Three wealth-technology firms are rolling out new tax-smart capabilities for registered investment advisors, targeting the labor-intensive steps between portfolio design and account-level execution. Boston-based 55ip, New York-based Vise, and Syntax, also based in New York, each unveiled updates that aim to automate aspects of tax management, rebalancing, and asset placement. Meanwhile, Miami-based Koyfin has added performance attribution to its model portfolio analytics, a feature typically requiring a separate vendor.
55ip expands UMA access for RIAs
55ip, a tax-technology firm owned by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, is extending its unified managed account offering to the RIA channel. The initial lineup pairs model portfolios with separately managed accounts from J.P. Morgan Asset Management and BlackRock, with additional asset managers expected later this year. The structure combines an advisor's or asset manager's model of ETFs and mutual funds with an active equity SMA in a single account. 55ip's ActiveTax Technology recommends tax-aware transitions and ongoing management across both sleeves. A planned integration with InvestCloud, announced in December, would add private investments to the UMA.
“The rapid growth in the RIA channel highlights the issue of scale for advisors,” said Gautam Sachdev, 55ip's chief executive. Stephen Kaplan, managing director and head of customized managed account solutions at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, added, “Advisors want customized portfolios with tax management.” According to Cerulli Associates, U.S. UMA assets are projected to reach approximately $3.7 trillion by the end of 2026.
Syntax connects custom indexes to Schwab's iRebal
Syntax, led by CEO Patrick Shaddow, has integrated its index development and production engine, Syntax Direct, with iRebal, Schwab Advisor Services' rebalancing platform. Through single sign-on, iRebal users can access Syntax Direct and send custom indexes via API into iRebal, where they function as model portfolios that can be rebalanced, tax-managed, and personalized down to the individual account and fractional share. Index changes and custom rules now flow directly into account-level workflows, eliminating a manual reconciliation step. This integration extends Schwab's efforts in the space, including its 2023 overhaul of personalized indexing for RIAs.
“Connecting Syntax Direct to iRebal means an advisor can build a custom index and put it to work across client accounts without the manual handoff in between,” said Alison Dooher, head of Advisor Services AI and partner ecosystem at Schwab Advisor Services.
Vise adds asset location to its tax engine
Vise, an RIA and technology platform, has launched Asset Location, a tool that strategically places each client holding in the account type—taxable, tax-deferred, or tax-exempt—where it incurs the least tax. The feature operates within Vise's existing tax engine, which also handles tax-loss harvesting, capital gains budgets, and transitions. The engine weighs the optimal location against the tax cost of moving a security in the current year, considering locked positions, restrictions, and strategies like direct indexing and long-short. It may recommend moving now, waiting, or executing a smaller “Location Swap.” Firms can set their own location rules and enable the feature for select accounts within a household.
Vanguard research estimates that asset location can add up to 60 basis points annually on average. A BlackRock study found that 54% of advisors used asset location for high-net-worth clients, compared with 81% who used tax-loss harvesting. “Managing a client's entire household to one allocation, with asset location and tax management solved together, has been the holy grail for a long time,” said Runik Mehrotra, Vise's co-founder and co-head. “Rule-based location and tax management fought each other, so most firms never turned location on.” Vise currently supports more than $152 billion in platform assets across over 245,000 accounts.
Koyfin adds attribution to model portfolios
Koyfin, an investment research and portfolio analytics platform, has built contribution and attribution analysis into its model portfolios tool. Contribution analysis shows how much each holding added or subtracted based on its return and weight, while attribution splits benchmark-relative performance into allocation and selection effects. Users can drill from sectors down to individual holdings. The calculations reflect historical shifts in model and benchmark holdings, and an AI summary flags the main drivers. “Our focus was on making this analysis more accessible and easier to work with, without sacrificing the depth investment teams need,” said Rob Koyfman, Koyfin's CEO.
These launches come as advisors increasingly seek to automate tax management and personalize portfolios at scale. The tools also reflect broader trends in portfolio construction and technology adoption across the wealth management industry.
