What You Need to Know
- Managed account assets grew 41.6% in the first quarter from a year ago to a record $9.2 trillion.
- Industry flows totaled over $202 billion in Q1, including $66.7 billion into UMAs and $24.2 billion into SMAs.
- Advisors seeking “to deliver a greater degree of customization for their clients” are driving demand for SMA offerings.
Assets in managed accounts are exploding, according to Cerulli Associates.
Its latest U.S. Managed Accounts report shows that assets rebounded 41.6% in the first quarter from a year ago to a record $9.2 trillion as industry flows totaled over $202 billion, the highest level in four years. Cerulli Associates projects managed account assets could hit $10.9 trillion next year.
Assets in separately managed accounts, a subcategory of managed accounts, grew 34% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the year-ago quarter and almost 43% in the two years ended March 31, 2021, to $1.48 trillion, according to Cerulli. Net cash flows between the second quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 into SMAs were $24.2 billion.
With separately managed accounts, investors own individual securities rather than mutual funds or ETFs, which provides more flexibility for investment and tax purposes.