Model Delivery and Unified Managed Accounts

Model portfolio assets have grown at double-digit annual rates for nearly a decade, reaching $9.3 trillion by year-end 2025, according to Broadridge Financial Solutions. Model portfolio delivery is designed to allow advisors to serve clients more efficiently, potentially enabling more time for planning and client relationship management.

Stance Capital strategies are available to advisors and platforms in multiple formats. This page describes how model delivery works, what the Unified Managed Account structure means in practice, and the three distinct ways advisors and institutions can incorporate Stance strategies into their investment process, with full flexibility on how much they delegate and how much they retain. For institutions seeking to build fully proprietary quantitative research infrastructure rather than access existing Stance models, see our Quantitative Research and Consulting page.

Who This Is For

Advisors building multi-manager UMA portfolios. If you manage client assets through a UMA platform and are evaluating a sustainable or quantitative equity sleeve to add alongside existing managers, Stance model strategies are designed for this use case. We are available as a sleeve on the major UMA platforms and can be added without disrupting your existing client account structure.

Advisors scaling a practice. For growing RIAs who need to serve more clients without proportionally growing portfolio management overhead, model delivery provides access to sustainable and quantitative strategies without the per-account management burden of direct SMA relationships.

TAMPs and enterprise platforms. Stance is available to institutional platform relationships seeking to expand their model marketplace with sustainable and quantitative investment strategies. For platform partnership discussions, contact us directly.

Advisors who want research without delegation. The signals-based access model is specifically designed for advisors who want to benefit from Stance quantitative and sustainable investing research without adopting the model directly. If your practice has its own investment committee and portfolio construction process, Stance model signals can serve as a third-party research input rather than a direct portfolio template.

Three Ways to Access Stance Strategies

Full model adoption. Stance publishes a model portfolio, including holdings, weights, and rebalancing rules, to a platform. The platform executes the model in client accounts, either automatically or pending advisor review. Stance does not have discretionary authority over individual client accounts. The advisor retains investment discretion. No minimum account size.

Model as signals. Advisors access Stance research, positioning, and model changes as an input to their own portfolio construction, using the model as intelligence rather than as a direct execution blueprint. Stance factor signals, portfolio changes, and quantitative research are available without any obligation to implement them as published. This structure is appropriate for advisors with their own investment committees, family offices with established investment processes, and institutional investors who want third-party quantitative and sustainable research without ceding portfolio construction decisions.

Direct SMA management. Stance has full discretionary authority over each individual client account, with maximum tax personalization, individual security exclusions, and coordinated gain and loss management. This is covered in full on the Managed Accounts page.

Each approach is a genuine option, and Stance is flexible about which structure fits a given advisor's practice. Some advisors use model delivery for mid-range accounts and full SMA management for high-net-worth clients, running both in parallel. Others use Stance research as signals while maintaining complete discretion over their own portfolios. The engagement structure follows the advisor's needs, not a standard template.

What Is Model Delivery?

In a model delivery arrangement, Stance creates and maintains the investment model and publishes it to platforms and advisors who have engaged us. The advisor or platform then executes those decisions in client accounts according to their own preferences and compliance framework. Trading discretion stays with the advisor or platform.

When the model is updated, in response to a factor signal change, a scheduled rebalancing, or a market-driven event, advisors receive notification through the platform. The timing and method of implementation is the advisor's choice. Some advisors adopt model changes immediately and automatically; others review changes before implementation; others use the update as a signal to inform their own analysis. All three approaches are valid uses of the model delivery relationship.

Scalability

The central operational advantage of model delivery is scale. A single model update propagates across all accounts simultaneously. An advisor with 200 client accounts who implements a Stance model change does so through one decision rather than placing 200 separate sets of trades or delegating discretionary management to Stance at the account level. The result is a scalable delivery structure that grows with an advisor's practice without proportionally increasing operational overhead.

No account minimum

Model delivery carries no minimum account size requirement per account. A Stance model can be deployed in a $50,000 account through the same mechanism as a $5,000,000 account. This allows advisors to offer sustainable and quantitative investment strategies for clients of all levels of wealth, not only the high-net-worth segment that qualifies for direct SMA management. Advisors can move clients between model delivery and full SMA management as account sizes grow and the economics of a more personalized relationship become compelling.

What Is a Unified Managed Account?

