January 21, 2026
Reliance on model portfolios is on the rise. As financial advisors seek to spend more time on business development, three in ten advisors plan to rely more on model portfolios over the next year, according to our new Cogent Syndicated research.
Managed account assets are growing, with most financial advisors now employing portfolios that comprise a mix of investment vehicles, not just mutual funds. Advisor interest in model portfolios including actively managed as well as passively managed ETFs and SMAs offers the potential for further growth. In addition to the ability to access a variety of investments, advisors are turning to model portfolios as they seek to spend less time on the technical aspects of their job in order to have more time to grow their business. In fact, the proportion of advisors with a technical focus (defined as spending at least 40% of their time on investment selection) is down from 43% in 2023 to 36% in 2025.
Cogent Syndicated’s annual Advisor Use of Model Portfolios and SMAs™ report, published last month, examines the competitive landscape for third-party model providers and asset managers. The report finds that 42% of advisors using model portfolios report increasing their use, up from 29% in 2023. In a shift from last year, when advisors younger than 45 were most likely to report increased use, older advisors are now contributing to growing reliance on model portfolios while younger advisors maintain their use. The majority (60%) of heavy users of asset manager model portfolios report increasing their use, along with more than half (56%) of those using separate accounts. Roughly half of advisors in the National and Regional channels say they have increased their use of model portfolios, compared with just 31% of RIAs.
Momentum is expected to continue with three in ten advisors planning to rely more on model portfolios over the next year. While the youngest advisors continue to express the greatest enthusiasm for using model portfolios, older advisors are contributing to the anticipated growth. Advisors who are increasing their use of model portfolios cite portfolio management efficiency and more time for business development as compelling benefits, with fewer advisors citing cost concerns in 2025. That said, advisors 65 and older remain the least convinced that model portfolios help to lower operating costs, highlighting a concern for providers to address.
The Advisor Use of Model Portfolios and SMAs report includes more information on differences in brand perceptions and use for leading model portfolio providers and SMA managers. To learn more about the full report and how your firm can leverage our data to grow your business, click below.
Meredith Lloyd Rice
Vice President, Cogent Syndicated
Meredith Lloyd Rice is a vice president in Escalent's Cogent Syndicated division. She manages the firm’s syndicated research products focused on the financial advisor market and is the lead author of the Advisor Brandscape® report. She has more than 15 years of experience managing research initiatives in the wealth management industry and has explored a wide range of business issues on the client and supplier side. Prior to joining Escalent, Meredith was an associate VP at Chatham Partners where she oversaw a team of researchers and managed the overall design, analysis and interpretation of large-scale studies for institutional financial services clients. Meredith earned an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University. She is a former collegiate rower who now gets her exercise chasing after her daughter and Clumber Spaniel.
