Starting with Your Practice

• How would you describe your typical SMA client in one sentence, including their AUM band and primary objective?
• What percentage of your active SMA households sit above $1 million, between $1M and $5M, between $5M and $25M, and above $25M? Options: Under 25% above $1M, 25% to 50% above $1M, 50% to 75% above $1M, Over 75% above $1M
• Tell me about a recent client you moved from a pooled vehicle or a private label product into an SMA, what motivated the change and how did the client react?
• Which client segments are you prioritizing for SMA growth over the next 12 months? Options: High-net-worth individuals, Multi-generational families, Family offices, Business owners, Institutional wealth, Other
• Do you have a firm minimum account size or internal approval threshold that would prevent a typical $1M client from opening an SMA? Options: Yes, minimum account size applies, No minimum account size, Case-by-case approval required

Where Your Clients Really Sit on Risk, Tax, and Restrictions

• Where would you say the biggest mismatch lives between a client's stated risk tolerance and the actual portfolios they hold?
• Who inside your firm makes the call when tax priorities should override a manager recommendation? Options: Lead advisor, Investment committee, Head of wealth management, Family decision maker, Compliance/legal
• When you review client holdings, how often do you find legacy positions or concentrated stocks that would materially complicate a model-based transition? Options: Almost every account, Often, Occasionally, Rarely
• In practice, how many of your SMA-eligible clients require explicit custom restrictions such as ESG screens or concentrated stock exclusions? Options: None, Under 10%, 10% to 30%, 30% to 60%, Over 60%
• Identify the client segment or account type you would not migrate to an SMA under any circumstance, and why.

Taxes and Transitions: The Real Cost

• If an expected transition could incur more than 2% in immediate tax drag, would you pause the conversion, alter the timeline, or continue, and why? Options: Pause the conversion, Alter the timeline to optimize taxes, Proceed as planned, Depends on client
• Tell me how your firm currently captures and stores client tax-lot preferences and whether those rules are portable during account moves or custodian changes.
• Which tax-harvest cadence do your clients typically accept when you discuss ongoing tax management? Options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annually, Not sure
• What has been the single biggest surprise during past transitions that triggered client concern or compliance escalation?
• Does your firm have a dedicated in-house tax analyst or team member who must approve transition plans and tax-harvest rules? Options: Yes, dedicated tax analyst, No, external tax advisor only, Senior advisor signs off on a case-by-case basis

Risk, Style, and the One Rule You Won't Bend

• Name one style constraint that would make you stop using a manager even if short-term returns looked strong.
• Who has final authority to approve a client-specific style or sector restriction when it would change expected tracking characteristics? Options: Primary advisor, Investment committee, Client/family, Compliance
• On risk targets, how tightly do you expect managers to hold tracking error versus the stated benchmark for core equity SMAs? Options: Under 1% annualized, 1% to 2%, 2% to 4%, Flexible depending on mandate
• Describe a prior situation where an imposed restriction materially altered portfolio construction and how you resolved it.
• If a manager's tax-loss harvesting process reduced realized tax liability by roughly 0.5% to 1% annually, would that move them up your shortlist? Options: Yes, substantially, Yes, somewhat, Neutral, No

Custody, Reporting, and Operational Dealbreakers

• Point to one custodial limitation that would stop an onboarding from moving forward for your clients.
• List the custodial endpoint types where you currently hold the majority of SMA assets. Options: Major national broker-dealer platforms, Independent custodian platform, Bank trust accounts, Multiple custodians evenly split, Other
• Does your operations team prefer model delivery at the model-level, account-level, or via a unified managed account integration for SMA implementation? Options: Model-level delivery, Account-level delivery, Unified managed account / UMA, No preference
• When do permission limits, transfer restrictions, or transfer-of-assets fees become a deal-breaker for moving an account to a new manager? Options: At any fee over a agreed threshold, Only if transfer prevents timely execution, Rarely a deal-breaker, Depends on client
• How many full-time operations or trading staff does your firm allocate to SMA onboarding and ongoing reconciliation? Options: 0 (outsourced), 1-2, 3-5, 6-10, More than 10

