Joe Curtin, head of portfolio management at Merrill Lynch’s Chief Investment Office said there is increased interest from financial advisors in adopting model portfolios. Merrill is an industry leader in MP development, and they have seen AUM pull through almost triple since 2015 in this area. Part of what’s driving the interest is thematic investing within model portfolios. Risk and return are priority concerns with thematic blankets like ESG, demographics, and big data that align with investors' interests. Merrill is planning on launching more portfolios in the future with thematic focuses. Currently, they manage 147 portfolios with around $200 billion in wealth.

FINSUM: MPs are seeing wide adoptions because of their ability to easily tackle themes that 21st-century investors want in their portfolios.