RJ and Makay

Wirehouses’ share of the separately managed accounts industry currently is 56% of the $1.9 trillion in total SMA assets. However, a recently released annual study by Cerulli Associates claims that by 2014, managed accounts will only amount to 50% of total SMA assets. Cerulli analysts attribute the drop to the growth in importance of fee-based business in the SMA arena.

The study, entitled Managed Accounts 2010, also concludes that fee-based managed accounts will become more essential to wirehouses, but “the success of the integration of pending mergers and joint ventures” between the wirehouses will weigh heavily on whether their channel succeeds, along with their ability to retain and recruit advisors.