2026 US Model Portfolio Landscape

Margaria, S., Kim, H., Lim, J., Reyna, D., Roy, M., & Beogradlija, V. (2026, June 15). 2026 US model portfolio landscape. Morningstar. https://www.morningstar.com/en-us/business/insights/research/model-portfolio-landscape

• Third-party model portfolio assets reached USD 934 billion at the end of March 2026, a 46% increase over the trailing year and more than triple the level of Morningstar's first survey in June 2021, approaching the USD 1 trillion mark.

• BlackRock remained the largest model portfolio provider with USD 308 billion, roughly one-third of total model assets, and took more than half of 2025's net inflows at USD 24.2 billion.

• Model portfolios gathered USD 42.6 billion of net inflows in 2025, a 42% increase over the prior year, with Capital Group, now the second-largest provider, drawing nearly USD 12 billion.

• Exchange-traded funds have become models' preferred vehicle, occupying 55% of model allocations on average as of March 2026, up from 43% five years earlier.

• Model portfolios' average asset-weighted fee fell to a new low of 0.35% at year-end 2025, below the 0.61% average for unbundled mutual funds.

• Nearly 70% of surveyed firms already offer or plan to offer private-asset exposure within models, with interval funds the preferred vehicle and private credit, private real estate, and private equity the most-cited exposures.

• Custom model assets totaled USD 258 billion as of March 31, 2026, a 40% gain over the prior year, with BlackRock and Wilshire leading the segment.

Knote: Tremendous growth continues in the model portfolio market but we expect that growth to increase with the democratization of alternatives since we believe TAMPs and model portfolios will be the gatekeepers of alternatives in the wealth management channel.