The Unified Managed Account is the infrastructure that makes multi-manager, multi-strategy investing practical within a single brokerage account. Without the UMA, an advisor who wants to give a client equity exposure through two different managers, bond exposure through a third, and a sustainable overlay through a fourth would need to open four separate accounts, manage four sets of paperwork, produce four sets of statements, and coordinate rebalancing manually across all of them. The UMA consolidates all of that into a single registration, a single agreement, and a single statement.

Sleeves

Within a UMA, each strategy or manager is represented as a sleeve, which is a virtual sub-account that tracks the holdings, performance, and characteristics of that specific strategy within the larger unified account. The sleeve is the unit of transparency: the advisor can see exactly what is held in the Stance sleeve, what it has returned, and how it is positioned, independently of the other sleeves in the account.

Stance models can operate as a sleeve within a UMA alongside other equity strategies, fixed income SMAs, ETF holdings, direct indexing, and in some platforms, alternative investments. An advisor building a UMA for a high-net-worth sustainable investor might sleeve in Stance Sustainable Beta as the core equity allocation, a fixed income SMA for bond exposure, and a direct indexing strategy for tax management of a concentrated position, all within a single account.

The UMA overlay

The UMA overlay manager, typically the TAMP platform or a dedicated overlay provider, coordinates activity across all sleeves: rebalancing to target allocations, managing cash flows in and out of the account, and applying tax management at the account level. Tax management in a UMA is particularly powerful: rather than harvesting losses within a single strategy sleeve in isolation, the overlay can coordinate gains and losses across all sleeves simultaneously, identifying where gains in one sleeve can be offset by harvesting in another. This cross-sleeve tax coordination is a strong argument for the UMA over multiple separate accounts.

UMA vs. multiple separate accounts

The case for the UMA is primarily operational. One registration. One client agreement. One statement. One fee structure. Coordinated rebalancing and tax management across all strategies. For clients with significant assets across multiple strategies, the administrative overhead of multiple separate accounts is a real burden on the advisor, the client, and the advisor's operations team. The UMA eliminates that overhead. The tradeoff: within a UMA, the individual sleeve manager has less direct visibility into the client's specific tax situation than in a direct SMA relationship. Tax management at the account level is coordinated by the overlay, not by Stance directly.

Unified managed households

Beyond the individual UMA, some platforms now support unified managed household reporting, coordinating strategy allocation and tax management across all of a client's accounts (taxable brokerage, IRA, trust, custodial) rather than just within a single account. For advisors working with high-net-worth clients who have complex multi-account structures, household-level coordination is increasingly the standard of care. Stance models are compatible with household-level management on platforms that support this capability.

Model Delivery vs. Direct SMA

Stance offers both model delivery and direct SMA management. The right choice depends on account size, the advisor's preference for control, and the degree of tax personalization the client requires. Many practices use both.

Model delivery tends to be the right choice when accounts are smaller and individual tax management doesn't justify the overhead of a direct SMA relationship; the advisor wants to retain full trading discretion; you are deploying the strategy across a large number of clients simultaneously; you want to use Stance's model as one input among several in your own investment process; or tax management will be handled by the TAMP or UMA overlay rather than at the individual security level.

Direct SMA management tends to be the right choice when the client has specific security exclusions, sector restrictions, or concentrated positions requiring individual attention; maximum tax personalization, including harvesting, gain coordination, in-kind funding, and estate planning considerations, is a primary objective; or the client's tax situation is complex enough to require active coordination between Stance and the advisor throughout the year.

Using both in the same practice. Many advisors use model delivery for smaller accounts and full SMA management for larger, more complex client relationships, moving clients from one to the other as their assets and needs evolve. The two structures are designed to work together, not as alternatives.

Platform Access

Stance models are available through Fidelity, Schwab, LPL, First Affirmative, Adhesion, and SMArtX. These platforms collectively serve the large majority of the RIA and institutional advisory market.

For advisors already using one of these platforms, accessing a Stance model typically requires adding the strategy through the platform's model marketplace, a process that varies by platform but generally takes one to three business days. No new custodial relationship or technology infrastructure is required.

