Competitive advantage for asset manager distribution increasingly reflects the quality of support for advisors over product access alone, Cerulli said Thursday while announcing findings from The Cerulli Report—U.S. Intermediary Distribution 2026: Supporting Advisor Success.
“Asset managers must therefore be more deliberate about where they invest in technology, data, specialist roles, and practice management resources to meet advisors’ most pressing needs,” Cerulli said in an executive summary of the report provided to reporters.
“The strongest opportunity lies in pairing digital tools and AI-enabled advisor intelligence with high-touch support, client-ready content, and specialist expertise that help advisors deepen client relationships, grow their practices, and differentiate beyond product performance,” the executive summary said.
Although firm reputation, investment results and limited volatility are still important, value-added resources increasingly impact how advisors evaluate potential partners, according to Cerulli.
Among advisors surveyed by the firm, 84% valued thought leadership content and 76% said the quality of the digital experience is important to their choices, including advisor portals and digital portfolio tools, Cerulli said.
However, Cerulli said it found a significant “disconnect” between what distribution teams think advisors want and what they actually prioritize.
Among distribution team members, 52% said they believed advisors were seeking business consulting, but just 16% of advisors said they were turning to asset managers for that type of guidance, according to Cerulli.
Advisors’ top priorities focus on practical, client-facing tools that include client engagement strategies (cited by 37% of respondents), financial planning implementation support (29%) and behavioral finance coaching tools (27%), the firm said.
“Advisors want practical resources they can use directly with clients, such as client engagement strategies, support in executing financial plans, behavioral finance tools, and help communicating fees.” — Andrew Blake, Associate Director, Wealth Management, Cerulli
“Asset managers and advisors don’t always see eye to eye on what real value-added support looks like,” Andrew Blake, Associate Director, Wealth Management at Cerulli, told Wealth Solutions Report by email. “Distribution teams often assume advisors want broad business consulting and strategic growth guidance.”
“In reality, advisors want practical resources they can use directly with clients, such as client engagement strategies, support in executing financial plans, behavioral finance tools, and help communicating fees.”
“As products become more commoditized, that gap matters because it suggests many firms are investing in the wrong places to differentiate themselves,” Blake said.
“The same pattern shows up in technology spending,” he noted, pointing out that 94% of asset managers indicated they plan to invest in AI to support distribution during the next 12 months. But most of that spending is targeted at improving wholesaler efficiency, with just 15% of firms focused on improving practice management materials, he said.
Blake went on to tell WSR, “As ETF adoption grows, model portfolios gain influence, and performance alone becomes harder to differentiate, advisors increasingly value firms that provide actionable content, portfolio expertise, access to specialists, planning support, and client-ready resources.”
He predicted, “The managers who turn their people, technology, data, and content into resources that help advisors serve clients and communicate the value of their fees will be best positioned to deepen those relationships.”
For the report, Cerulli's Advisor Research Collaborative surveyed more than 2,000 advisors, asking personalized questions tailored to each respondent’s profile, according to the firm.
Cerulli also surveyed distribution teams, including participation from over 100 asset managers, it said. The report incorporates responses from distribution-focused roles, including executives, sales managers, wholesalers, key account teams and other positions with strategic insight, the firm said.
Jeff Berman, Contributing Editor and Reporter at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jeff.berman@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