Alternatives You Are Weighing

• Where does your incumbent solution fall short enough that you are actively looking for a replacement or an additional manager?
• Select the alternatives you are evaluating right now. Options: Remain with incumbent manager, Evaluate other third-party SMA managers, Build an internal model/overlay, Use model delivery from your custodian (UMA/model delivery), Move assets to commingled funds, Switch custodians, Other
• List the conditions that would have to be true for you to keep your current approach rather than change managers.
• Has anyone on your team proposed solving investment selection or tax-loss harvesting internally without an outside manager, and if so what timeline was proposed? Options: Yes, proposed internal build with timeline, No, not proposed, Discussed but no timeline
• Rank the decision criteria that would weigh more heavily than short-term cost savings when choosing between an incumbent and a new SMA manager. Options: After-tax performance, Tax-loss harvesting quality, Style purity and tracking error, Customization for restrictions, Custodial availability, Operational support and reporting

Operational Readiness: Can This Start on Time?

• Suppose your account lists and tax-lot data arrive two weeks late, what is the realistic impact on your onboarding timeline and client commitments?
• Identify the person or team who owns API or file-feed access for your custodial data and whether they can grant read credentials without vendor-level approvals.
• On integrations, do you currently receive position-level, tax-lot level feeds nightly, end-of-day only, or ad hoc extracts? Options: Nightly position and tax-lot feeds, End-of-day positions only, Ad hoc extracts via file transfer, No automated feeds currently
• Will your legal or compliance group require bespoke master agreements, or can they accept a standard manager schedule or addendum? Options: Require bespoke agreements, Accept standard schedule with minor edits, Flexible depending on risk
• Estimate the full-time equivalent hours your team can allocate to project coordination in the first 60 days. Options: Under 40 hours, 40-80 hours, 80-160 hours, 160+ hours
• Point to the single missing readiness item that, if unresolved, would stop onboarding from starting on your target date.

Decision Signals That Move This Fast

• Assuming a pilot validates the promised tax and tracking improvements, what is the one remaining objection that would prevent you from executing a full conversion within your target window?
• Select the commercial terms that most influence accelerated sign-off. Options: Fee schedule and breakpoints, Transition assistance credits, Trial or pilot terms, Service level agreement for reporting, Limited indemnities or liability caps
• Provide the list of internal approvers required for final commercial and legal sign-off and the typical approval timelines for each role.
• Would a time-limited pilot or trial account materially reduce executive resistance and speed approval? Options: Yes, Maybe, No
• State your target date to have custody and onboarding authorizations completed. Options: Immediately, Within 2 weeks, Within 1 month, Within 2 to 3 months, 3+ months

Next Steps and Gaps We Should Close

• Name the single unanswered question that, if not addressed by our next touchpoint, would make you pause advancing the engagement.
• Provide the specific deliverables you expect from the seller between now and pilot kickoff to keep momentum.
• Suggest a timeframe for a technical onboarding call to confirm data feeds, credentialing, and reconciliation rules. Options: Within 3 business days, Within 1 week, Within 2 weeks, Longer than 2 weeks
• Are there any upcoming blackout dates, board reviews, or tax filing windows that could delay transitions or require a different timeline? Options: Yes, list them in the next response, No critical dates, Unsure, need to confirm
• Given agreement on pilot scope and confirmed data readiness, are you prepared to commit to a pilot start date within 30 days? Options: Yes, Maybe, dependent on one item, No

• Strategy Experience Session

• Confirm the current state and its cost
• You confirm the demonstrated workflow materially reduces the tax drag you described and speeds up transitions.
• Provide two representative client portfolios with tax-lot history and restriction rules for scenario runs.
• Run your client scenario for target risk-adjusted outcomes
• You confirm the manager's restriction enforcement matches your requirements and you accept the documented trade-offs.
• Run the provided scenarios against the proposed SMA strategy and deliver modeled after-tax returns, tracking error, and expected tax-harvest benefit before the follow-up session.
• Demonstrate tax-loss harvesting and tax-lot handling
• Define pilot account list and timeline to validate live transition outcomes and tax-harvest cadence.
• You agree to a pilot scope or a list of evidence items to validate the approach before commercial commitment.
• Document acceptance criteria and measurement windows for pilot success.
• Show how client-specific restrictions are enforced and their trade-offs
• Validate the future state
• Agree evidence and pilot scope

• Strategy Experience Session
• Strategy Experience Deck
• Strategy Experience Brief

