Vanguard Launches Custom Model Portfolios for Advisors
Building on the industry trend of increasing personalization, Vanguard has launched custom model portfolios.
The move will allow financial advisors to use Vanguard’s select existing models, including its Strategic Active/Passive and Fixed-Income portfolios, and customize based on client preferences. The models support both multi-asset and single-asset strategies and focus on public markets.
“We continue to hear feedback from advisors and their clients, and we know the playbook is changing. The expectations for personalization and the ability to include more complicated solutions within the portfolio keep rising,” said Eve Cout, head of advisor solutions, financial advisor services, at Vanguard. “Vanguard custom model portfolios are a way for us to work with financial advisors to co-develop portfolios around their investment philosophy, their preferences and their client needs.”
Advisors can implement the custom models through Vestmark, the TAMP platform run by SS&C Black Diamond Wealth Solutions and Orion’s Tailored Allocation Portfolios. These platform integrations allow for trading, rebalancing and tax management. In addition, Vanguard is providing white-label and co-branded marketing materials to help advisors communicate their portfolio strategies to clients.
Like most custom model providers, Vanguard will not charge advisors additional fees for the ability to customize Vanguard’s models, according to Cout. “We are hearing that advisors continue to think about how they deliver value, and we are ensuring that we can deliver these personalized portfolios at scale without losing the cost [proposition] Vanguard is known for,” she said.
According to a recent Morningstar report on model portfolios, custom model assets totaled $258 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2026, representing 40% growth compared with the same period last year. As of March, BlackRock and Wilshire continued to dominate the custom model space, with $87.2 billion and $75.3 billion in assets, respectively. Other asset managers offering custom models, including Russell Investments, Invesco and Goldman Sachs, continued to trail far behind.
However, over the past year, a growing number of asset managers have launched new custom models. These included VanEck, Fidelity and State Street Investment Management, among others. In addition, last week, LPL Research, an independent investment and market strategy team within broker/dealer LPL Financial, launched 17 new model portfolios as part of what it is calling its Building Block Model Portfolios suite.
A survey by Cerulli Associates found that 65% of model providers view offering custom models as their top priority. A survey of financial advisors conducted by Morningstar in 2026 showed that preference for customized portfolios was the number one reason advisors were not offering models, with 47% citing lack of customization as a drawback.
