Managed account assets continued their meteoric rise in 2024, growing 19.8% year over year to reach $13.7 trillion, according to The Cerulli Report—U.S. Managed Accounts 2025. The strong performance follows a similarly robust 19.6% gain in 2023, positioning managed accounts as one of the fastest-growing segments within the fiduciary advisory landscape. 

Net flows into managed account programs totaled $811.8 billion for the year, the second-highest annual intake on record. Unified managed account (UMA) platforms led the way with $257.7 billion in net flows, followed by separate managed accounts (SMAs), which attracted $218.4 billion. The report attributes this demand to rising advisor and investor preferences for personalized portfolio construction and tax-efficient investment solutions. 

Cerulli noted that platform consolidation remains a key theme, as sponsor firms work to streamline legacy program structures into unified offerings that better support the modern advisor-client experience. Still, challenges remain: more than 20% of platform sponsors surveyed said they intend to continue operating multiple program types for the foreseeable future, delaying the full transition to unified architectures. 

“Though platform consolidation is inherently a complex and costly proposition, platform sponsors that have not agreed on a long-term strategy are delaying the inevitable,” Smith added. “Those without sufficient internal resources to handle consolidation should promptly connect with both their current and prospective service providers to divine a path toward an enhanced advisor investing experience.” 

As fiduciary models continue to dominate the advisory channel and demand for scalable, customizable, and tax-optimized portfolios accelerates, Cerulli expects UMA and SMA programs to remain at the forefront of managed account innovation and asset growth.