Financial Advisors Turn To Model Portfolios As Their Roles Evolve From Stock Picking To Relationship Building

Financial advisors are increasingly adopting model portfolios, shifting focus from technical investment tasks to business development. A report by Escalent reveals that 42% of advisors using model portfolios have increased their usage over the past two years. This trend coincides with a decline in advisors spending significant time on investment selection, dropping from 43% in 2023 to 36% in 2025. The report highlights a growing preference for mixed vehicle types in portfolios and notes that older advisors are catching up in model portfolio adoption, despite differing perceptions of their value across generations.