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Provision SMA Accounts on Custodian Platforms
• Deliver Model Portfolio Files and Updates
• Execute Trade Orders and Daily Rebalancing
• Implement Client-Specific Investment Restrictions
• Perform Customized Transitions from Legacy Holdings
• Systematic Tax-Loss Harvesting Execution
• Manage Cost-Basis and Tax-Lot Accounting
• Provide Daily Position-Level Transparency Feed
• Integrate SMA Models into Unified Managed Accounts
• Generate Advisor-Facing Performance Reports
• Concentrated Position Retention and Segregation
• Monthly Portfolio Attribution and Risk Reporting

Provision SMA Accounts on Custodian Platforms

• Which custodial platforms will host the SMA accounts you want provisioned?
• What account types do you want created (select all that apply)? Options: Individual, Joint, Trust, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Corporate/Entity, UTMA/UGMA, Other
• How many accounts (approximate) do you need provisioned at go-live? Options: Less than 10, 10-50, 51-250, 251-1,000, 1,000+
• Do you require account-level permissions for trading, reporting, or visibility for the accounts you want provisioned? Options: Yes, No
• Provide the acceptance criteria that will confirm account provisioning is complete (for example: account-number mapping uploaded, trading API credentials provisioned, and permission evidence)

Deliver Model Portfolio Files and Updates

• Specify the model delivery format you require for portfolio files that you will consume (CSV, JSON, XML, API payload, or SFTP file drop). Options: CSV, JSON, XML, API payload, SFTP file drop, Other
• List the update cadence you require for model portfolio files (daily, weekly, monthly, or on-change only). Options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, On-change only
• Confirm whether you require versioning and a change log with each model update. Options: Yes, No
• Name the recipient endpoint that will consume your model files (for example portfolio accounting system, custodian model manager, or SFTP path).
• Are there allocation minimums, share-rounding rules, or lot-size constraints you need encoded in the model files? Options: Yes, No

Execute Trade Orders and Daily Rebalancing

• Indicate the preferred order routing method you want for trade execution (API order entry, FIX session, bulk custodial upload, or manual trade ticket). Options: API order entry, FIX session, Bulk custodial upload, Manual trade ticket
• Identify the maximum acceptable execution window you will accept after a rebalance signal (minutes or end-of-day). Options: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, End of day (EOD)
• Choose the routine you want for scheduled rebalancing versus event-driven trades (daily, threshold-based, or hybrid). Options: Daily, Threshold-based, Hybrid (scheduled + events)
• State any trading blackout windows or restricted trading hours you require enforced.
• Estimate typical trade size limits or maximum notional per trade that you want applied to guide execution rules.

Implement Client-Specific Investment Restrictions

• Describe the client-specific restriction types you need supported (ESG screens, sector exclusions, ticker bans, concentration caps). Options: ESG screens, Sector exclusions, Individual security bans, Concentration caps, Other
• Select how you will deliver restriction rules for each client (spreadsheet mapping, API feed, or custodian restriction profile). Options: Spreadsheet mapping, API feed, Custodian restriction profile, Other
• Per client restriction, specify the remediation tolerance you want (for example any violation, >0.5% drift, >1% drift). Options: Any violation, >0.5% drift, >1% drift, Other
• Who on your team will own ongoing updates to client restriction sets and communicate changes?
• Provide the acceptance criteria you will use to confirm restriction enforcement meets your requirements (for example zero restricted securities held at day-end or automated pre-trade blocking evidence).

Perform Customized Transitions from Legacy Holdings

• Regarding legacy transitions, indicate the transfer method you will use for each account (full Automated Customer Account Transfer ACAT, partial ACAT, broker-to-broker transfer, or cash liquidation). Options: Full ACAT transfer, Partial ACAT transfer, Broker-to-broker transfer, Cash liquidation
• During transition, specify how you want tax-sensitive positions handled (hold, liquidate with tax planning, or segregate into a retention account). Options: Hold, Liquidate with tax planning, Segregate into retention account, Other
• For transitions, state the migration completeness threshold you will accept (for example >=95% of positions or cash equivalence). Options: >=95%, 90-94%, 80-89%, <80%
• Who on your team will approve final sell/retain decisions for concentrated or illiquid legacy positions?
• State the evidence you will require to validate a successful transition (for example custody statement showing positions moved, tax-lot carryover file, and reconciliation report).

