Multiple style-type separately managed accounts (MSAs) are expected to win out in terms of market share over traditional SMAs, according to research from Financial Research Corp.

Neil Bathon, former president of FRC and now a consultant to the organization, said these bundled accounts now represent about 10% of overall assets, whereas by 2010, FRC expects them to represent about 30%. He said the growth has come amid a shift in the advisor business. "Advisors are realizing their value is around risk assessment, profiling, and providing solutions. Not on manager selection," said Bathon.

With an MSA, the advisor's distributor, whether Merrill Lynch or LPL Financial, does the manager picking. "And there's no research that shows reps are good at picking stocks or funds," he added.

As of March 2005, the average size of an account in the world of MSAs, sometimes called multiple discipline programs, was $452,678. As of March 2006, that number had risen to $481,057. The average account size in the traditional world was $322,422 in March 2006 and $283,462 in March 2005. Bathon said the industry originally expected the average size of an MSA to be about $250,000 - $300,000.