BNY Launches Bond SMA for Retirement Income

BNY Investments has launched a separately managed account designed to turn individual bonds into customized retirement cash flows, offering financial advisors an alternative to annuities and conventional income funds.

The Personal Bond SMA seeks to match bond coupon payments and maturities with each investor’s anticipated spending needs. Clients can personalize payment frequency, investment horizon, inflation adjustments and security exclusions over periods ranging from three to 30 years.

Rather than relying on asset sales or assumptions about future market returns, the account constructs a schedule of targeted cash flows around known expenses. Potential applications include regular retirement spending, college tuition, charitable gifts and income for investors delaying Social Security benefits.

“The challenge is that advisors need to build income portfolios from scratch, while retirees want personalized income they can rely on,” said Joe Schultz, global head of distribution for BNY Investments. The strategy gives advisors access to institutional fixed-income expertise intended to increase cash-flow certainty without sacrificing flexibility, he added.

The launch reflects growing demand for personalized investment vehicles and retirement-income tools as advisors seek to move clients from accumulating assets to drawing them down. Separately managed accounts can also provide greater transparency and customization than pooled funds because investors own the securities directly.

BNY Investments managed approximately $2.1 trillion as of June 30. The broader company has expanded its managed-account capabilities since acquiring technology provider Archer in 2024.