AssetMark Becomes Latest Firm to Add New Tax Planning Tools

There’s one clear winner in the technological arms race playing out among wealthtech firms: financial advisors, who want tax-savvy investing tools. 

AssetMark announced this morning the launch of new features on its Adhesion wealth platform for registered investment advisors, including more advanced direct indexing and separately managed account capabilities. The goal is to help RIAs scale up their tax-aware planning skills in a world where wealth management clients are increasingly demanding of their financial professionals, said AssetMark CEO Michael Kim. Other wealthtech firms share that vision, with the likes of Altruist, April and more announcing tax-focused platform enhancements this year alone. Safe to say, RIAs looking for tools to create tax alpha are spoiled for choice, while advisors who fail to incorporate tax planning risk falling behind. 

“We invested more than $60 million in technology development last year alone,” Kim told Retirement Upside, noting that, like its RIA clients, AssetMark is striving to meet an evolving set of investor expectations. “AssetMark has been in business for 30 years this year. We can confirm that RIAs are being asked to deliver more personalization, more tax efficiency and broader access to investment opportunities than ever before.”

How AssetMark Is Responding 

Adhesion platform enhancements on track for this year also include daily account monitoring and optimization for tax-sensitive portfolio transitions, as well as monthly and year-end account-level tax savings reporting and ready-to-use ETF, mutual fund and equity SMA portfolios. 

“These enhancements are a direct reflection of what we’re hearing from advisors about where their businesses are headed and what their clients expect next,” said Phill Rogerson, head of the RIA channel at AssetMark. “Everything we’re rolling out is designed to help RIAs grow faster and operate more efficiently.”

Rocket Fuel for RIAs? Data from Cerulli Associates shows the independent and hybrid RIA industry is already growing:

• Assets under management grew at annualized rates of approximately 10.9% for independent RIAs and 12.2% for hybrids over the past decade.
• These segments’ combined share of total wealth management industry assets grew from 21% in 2014 to 27% in 2024. 

Kim and Rogerson said tax-planning tools can help maintain, and potentially accelerate that pace. First, tax-aware investing keeps more money in clients’ pockets, thereby helping advisors grow their AUM. Second, in AssetMark’s experience, clients who get good tax planning are likely to refer their advisors to friends and family, further driving up organic growth. 

Kim said advisors using AssetMark’s tax management services in 2025 generated an average annual tax savings to clients of 1.42%. “Numbers like that show the growing role tax efficiency plays in improving client outcomes and reinforcing advisor value,” he said. “For many advisors, that savings will cover their full fee.”