MMI-Cerulli Q2 2025 Advisory Solutions Data

Managed Account Assets Surpass $14 Trillion in Q2 2025 - MMI-Cerulli Data

The newest edition of MMI-Cerulli Advisory Solutions Quarterly, with data through 6/30/2025, is now available for download.

Following a Q1 decline of 0.2%, managed account assets rebounded in Q2, growing 7.7% to reach $14.8 trillion. All program types experienced positive growth during the quarter, with ETF advisory programs (9.6%) and unified managed accounts (9.4%) leading the way.

Net flows into managed account programs exceeded $200 billion for the fourth straight quarter, ending Q2 at $214 billion. UMA ($69 billion) and SMA ($65 billion) programs continue to attract substantial flows as widespread platform consolidation persists, and increased demand for customization and tax optimization helps drive further adoption of separate accounts. Rep as advisor (RA) programs experienced negative flows (-$1 billion) for the second consecutive quarter, as many sponsor firms seek to reduce the number of client discretionary programs.

Total direct index assets surpassed $1 trillion for the first time and rank as the top manager-traded SMA strategy from separate account asset managers, followed by municipal fixed income ($645 billion) and taxable fixed income ($396 billion).

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Bringing Tax Management Forward

This edition of Advisory Solutions Quarterly also examines how platform sponsors are focusing on tax optimization tools as a means of improving advisor efficiency, enhancing client outcomes, and seeking differentiation from competitors.

The dynamics of an advisory relationship are increasingly evolving from strictly managing a client's portfolio to the evaluation of their entire household, encompassing financial planning and tax optimization. While capabilities such as tax-loss harvesting have become table stakes across wealth management, there is a growing list of platform features (e.g., tax-efficient transitions, multi-account rebalancing) and product features (e.g., tax-managed long/short, Section 351) that can help improve a client's tax outcomes. While many of these capabilities remain differentiated today, firms are quickly building the pieces to create a comprehensive tax optimization offering, from client onboarding through retirement distributions. This remains a costly and lengthy endeavor, as firms must grapple with legacy infrastructures and building or buying the complex technology necessary for each feature of the platform – while also ensuring all the components fit together and work in unison.

Below Cerulli identifies and evaluates the status of eight key elements that wealth managers need to develop to provide a comprehensive UMH offering that may enable better tax outcomes for clients.

Core Tax Optimization Capabilities, 2025

Platform Sponsors: Biggest Obstacle for UMH Creation, 2024 vs. 2025

Source: Cerulli Associates
Analyst Note: Sponsors were asked, "What are the biggest obstacles your firm encounters in creating a UMH platform?"

¹Technology complications (88%) clearly remain the top obstacle managed account sponsors encounter when building a unified managed household (UMH).

Dive deeper into the report for insights in four key areas

Asset management distribution
Long-term managed accounts industry trends
Top-managed account program sponsors across all industry segments
Asset allocation model portfolios

MMI-Cerulli Advisory Solutions Quarterly

The Advisory Solutions Quarterly periodical provides holistic analyses of the U.S. fee-based advisory industry, which includes sponsors (broker/dealer firms) that offer managed account programs and the asset managers that distribute those programs through their platforms.

MMI members can use this data to deepen their understanding of:

Managed account program type assets and growth rates
Quarterly managed account flows by program type
Managed account sponsor firm assets at the program level
Separate account manager assets at the trading discretion level
Separate account asset classes in highest use by trading discretion type

MMI-Cerulli Advisory Solutions Data Portal

The sponsor and asset manager dashboards on the MMI-Cerulli Advisory Solutions Data portal on Cerulli’s Lodestar platform have now been updated with the Q2 2025 data. As a reminder, MMI members that contribute their advisory solutions data to Cerulli on a quarterly basis have access to this online portal. It allows users to take a deeper dive into the MMI-Cerulli dataset – with the ability to sort, filter and export the data for business planning and presentation purposes.