Beyond the Wrapper: Personalized Portfolios for Cost Savings and Client Confidence

NAPFA members have long championed transparency, objectivity, and client-first planning. In today’s environment—where clients expect more personalization and lower costs—fiduciary advisors have a powerful opportunity to further differentiate their value by rethinking portfolio construction itself.

This session explores how moving beyond traditional investment wrappers—like mutual funds and ETFs—can reduce embedded fees, improve tax efficiency, and allow for a more precise alignment between each client’s values, goals, and financial strategy. Direct indexing and other personalized portfolio approaches give advisors the flexibility to tailor investment solutions at scale—without sacrificing efficiency or performance.
 

Learning Objectives

• Identify strategies to reduce or eliminate product costs that can negatively impact client outcomes.
• Enhance trust and engagement by incorporating values-based personalization into portfolio design.
• Apply scalable customization techniques to serve a broad and diverse client base effectively.
• Demonstrate how thoughtful portfolio construction can reinforce the principles of fiduciary advice.