America’s Best TAMPs Showcase - Flipbook - Page 17
2026 AMERICA’S BEST TAMPS
most managed accounts, there’s
an asset-based fee for the account,
so the advisor pays transaction
costs. ETF wraps often have lower
expense ratios than mutual fund
wraps, and offer intraday trading,
tax efficiency, and other benefits.
3. Separately Managed Accounts
An SMA is made up of a portfolio of
individual securities, managed by a
single asset manager in a particular
style and offered to the investor by a
sponsoring firm. A fee-based SMA
program utilizes multiple SMAs. A
single SMA can also form a single
sleeve within a UMA structure.
In general, the SMA approach
differs from a mutual fund because
the investor directly owns the
securities—like individual bonds, for
example, instead of owning a share
in a pool of securities.
4. Unified Managed Accounts
A UMA is a single, fee-based
account that houses numerous
investment products within
multiple separate account sleeves.
Management between sleeves is
determined by the overlay process
to gain tax and trading efficiencies.
This necessitates the wealth advisor
to manage the client relationship on
a platform optimized for UMAs. A
UMA is usually conceived as having
a single custodian, although some
platforms do aggregate across
multiple custodians.
5. Unified Managed Households
A UMH is a UMA-like relationship
taken to the next level, by bringing
together all aspects of a client
household’s wealth and not just the
wealth of separate individuals. UMH
platforms approximate the way a
wealthy household thinks about their
wealth by enabling program sponsors
to take a holistic approach to the total
portfolio, and apply a range of wealth
management solutions. Assets to be
managed include:
• Qualified and nonqualified
accounts
• Alternative investments
• Real estate
• Collectibles
• Oil and gas properties
• Limited partnerships
• Managed futures accounts
A UMH has a single registration,
and can aggregate across multiple
custodians. Many advisors consider the
UMH to be the ultimate advancement
in the managed account space.
TM
MANAGERS AND PRODUCT
SELECTION
TAMPs built on open architecture
give advisors the flexibility to combine
proprietary and non-proprietary
strategies within the same platform.
That flexibility matters for three reasons:
1. Better investment options
2. Accommodating a wider range of
client needs
3. Reduced conflicts of interest that
can quietly erode client trust
For advisors serving high-net-worth
clients, a broad investment menu
isn’t optional. That audience expects
access to the full spectrum: mutual
funds, ETFs, separately managed
accounts, individual securities, and
TAMP TYPES ARE TARGETED AT DIFFERENT SEGMENTS
Client
Assets
$10M
UMHs
ULTRAHIGH NET
WORTH
HIGH NET
WORTH
UMAs
MASS
AFFLUENT
$2M
SMAs
$250K
Mutual
Fund Wrap
Accounts
Product Sophistication
Tax Efficiency
Trading Efficiency
LOW
17
MASS
MARKET
ETF Wrap
Accounts
HIGH
