According to a new report from Cerulli Associates, more advisors will be adopting the use of model portfolios to better serve their clients and free up time to develop their businesses. In the latest Cerulli Edge—U.S. Advisor Edition, 4Q 2022 Issue, the firm noted that the industry’s steady transition toward a financial planning-oriented service model will be a major fact in the increased adoption of model portfolios. Cerulli expects advisors to increase planning offerings over the next year, with 82% of advisor clients receiving targeted or comprehensive financial planning services by 2023. The report also noted that insourcers, or those who either customize portfolios on a client-by-client basis or use practice-level resources to build a series of custom models, spend 18.5% (practice models) and 29.5% (customizer) of their time focused on investment management. If those advisors use model portfolios, it will allow them to reduce their time commitment to less than 10%. The report also notes that advisors that outsource their portfolio construction have clients, on average, that are roughly half the size of those that insource their portfolio construction. Cerulli also found a correlation between model users and younger and smaller advisory practices.

Finsum: A recent Cerulli report predicts an increase in demand for model portfolio outsourcing as the industry transitions to a financial planning service model.