How MAs empower advisers to stand out and scale up

Managed accounts, particularly custom solutions, enable practices to deliver more personalised advice, maintain control over their investment philosophy, and differentiate themselves in the market.

- Steven Tang, head of portfolio solutions, Zenith Investment Partners

The efficiency benefits of managed accounts are significant. Zenith's Unlocking Advice Efficiencies in 2025 report found that 92% of them thought managed accounts allowed them to save time on administration.

The report found that advisers are comfortable outsourcing investment management to managed account experts if it means they can spend more time supporting their clients, achieving efficiencies for their practices and differentiating their services.

But that is not the only benefit they highlighted.

The advisers reported significant efficiency gains from adopting managed accounts, with 44% indicating time savings in administrative and research tasks of up to 25%.

Notably, they agreed that managed accounts offered the greatest time reductions, particularly for practices seeking higher operational efficiency.

The report found that 50% of advisers cite investment philosophy as a primary reason for provider selection. With 53% of custom managed account users, reflecting the need for tailored strategies to reflect a practices' investment philosophy.