Brokerage flows: Turning
cash conversations into
growth opportunities

September 16, 2026

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Clients are increasingly turning to advisors for help with more of their financial lives. In one survey of 7,000 investors, 52% reported seeking holistic advice.¹ But for many RIAs, cash still sits out of view and beyond action. It’s hard to spot opportunities, make timely recommendations, and expand the advisory relationship when you lack visibility and access to the full breadth of your client’s assets.

Flourish Cash^† provides visibility that removes the cash roadblock and helps advisors turn cash conversations into action through a direct link to client brokerage accounts. The connection helps reduce friction, improve the client experience, and deepen the relationship, all while creating a pathway to grow share of wallet, retain held-away assets, and drive organic growth.

In fact, Flourish Cash has facilitated more than $1B in net transfers to date directly to brokerage accounts at institutions like Schwab, Fidelity, and Pershing,^|| demonstrating that Flourish Cash has served as an asset gathering tool away from banks and to brokerage accounts. With Flourish Cash, advisors are realizing the opportunity of connecting accounts, expanding visibility, and simplifying movement between cash and investment accounts.

For advisors who focus on minimizing cash drag within the portfolio, it's often surprising to recognize just how much cash clients hold in the bank. To take just one data point, at Flourish, clients with a self-reported net worth of $1-2M have an average household balance of more than $195k.^|| But before advisors had access to a cash solution, that money often sat out of view.

Without visibility into cash holdings, there was often limited opportunity to speak with clients who may have been holding excess cash. Flourish Cash brought those holdings to light, and brokerage flows now make it easier to act when those funds are ready to be invested.

For Kerry Mallory, CKA^®, National Managing Director and Senior Partner at Blue Trust, the value of that connection is straightforward: when cash becomes visible, it becomes actionable. He shared, “Flourish is a valuable tool that leads me to have more proactive communication with clients. They can put money in their Flourish Cash account; I see it and know it’s there. I can reach out to them periodically to see if they have a plan for the cash. If it's not earmarked for something specific, I can propose options for how to put it to work.”

These conversations can create a natural path from cash review to portfolio funding, helping advisors uncover opportunities that might otherwise remain outside the advisory relationship.

Independent advisors have traditionally thought of investments as the primary way to expand share of wallet and grow AUM. When it comes to cash, advisors often view it as operational, typically sitting outside billable assets, which leads them to underestimate its role in future growth. Mallory noted this often-missed opportunity: “Advisors either don’t think about cash or underestimate its potential. It’s a pipeline play that leads to conversations with clients about opportunities for their cash.”

That pipeline matters. Flourish Cash brings those uninvested assets into the advisory relationship and gives advisors a way to integrate them into ongoing planning and investment conversations.

Brokerage flows enhance the opportunity by allowing for movement between a client’s cash account and investment accounts, offering a more systematic approach to cash-driven growth. Cash visibility is what sparks the conversation, and brokerage flows create the path to action. It’s this dynamic relationship that creates more opportunities for firms to retain and grow assets over time.

Clients who choose advisory relationships often expect more than investment access. They want guidance, coordination, and a relationship that can help them act across more of their financial life.

Providing clients with a high-touch experience, where your relationship is more central, useful, and connected to a client’s broader financial life, can be a driver of firm growth. Brokerage flows have a role to play in reducing client friction and delivering a more coordinated experience.

Barbara Ristow, CFP^® professional and Senior Wealth Advisor at Focus Partners Wealth, notes how Flourish Cash enhances her client relationships. “The ease of use and streamlined nature make Flourish a useful tool. It simplifies the process so we don’t have to chase clients down,” she said. For Ristow, that ease of movement translates into a more connected advisory relationship. “We’re able to deliver for our clients with less back and forth. Flourish gives us more ability to take care of our clients — the bigger picture for clients — and not just the segments.”

When clients have that kind of connected experience, it reinforces your role as the first call for all financial decisions, not just those related to the investment portfolio.

Brokerage flows also help advisors stay involved during times of change when the right move is from investments back into cash. That can matter during market volatility, retirement income planning, or other moments when clients need liquidity.

Brokerage flows work in both directions, helping advisors stay connected whether money is moving from cash to investments or from investments to cash. Ristow shared one use case she has employed: “We find that Flourish offers visibility for continued financial planning while keeping the cash clients need easily accessible.”

Whether clients are accumulating, spending, or adjusting during market volatility, brokerage flows help you remain involved as financial needs evolve.

For advisors looking to meet rising client expectations, that work begins with greater visibility. Advisors can only act on what they can see. Flourish Cash brings cash into your sightline, while brokerage flows help you integrate cash more fully into client conversations.

Those cash conversations‌ connect to firm growth by making it easier for your team to identify opportunities, act on recommendations, and keep more financial decisions within the advisory relationship.

As Breanna Sykes, CFP^® professional and Senior Wealth Advisor at Copper Leaf Financial shared in a recent conversation, visibility changes the timing and quality of client conversations. "With Flourish, we have that visibility so that we can say, ‘Oh, your account has gone over our predetermined cash reserve amount. We want to pull funds over to your portfolio for the long term and invest.’”

Increased visibility helps advisors move from reactive check-ins to proactive recommendations, helping advisors identify when cash has built up and start the conversation sooner. “Clients love that because now they don't have to get that email from us to say, ‘What are your balances’ or they don't have to wait until the next meeting to discuss their cash reserves,” Sykes said. “Now, we're being more proactive with our clients and can show them that we’re looking at all the pieces of their puzzle.”

Flourish has already seen more than $1B in funds flow from Flourish Cash into brokerage accounts, showing that advisors are using cash conversations to identify and act on investment opportunities.

To learn how brokerage flows can support your firm’s growth strategy, reach out to your Flourish representative.

Blue Trust, Focus Partners Wealth, Copper Leaf Financial, and Flourish are separate and unaffiliated firms. Quotes have been edited for length and clarity, and published with the explicit review and approval of the interviewees. This feedback may not be representative of the experience of other customers, and is not a guarantee of future performance or success.

About Flourish

Flourish builds technology that empowers financial advisors, improves financial lives and retirement outcomes, and delivers new and innovative investment options to advisors. Today, the Flourish platform is used by more than 1,300 wealth management firms representing more than $2.6 trillion in assets under management. Flourish is wholly-owned by MassMutual. For more information, visit www.flourish.com.