Systematic Tax-Loss Harvesting Execution

• For tax-loss harvesting, indicate the execution frequency you want applied to your accounts (daily, weekly, or event-driven based on a loss threshold). Options: Daily, Weekly, Event-driven (loss threshold), Other
• Specify the loss realization trigger you prefer (for example $300 realized loss or 0.5% of account value). Options: $100, $300, $500, 0.25% of account value, 0.5% of account value, Other
• Describe the replacement-security rules you require to avoid wash-sale risk (different ticker same sector, ETF replacement, or custom security mapping). Options: Different ticker same sector, ETF replacement, Broad index replacement, Custom mapping
• Identify the team or role on your side that will approve harvest exceptions or realized gain thresholds.
• Are there account types you want excluded from harvesting (for example IRAs or certain custodial account classes)? Options: Yes, No

Manage Cost-Basis and Tax-Lot Accounting

• Choose the default cost-basis method you want applied across accounts (Specific Identification, FIFO first in first out, or Average Cost). Options: Specific Identification, FIFO (first in, first out), Average Cost
• Detail how you want carried-over tax lots from a legacy custodian mapped and validated in the new cost-basis system.
• Do you require tax-lot level matching for wash-sale adjustments in your accounts? Options: Yes, No
• Indicate who will perform reconciliation of cost-basis differences between your books and the custodian (your team, our operations team, or a shared process). Options: Your team, Our operations team, Shared reconciliation process
• Estimate the tolerance level for cost-basis discrepancies you will accept (for example $10 per account or 0.1% of account value). Options: $0 (exact), $10 per account, $50 per account, 0.1% of account value, Other

Provide Daily Position-Level Transparency Feed

• Name your preferred delivery channel for the daily position-level feed you will consume (SFTP, API, or custodian-managed feed). Options: SFTP, API, Custodian-managed feed, Other
• List the exact fields you require in the daily feed (for example ticker, quantity, cost basis, tax lot ID, market value, settlement date).
• Confirm the required latency after market close for the daily position feed that you will accept (for example within 1 hour, 4 hours, or next business day). Options: Within 1 hour, Within 4 hours, Next business day (EOD+1)
• Enter the technical contact details you will use for credentials, testing, and ongoing feed support.
• How many months of historical position-level data backfill do you require for the feed, if any? Options: No backfill, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, Custom

Integrate SMA Models into Unified Managed Accounts

• To integrate SMA models into a unified managed account (UMA), indicate the UMA architecture you will use (sub-account layering, strategic overlay, or sleeve-based allocation). Options: Sub-account layering, Strategic overlay, Sleeve-based allocation, Other
• Supply the model linking identifiers or financial-advisor numbers you will use to map models to accounts.
• Will you require daily model-to-account allocation reconciliation at the sleeve level? Options: Yes, No
• Which team or role will configure the mapping between SMA model IDs and UMA sleeves in your account platform?
• Outline how you want cash allocations and residual cash treated within UMA sleeves (cash buffer percent, sweep to core, or leave as unsettled cash). Options: Cash buffer percent, Sweep to core investment, Leave as unsettled cash, Other

Generate Advisor-Facing Performance Reports

• Select the reporting cadence you want for advisor-facing performance reports (daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly). Options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly
• Which benchmark do you want performance measured against for each SMA strategy?
• Would you require after-tax performance reporting, pre-tax only, or both for the reports you will receive? Options: After-tax, Pre-tax only, Both
• Enter the intended recipients for reports and the delivery method you prefer (email, portal download, or API push). Options: Email, Portal download, API push, Other
• Clarify whether you need custom attribution or additional risk metrics beyond standard attribution (for example factor exposures or tracking error). Options: Yes, No

Concentrated Position Retention and Segregation

• Explain the rules you want applied to concentrated position retention (dollar threshold, percentage of portfolio, or advisor instruction).
• Define the method you want to tag or segregate retained concentrated positions (separate account, sub-account, internal flagging, or custodian-restricted lot). Options: Separate account, Sub-account, Internal flagging, Custodian-restricted lot
• Assign the approver you will use for hedging or derivative overlay strategies related to concentrated holdings.
• Will you require special reporting or disclosure for retained concentrated positions? Options: Yes, No
• Explain how you want segregation of retained positions evidenced in periodic reports or custody statements.

