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Clients Want Tax Optimization— And Want It Now
Tax optimization is the lodestar for advisors and the managed account platforms they are using. By Jack Sharry
ARECENT PAPER FROM CERULLI ASSOCIATES noted certain trends in the firm’ s 2024“ Affluent Investor Tracker.” It said that 73 % of those investors with $ 2 million to $ 5 million in household assets agreed with the statement,“ It is important that my provider helps me reduce my tax bill.”
This is important news for advisory firms, tech firms and asset managers running managed account platforms. Cerulli said these firms should also be moving toward platforms that take a family’ s entire household wealth into account, everything from its individual stock holdings to its ETFs( such accounts are known as“ unified managed household accounts.”)
But there are challenges ahead. Scott Smith, senior director of advice relationships at Cerulli and member of the CFP Board’ s financial advice working group, has said technology platform developers and asset managers have a tough task ahead if they want to adapt their single-account systems to a unified one that enables and coordinates multi-account management and tax optimization.
Getting advisors to adopt innovative technology and adapt their practices to rising client demands— for tax management, estate planning, debt management and financial wellness coaching— is another hurdle.“ Advisors are used to doing it one way. They think they’ re doing a pretty good job, and they might be doing a pretty good job,” Smith said in a recent WealthTech on Deck
SEPTEMBER 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 45