AssetMark Adds SMAs to Advisor Platform
The suite of 12 SMAs “empowers advisors to meet the changing needs of their clients,” the firm says.
AssetMark launched a suite of separately managed accounts for advisors on its turnkey asset management platform and said it plans to continue expanding its product suite to meet market demand.
The SMAs were designed to “help advisors tailor portfolios for their clients” and include a wide selection of asset classes, investment styles and asset managers, the company said Tuesday, noting it had $84.6 billion in platform assets as of June 30.
“AssetMark had a handful of SMAs prior to 2017 and saw limited use at that time,” a company spokeswoman told ThinkAdvisor. “This new SMA suite was developed based on market research and advisor demands to offer an expanded selection. It is also integrated with the rest of the investment solutions on the platform and competitively priced.”
Included in the new suite are 12 SMAs from 10 investment managers, “many of whom are new” to the AssetMark platform, including Acadian, Edge, Hartford and Logan, according to AssetMark. FranklinTempleton has been a sub-advisor only until now, the spokesperson said.
The 12 SMAs are: Large Cap Core (Hartford Core Equity), Large Cap Value (J.P. Morgan U.S. Value), Large Cap Growth (William Blair Large Cap Growth), Dividend Equity (BlackRock Equity Dividend and Edge Equity Income), International ADR (Acadian International ADR Non-U.S. Equity and Capital Group International Equity), Global (Cap Group Global Equity), Global Growth (Capital Group Global Growth Equity and Logan Global Growth), and Thematic (Franklin Templeton DynaTech and Neuberger Berman Disrupters Portfolio).
“As investor preferences continue to evolve, SMAs can enable advisors to personalize clients’ portfolios with targeted asset class exposure and manage their tax efficiency, as well as offer increased transparency through direct ownership of securities,” according to AssetMark.
The new suite of SMAs “complements the wide range of investment solutions on the AssetMark platform and can be combined in a single account with other eligible solutions,” the company said.
Advisors today are “facing growing demand to tailor portfolios to meet the unique needs and objectives of each client,” according to David McNatt, AssetMark executive vice president and head of investment solutions.
“The vast SMA marketplace can make it challenging for advisors to find the best strategy to meet” clients’ needs, he said in a statement. “Through our rigorous due diligence process, we’ve curated this lineup of SMAs providing core asset class building blocks for advisors to choose with confidence and deliver on their clients’ expectations.”
The new suite of SMAs is “just the beginning,” McNatt added. “We will continue to broaden the product suite in response to market demands and to help advisors effectively manage the evolving needs of their clients.”