For advisors building multi-sleeve UMAs, Stance models can be added as a new sleeve alongside existing strategies, whether those are managed by other third-party managers, by the advisor, or by the platform's in-house team. For platform and enterprise relationships evaluating Stance as a model provider for their own model marketplace, speak with us directly about integration and licensing arrangements. If you are already working on a platform not listed here, contact us. We may already be available on it, or can explore adding it.

Stance Model Strategies

Stance strategies are available in model delivery format through the platforms listed above. For descriptions of each strategy, including investment objective, construction methodology, and risk characteristics, see the Strategies page.

When any Stance model is updated, advisors and platforms receive notification through the relevant platform's communication infrastructure. The nature, rationale, and magnitude of the change are communicated alongside the updated model. Whether to implement immediately, review before implementing, or use the update as research input only is entirely the advisor's decision. Stance does not require or mandate implementation timing.

The Practice Management Case

The operational efficiency of model-based investing translates directly into advisor time and practice scalability. Model portfolio delegation is designed to reduce the per-account investment administration burden, freeing advisor time for planning, client relationships, and business development.

Consistency is the other dimension. When many clients hold the same Stance model through a platform, every client benefits from the same investment decision simultaneously. There is no variation in implementation timing, no accounts rebalanced later than others, no clients who miss a position change. For practices with fiduciary obligations to deliver consistent investment management across their client base, this consistency is a real operational advantage.

Starting the Conversation

If you are an advisor evaluating Stance model strategies for deployment through your existing platform, a good first step is a conversation about which strategies fit your client base, how the model is accessed through your specific platform, and whether model delivery, signals-based access, or a direct SMA relationship is the right structure for your practice.

For platform and enterprise partnership discussions, contact us directly to discuss model marketplace integration and licensing arrangements.

Schedule a conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a minimum account size for model delivery?

No. Stance model delivery arrangements have no minimum account size per account. The model can be deployed in accounts of any size through the platform. Advisors can set their own internal minimums based on their practice economics and platform fee structures.

What happens if I don't implement a model update?

Nothing automatic. The timing and method of model implementation is entirely the advisor's decision. Stance notifies advisors and platforms of model changes; the decision to implement, and when, remains with the advisor. Advisors who choose not to implement a change simply continue holding the prior model positioning until they decide otherwise.

Can I customize a Stance model for individual clients?

Within a platform's UMA overlay capabilities, advisors may be able to apply client-specific overlays, such as security exclusions or sector restrictions, on top of the Stance model at the account level. The specific capabilities depend on the platform. For clients requiring significant individual customization, a direct SMA relationship is likely more appropriate. See the Managed Accounts page for details.

What is the difference between model delivery and using the model as signals?

In model delivery, the advisor accesses the model through a platform and executes it in client accounts, either directly or with modifications. In a signals-based relationship, the advisor receives Stance research, factor positioning, and model changes as informational inputs and makes independent portfolio decisions based on their own analysis. The signals approach preserves full advisor autonomy over investment decisions while providing access to Stance quantitative and sustainable investing research.

How do I access Stance models through my platform?

Through the model marketplace or manager directory of your existing platform. The process varies by platform but typically involves a brief due diligence review and strategy selection step. Contact us directly if you need assistance navigating the onboarding process on a specific platform.

Can Stance models be used alongside other managers in a UMA?

Yes. Stance models are designed to operate as sleeves within a multi-manager UMA structure. They can coexist alongside equity SMAs from other managers, fixed income strategies, direct indexing, and ETF holdings within the same unified account. Coordination of the sleeve structure and overlay management is handled by the TAMP or overlay provider.

What tax management is available in a model delivery relationship?

Within a model delivery arrangement, tax management at the individual account level is the responsibility of the advisor or the TAMP overlay manager, not Stance. Platforms like SMArtX offer tax-aware overlay capabilities, including tax-loss harvesting, gain budgeting, and wash sale management, that can be applied across model delivery sleeves within a UMA. For clients who require active, account-level tax management coordinated with Stance, a direct SMA relationship is the appropriate structure.

How does Stance model delivery differ from a direct SMA?

In model delivery, Stance does not have discretionary authority over individual client accounts. The advisor or platform retains trading discretion and executes the model in client accounts. In a direct SMA relationship, Stance has full discretionary authority over each individual client account and manages it with individual-level tax personalization, security exclusions, and coordinated gain management. Model delivery is more scalable and carries no minimum account size; direct SMA management is more personalized and appropriate for larger, more complex accounts.