New research highlights gap between holistic advice and portfolio management, with householding emerging as a critical driver of personalization, tax efficiency, and competitive differentiation

MyVest, a leading provider of enterprise wealth management technology, today released a white paper based on research conducted by Pirker Partners examining the current and future role of householding and the Unified Managed Household (UMH) approach in delivering holistic wealth management advice.

Based on interviews with wealth management leaders across broker-dealers, RIAs, and private banks, the report – Unified Managed Households and the Future of Wealth Management – revealed that while most firms position themselves as holistic advisors, portfolio construction often fails to fully service a client's financial plans. Legacy account-by-account investment practices and an emphasis on scalability continue to limit personalization and tax efficiency.

The research identified householding and UMH as a critical mechanism for closing this gap. By managing a household’s accounts as a single multi-account portfolio, firms can better align investment strategies with client goals, tax profiles, and liquidity needs. While only a small percentage of firms have fully implemented UMH, many have partially adopted it and are noticing benefits including more consistent advisory experiences, improved tax management, and more efficient trade execution.

“Holistic advice depends on portfolios that reflect the full financial picture of the client,” said Brian Marchiel, Chief Product Officer at MyVest. “This research reinforces that UMH capabilities are essential for firms looking to deliver personalized, tax-aware portfolios in a scalable way.”

According to the report, barriers to full UMH adoption include legacy technology systems, competing technology priorities, operational complexity, and concerns about advisor productivity. As a result, most firms focus UMH efforts on targeted use cases rather than comprehensive implementation.

Despite these challenges, the research points to growing momentum. As holistic advisory models become more prevalent, competitive differentiation is shifting toward firms’ ability to manage portfolios in direct support of financial plans, rather than focusing solely on investment performance. Advances in technology are accelerating firms’ ability to expand UMH capabilities over time.

“Householding has long been viewed as an ideal approach but difficult to execute at scale,” said Alois Pirker, Founder and CEO of Pirker Partners. “Our findings show that firms increasingly recognize UMH as foundational to modern wealth management, and that perception is driving renewed focus on adoption.”

The report concludes that firms that take a deliberate, phased approach to UMH implementation will be best positioned to differentiate their advice and deliver greater value to clients as the industry evolves. The report also provides insights into adoption trends, challenges, and practical guidance drawn from firms already advancing their UMH capabilities.

Download the full report here.

For over two decades, MyVest has been at the forefront of advancing householding and household-level portfolio management. As firms increasingly look to offer comprehensive advice connected to portfolio construction, MyVest’s established UMH framework and platform provide the operational foundation to help them accelerate the delivery of household-level personalization at scale.

About MyVest

MyVest powers tomorrow’s wealth management firms, today. Driven by a vision for client-centric advice, we are a pioneer in enabling firms and advisors to deliver personalized portfolios at scale. A subsidiary of TIAA, we are headquartered in San Francisco. Learn more at myvest.com.

About Pirker Partners

The mission of Pirker Partners is to support decision makers across the wealth management ecosystem through a flexible, ongoing engagement model by delivering focused, strategic advice and thought leadership on current themes relating to business and technology innovation, and to act as a platform for dialogue between the various parties involved.

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