Monthly Portfolio Attribution and Risk Reporting

• Pick the attribution methodology you prefer for monthly reporting (Brinson attribution, factor-based, or custom model). Options: Brinson attribution, Factor-based attribution, Custom model
• Outline the risk metrics you require included monthly (for example volatility, tracking error, beta, value at risk).
• Would you require attribution down to the security level or only sector/asset-class level in your monthly report? Options: Security level, Sector/asset-class level
• Submit the contact or role who will validate the monthly risk numbers against your internal systems.
• Detail any SLA expectations you have for delivery timing of monthly reports (for example within 3 business days or 5 business days after month end). Options: Within 3 business days, Within 5 business days, Within 10 business days, Custom

• Investment Management Agreement (IMA)
• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW) — Onboarding & Transition
• Order Form & Fee Schedule
• Custody Authorization & Account Opening Authorization
• Acceptance Criteria & Milestone Schedule
• Tax-Lot Transfer & Transition Instructions
• Data Sharing & Integration Authorization
• Data Security & Compliance Addendum (SOC2 / Data Residency)

• Go-live Health Check (Weeks 1-4)
• First Outcome Review (Weeks 4-10)
• Acceptance Gate Review (Day 90)
• Ongoing Quarterly Performance Review

• Close or reassign operational tickets older than the agreed threshold and record resolution dates.
• Produce a metrics pack showing excess return, tracking error, realized harvest dollars, and harvest capture rate for the covered accounts.
• Document and publish a corrective action plan with specific tasks and target completion dates ahead of the acceptance meeting.
• Schedule targeted operational fixes (custody feeds, tax-lot rules) necessary to reach acceptance criteria.
• Restate acceptance criteria and numeric targets
• Produce a documented acceptance decision with pass/fail status for each numeric target recorded in the Mutual Commit stage.
• For any conditional or failed criteria, capture a remediation plan with deadline and verification method.
• Confirm the incumbent wind-down plan or read-only retention with the timeline for decommissioning or archiving.
• Publish the acceptance decision and the pass/fail matrix to the shared workspace.
• Create remediation tickets for any failed or conditional acceptance items with resolution dates and verification steps.
• Document and schedule the incumbent decommissioning or archive activities if applicable.
• Quarterly performance and attribution
• Confirm quarterly tracking error and harvest capture rate remain within the tolerances recorded in the Mutual Commit stage.
• Ensure no operational exceptions older than the agreed threshold remain open without an assigned resolution plan.
• Agree a short list of adjustments to monitoring or reporting for the next quarter if required.
• Produce the quarterly performance and tax-efficiency report and distribute to the buyer's designated reviewers.
• Update monitoring thresholds or alerts based on this quarter's findings.
• Re-confirm success criteria and owners
• Deployment components (custody feeds, model endpoints, and account lists) are verified as live or have documented remediation plans.
• All open issues are logged with owners and target resolution dates for the first 30 days post-go-live.
• Initial adoption checklist completed for the set of pilot accounts and advisor users.
• Publish a one-page go-live summary that lists live components and outstanding issues.
• Create tickets for each open operational issue with a target resolution date and escalation path.
• Provide an export of the live account list and position feed status for monitoring purposes.
• Performance vs benchmark
• Determine whether strategy net return versus benchmark and realized tax-loss harvesting dollars are on track against the targets recorded in the Mutual Commit stage.
• Identify root causes for any metric shortfalls and agree concrete corrective actions with target dates to resolve before the acceptance gate.
• Confirm no unresolved operational exception will prevent the day-90 acceptance decision, or document required extensions and remediation steps.
• Deployment and migration validation
• Tax-efficiency validation
• Present 90-day outcome data against each criterion
• Tax-efficiency outcomes
• Compare results to targets recorded in the Mutual Commit stage
• Early adoption and usage signals
• Document pass or conditional-accept per criterion
• Operational exceptions burn-down
• Client-specific restrictions and model adherence
• Operational exceptions and client-specific restrictions
• Formal acceptance decision and signatory capture
• Open issues and blockers
• Agree immediate remediation actions and timeline
• Agree next-quarter monitoring actions
• Agree corrective actions and timeline to acceptance gate
• Remediation plan for any failed criteria
• Incumbent wind-down confirmation