(3); FINRA Rule 4511(c)
Is there a FINRA-approved CRM?
None of the CRMs we read claims one, and FINRA retired its Compliance Vendor Directory effective March 19, 2024. The duty to supervise stays with the member firm, through written procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance.
FINRA Rule 3110(b)(1)
What should a CRM contract say about a data breach?
Under the 2024 Regulation S-P amendments, your policies for overseeing service providers must be reasonably designed to make the provider notify you no later than 72 hours after becoming aware of a breach that gave unauthorized access to a customer information system it maintains. Look for that clause, and remember that notifying clients stays your job.
17 CFR 248.30(a)(5)(i)(B), (a)(5)(iii)