Quote of the week

"[People] don’t expect retirement to begin with social security and sit on the back deck in a lounge chair for the rest of their lives. This group really wants to remain active."

Jeff Cimini, head of personal retirement at Merrill Lynch

Weekly Poll

View previous poll results

Smartleaf, a provider of overlay portfolio management technology, is turning its attention to documenting the effect of different workflow processes on factors such as tax management and the dispersion of returns amongst client portfolios, the firm’s president, Jerry Michael, tells Family Wealth Report.  

“Early adopters of UMA and overlay were often motivated by a desire to become ‘open architecture’. Today, the primary drivers are the desire to increase efficiency, consistency and customization. Being open architecture is less a differentiator and more the new normal,” explains Michael.

One of Smartleaf’s “end goals” is that “having access to UMA and third-party models is so easy it’s just something in the background.” It should be “simply there” and not the special focus, he adds.

The firm now has some $50 billion assets on its platform, up from $35 billion just over a year ago. Meanwhile, Smartleaf is focusing its energy on measuring the impact of the different ways firms use its platform in terms of “traditional” versus “modern” workflow processes.

• Tweet

• Request reprint rights
• Send to a colleague
• Print (subject to copyright)