Managed accounts and other investment advisory solutions at broker-dealers continued to grow in 2015. Yet that growth slowed a bit compared to 2014.

Craig Pfeiffer Money Management Institute President and Chief Executive Officer

Per the MMI Central 1Q 2016 report just released by the Money Management Institute (MMI). The trade group estimates that IAS assets (which include mutual fund advisory, rep as PM, SMA advisory, rep as advisor, and UMA advisory programs) grew by 3.1 percent last year to more than $4.1 trillion. (That compares to a 1.3-percent rise in the S&P 500 in 2015.) Yet IAS net inflows fell nearly 42 percent year-over-year to $168.8 billion in 2015.

Craig Pfeiffer, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based trade group, describes 2015 as a "steady as you go" year for the IAS business. MMI points to "weakening investor confidence ... the continued strong performance of Unified Managed Account (UMA) and Rep as Portfolio Manager (RPM) programs," and what Pfeiffer calls a continued "shift to fixed income" as the "three core trends" in the market segment.

The update comes as the 401(k) and brokerage industries alike are bracing for the final word from the Department of Labor on its revised fiduciary regulations. The version proposed last year would draw more advisors, both 401(k) plan advisors (KPAs) working with employers and wealth managers working with rollovers into IRAs, into fiduciary status ... and IAS programs already involve fiduciary work. 

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