What does it take to put an RIA on Claude?
A five-part diligence packet for RIAs rolling out Claude, covering plan, scope, access, data map and records, traced through one 401(k) rollover.
Deciding to make Claude official is a good call for an RIA. It's also more work than most firms expect. Following one 401(k) rollover from the first meeting to the annual review, here's the diligence packet I'd want on file first.
1. Pick the plan: Enterprise
Anthropic itself recommends Enterprise for every RIA, whatever its size. The reason is records: the Compliance API, audit logs, custom retention and finer-grained access controls are Enterprise-only. There's a 20-seat minimum, and usage is billed on top. Our Claude ROI calculator gives a rough idea of the cost.
2. Know where Claude stops
Claude can build a pre-meeting brief from the CRM, the client's 401(k) statement and your planning software, then draft notes, the follow-up email and a first fee comparison. It compares only what it's given, so if nobody uploads the plan's fee disclosure, the draft leaves those fees out and still reads as complete. And once the client says yes, many of the connectors that matter, Schwab's included, are read-only today. Opening the IRA and starting the rollover is still manual.
3. Decide what Claude can touch
Admins set each connector to read-only or read and write and choose who gets it. Claude inherits each person's permissions inside each tool. Code is a separate layer: if Claude downloads an open-source library to do the math, your connector settings never see it, so network access, policy checks and an owner for those rules need their own controls.
4. Map your data once
The same family looks different in the CRM, the 401(k) statement, the planning software and the custodian. Claude can work out that they're the same people, but it works it out every time and won't always land in the same place. Write the mapping down once, the way your portfolio accounting system already maps each custodian's transaction codes.
5. Make sure you can answer for it next year
Claude is now one of your vendors, and its conversations may be records. The Compliance API gives you transcripts, not an exam-ready file. For the rollover, a CCO needs both versions of the comparison, the rationale, the sources and who approved it and when. Conversations disappear when a user deletes them or your retention setting removes them, so if your records policy says five years, someone has to copy them into your archive. Firms relying on PTE 2020-02 also have to document why each rollover is in the client's best interest and review their process at least once a year.
None of this is a one-time setup. Every new connector, skill or person changes what Claude can reach.
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