Jeff Miller and his team have recently begun a two-year platform consolidation process at UBS, with help from a Boston-based firm.

Jeff Miller UBS Wealth Management Managing Director, Head of Advice and Platforms

Miller and Marilee Ferone explained the platform consolidation vision in an interview with MFWire. Miller serves as managing director and head of wealth management advice and platforms for UBS Wealth Management Americas. Ferone, who reports to Miller, serves as head of the advisory solutions business for UBS WMA.

The platforms that will be consolidated include: Access, UBS WMA's single contract platform for separately managed accounts; MAC (managed account consulting), the wirehouse's platform for dual contract SMAs; MPF (managed portfolio funds), the mutual fund managed portfolio platform run by UBS WMA's own home office team; PMP (portfolio management program), the mutual fund managed portfolio rep-as-PM platform; and Strategic Advisor and Strategic Wealth Portfolio, UBS WMA's advisory programs that combine various investment product types.

Ferone confirms that UBS is teaming up with Vestmark to create "a unified advisory platform." The project, she says, is a "direct response" to feedback from FAs and investors and has been a long time coming. Now it's in the "first phase of implementation" of a shift that "establishes a foundation for change ... going forward."

"The timing had to be right," Ferone tells MFWire. "We wanted to be sure that we went with the absolute right partner."

The UBS folks are calling the theoretical end product of this process a "unified investment solution"; there's no fancy platform branding just yet.

"Advisors don't talk about the program names," Ferone says. "They talk about the client profile and what they need to do for the client."

As for Vestmark, Ferone says UBS selected the Boston-based shop after a "very detailed, multi-year investigation."

"Vestmark is a leading provider of portfolio management and trading systems," Miller tells MFWire. "We've been consistently impressed with their team and their capabilities and the flexibility around their platform." 

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