United Capital turns to overlay manager Placemark for two-version program. Fee-based advisory firm network United Capital Financial Advisers has selected overlay manager Placemark Investments to develop and help manage its unified managed account (UMA) platform.

UMAs are fee-based, single-account investment products that typically feature combinations of manager-model separately managed accounts, mutual funds and ETFs. Overlay management is the process of aligning trading activity, managing cash flow and enhancing the overall tax efficiency of multiple-sleeve portfolios.

Two versions

"Placemark brings the promise of traditional separate accounts much closer to reality, as well as complete portfolio oversight, true tax management, and ease of use in a cost efficient manner," says Mike Capelle senior v.p. of investment management at Newport Beach, Calif.-based United. "These services will help our advisers around the country offer their clients exceptional investment solutions that will continue to distinguish them well into the future."

United's UMA program features pre-set models for affiliates that want a plug-and-play option and, for advisors who want to take a more hands-on approach, the ability to build tailored portfolios using a roster of participating managers. In either case, affiliates can own-brand the platform. Placemark's CEO Lee Chertavian says that United, which launched in 2005, combines "the best that regional investment advisers have to offer, while also bringing the back office and product support -- like this UMA offering -- that had previously been the domain of much larger firms."

Backed by about $15 million from Boston-based merchant bank Grail Partners and funding from its founders, United buys advisories outright and centralizes their manager-research and due diligence, human resources, compliance and technology functions.

United has 19 advisory offices in California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Maryland and Connecticut. Last fall it said it had about $8 billion in client -- including pension-plan -- assets. Its latest ADV filing, which could be out of date or reflective of just a portion of the assets it manages or administers, puts its assets under management at $913 million.

Dallas and Wellesely, Mass.-based Placemark provides overlay management on about $7.5 billion for a roster of institutional clients that includes BMO Nesbitt Burns, RBC Wealth Management, Homrich & Berg, and Oppenheimer Asset Management. -FWR

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