Personalization and optimization are the name of the game at Edward Jones and Franklin Templeton, which are significantly expanding their SMA platforms as the broader industry continues to accelerate.
Edward Jones revealed Wednesday that it nearly doubled the number of separately managed accounts available on its managed account platform in the first half of 2025, adding 53 new SMAs. The firm said it expects to triple its SMA lineup by year-end, aiming to give financial advisors and clients more flexibility and choice.
The expanded offerings are available exclusively through Edward Jones Advisory Solutions unified managed account models, which feature integrated direct indexing, ongoing tax management, and the ability to tailor portfolios to clients’ values and preferences.
“We believe in supporting choice for our financial advisors and our clients,” Russ Tipper, principal and head of products at Edward Jones, said Wednesday. “Continually evolving our product and service offerings emphasizes the firm’s focus on increasing flexible, customizable investment solutions that align with clients’ investment needs in connection with their financial goals.”
Edward Jones has also introduced eight direct indexing SMAs across different asset classes and styles, allowing clients to combine active and passive strategies within a single account. The platform enables clients to build diversified portfolios that include mutual funds, ETFs, and, for certain clients, alternative investments, with features such as automatic rebalancing and coordinated tax management.
The firm said it does not charge additional fees for access to SMAs in its UMA models, but clients pay asset-based advisory and platform fees, as well as underlying manager fees.
The expansion of managed account options at Edward Jones is part of a broader push to serve wealthier clients. In March, the firm launched a private client offering with expanded financial planning and investment management services, which it later built on by rolling out alternative investments for clients with at least $10 million in investable assets.
Franklin Templeton, meanwhile, has added managed options strategies to its Canvas custom indexing platform.
The new options, managed by the Franklin Managed Options Strategies Team, are designed to help advisors implement risk management, generate income, and diversify away from concentrated stock positions – all within a single account.
The addition is intended to give advisors more tools to build custom, tax-managed SMAs that address specific client needs.
“The introduction of managed options strategies on Canvas reflects Franklin Templeton’s continued commitment to bringing innovative, customized investment and practice management solutions to financial advisors,” said Roger Paradiso, head of Franklin Templeton custom client solutions.
New industry data suggest these moves are well-timed. According to Cerulli Associates, managed account assets in the US reached $13.7 trillion in 2024, up nearly 20% from the previous year. Unified managed account and separate managed account programs posted the highest five-year compound annual growth rates, hitting 18.7% and 18.3%, respectively.
Cerulli expects managed account assets to grow at an annualized rate of 12.3% over the next four years, totalling $21.8 trillion by 2028.
“The conversations that we’re having with advisors are that tax optimization is table stakes. Everyone in the industry is doing it… clients are expecting if you’re talking about wealth management that you’re incorporating taxes into that conversation,” said a managing director of advisory programs, as cited in the Cerulli report.
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