MyVest's New SMM Tech Reimagines Portfolio Personalization at Scale

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – May 20, 2026 – MyVest, a wealth management technology provider and subsidiary of TIAA, today announced a significant enhancement to its platform that aims to redefine how financial advisors deliver customized investment strategies. The launch of Separately Managed Models (SMM) within its flagship Strategic Portfolio System™ (SPS) introduces a novel framework for managing complex, multi-part portfolios with a new level of precision and tax efficiency.

This innovation arrives as the wealth management industry grapples with soaring client demand for hyper-personalization, a trend that has often clashed with the operational need for scalability. MyVest's SMM technology is designed to bridge this gap, allowing different components, or 'sleeves,' of a client's portfolio to be managed with distinct rules while remaining part of a single, holistically optimized household account.

Beyond Traditional SMAs: A New Era of Granular Control

For years, Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) have been a go-to vehicle for affluent investors seeking direct ownership of securities and customized management. However, in practice, SMAs are often managed in silos, disconnected from the client's broader financial picture. This fragmentation can lead to conflicting trades, missed tax-saving opportunities, and a portfolio that is less than the sum of its parts.

MyVest's SMM architecture fundamentally alters this dynamic. Instead of treating each managed strategy as a separate account, the SPS platform treats each SMM as an individual security within the unified portfolio. This seemingly subtle distinction has profound implications. It allows the system's central overlay management to evaluate every sleeve—whether an internally managed equity model, a third-party strategy, or a collection of ETFs—alongside all other holdings when making decisions about rebalancing, cash management, or tax-loss harvesting.

“Incorporating Separately Managed Models into MyVest’s Strategic Portfolio System represents a major step forward in how firms can deliver personalization at scale,” said David Costain, Director of Product Management at MyVest, in the company's announcement. “Unlike a traditional SMA, SMM models are fully aware of the investor’s restrictions, tax budget, and cash needs.”

The development was reportedly driven by direct requests from MyVest's enterprise clients, who sought a more efficient way to incorporate their own proprietary equity models into client portfolios, particularly within non-qualified accounts where tax management is paramount. By enabling a personalized, tax-aware model to replace a generic ETF or mutual fund for a core asset class, firms can now pursue better after-tax outcomes with greater precision.

The Personalization Imperative Meets Scalability

The launch of SMM taps directly into one of the most powerful currents in modern finance: the expectation of a deeply personalized client experience. Industry research consistently shows that a majority of high-net-worth individuals prioritize firms that offer tailored products and services. Yet for advisors, delivering this level of customization across a book of business has been a manual, time-consuming, and often unscalable endeavor.

Wealth technology platforms are racing to solve this operational paradox. Competitors like Envestnet and Orion Advisor Solutions have made significant strides with direct and custom indexing solutions, which allow for the creation of bespoke portfolios that can be screened for ESG preferences and managed for tax efficiency. MyVest’s SMM builds on these concepts by embedding this granular control within a cohesive household-level overlay.

This integrated approach promises significant workflow efficiencies for advisors. By setting distinct rebalancing rules, risk methodologies, and tax-aware strategies for each SMM, the system can automate much of the complex oversight required for multi-manager portfolios. The platform continuously evaluates all components to identify optimization opportunities, ensuring the entire household portfolio remains aligned with the client’s overarching financial plan without requiring constant manual intervention from the advisor. This frees up advisors to focus on higher-value strategic planning and strengthening client relationships.

Reshaping the Asset Manager Relationship

Beyond client-facing benefits, the SMM framework is poised to reshape the operational relationship between wealth management platforms and third-party asset managers. Historically, integrating external SMA strategies into a firm's platform has been a complex process fraught with operational friction. MyVest’s roadmap includes providing external sub-advisors and traditional SMA managers with direct access to the SPS platform.

This move would allow asset managers to submit model changes or even trade their models themselves directly within the overlay system, just as they do in a conventional SMA structure. The key difference is that the platform absorbs the operational complexity of executing those strategies at scale while ensuring they conform to the household's unique constraints.

This reimagines the traditional SMA relationship for the modern wealth management ecosystem. Asset managers retain the high degree of control they require to execute their strategies effectively, while wealth management firms gain a streamlined, efficient way to offer a curated selection of third-party expertise. It transforms the integration of external models from a cumbersome operational task into a seamless, scalable feature, creating a more collaborative and efficient environment for all parties.

A Strategic Play in the Future of Wealth Tech

This launch solidifies MyVest's strategic focus on enabling sophisticated, client-centric advice. As a subsidiary of TIAA, the firm has consistently built upon its core competency in Unified Managed Household (UMH) technology, with a long-standing emphasis on holistic tax optimization and goals-based wealth management. The SMM capability is a logical and powerful extension of this trajectory, positioning the company at the forefront of the industry's shift toward more dynamic and personalized solutions.

By treating each portfolio sleeve as an intelligent, self-aware component within a larger whole, MyVest is providing the tools for wealth management firms to move beyond product-centric models and deliver truly holistic advice. As the industry continues to evolve, the ability to manage complexity, deliver personalization at scale, and optimize for after-tax returns will be the defining characteristics of leading wealth technology platforms. With the introduction of Separately Managed Models, MyVest has made a significant move to cement its place in that future.