If you're an RIA or financial advisor today, you're probably juggling client growth, compliance headaches, rebalancing spreadsheets, and trying to not burn out your team—or yourself. Sound familiar?

Good news: model portfolio automation is quietly becoming one of the smartest ways to scale AUM (assets under management) without scaling your payroll.

Smart portfolios aren’t just buzzwords anymore. They’re the operational edge top-performing advisors are using to manage more clients, offer better service, and keep things lean on the staffing side.

Let’s break it down.

The Old Way: Manual Rebalancing Eats Time

Traditional rebalancing is the financial equivalent of hand-washing dishes in a restaurant kitchen. It works—until you get more tables than you can handle.

For years, advisors have been stuck rebalancing accounts by hand (or with clunky legacy software). That means:

• Tracking asset allocations manually

• Making trade decisions per account

• Executing trades individually

• Double-checking for errors or compliance issues

This workflow is fine when you’ve got 20 clients. It’s a bottleneck at 200. And it’s a full-on operational crisis at 500.

The real issue? Advisors spend more time maintaining portfolios than actually building client relationships or growing AUM.

Model Portfolio Automation: The Scalable Alternative

Enter smart portfolios—pre-built, rules-based investment strategies that can be deployed across hundreds (or thousands) of client accounts with just a few clicks.

Here’s what model portfolio automation does differently:

• Centralized Control: Create a model portfolio once, apply it across all clients. Any changes or rebalances? One update pushes to all linked accounts.

• No More Manual Trading: Automate trade execution across client accounts using pre-set rules and thresholds.

• Client Personalization at Scale: Still want to tweak portfolios for client-specific needs (e.g., risk tolerance or ESG preferences)? Many tools (like Surmount) allow for rules-based customization on top of the base model.

Translation: you manage strategy once, not 50 times. You save hours per week. And you dramatically reduce operational drag.

Surmount: Reducing Operational Drag for RIAs

At Surmount, we’ve built automation specifically for this use case—so advisors don’t have to Frankenstein together rebalancing software, spreadsheet macros, and hope.

Instead of creating models and then manually executing them, Surmount lets you:

• Design and automate smart portfolios directly inside your clients’ brokerage accounts

• Set up rules for trading frequency, risk bands, or specific strategies

• Apply them across 10 or 10,000 accounts instantly

All while maintaining transparency, full client custody, and SEC compliance.

And since it plugs into the advisor’s existing brokerage structure, there’s no need to repaper clients or migrate assets. It's low-lift, high-leverage.

Case Study: 50+ Clients Onboarded per Month Without Expanding Staff

One advisor using Surmount onboarded over 50 new clients per month—without adding a single team member.

Here’s how they pulled it off:

• Built a library of automated smart portfolios aligned with different risk levels

• Connected new clients' brokerage accounts directly to the Surmount platform

• Assigned each client a model based on their profile during onboarding

• Automated rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and execution from day one

Result? Time spent per client dropped from 3 hours to under 30 minutes. And clients actually liked the automation—they appreciated the transparency and control.

Most importantly, the advisor could scale confidently, knowing that operations weren’t going to break down with each new wave of clients.

Why Automation Matters More Than Ever

Here’s the reality: client expectations are rising, fees are under pressure, and the talent pool for junior advisors isn’t exactly overflowing.

To compete in this environment, you need leverage—and automation gives it to you.

According to a 2024 Cerulli report, over 65% of high-growth advisory firms cite operational efficiency and tech stack upgrades as key to their success. Smart portfolio automation is at the heart of that shift.

Because when you’re not buried in account maintenance and manual trades, you can focus on what actually grows AUM:

• Client acquisition

• Relationship management

• Content and brand building

• Scaling through referrals

Or, you know… having a life outside your CRM.

Bottom Line: You Don’t Need a Bigger Team, You Need Better Tools

Scaling your AUM doesn’t mean scaling your team. With model portfolio automation, you can onboard more clients, maintain personalized service, and reduce burnout—all without hiring another analyst or associate.

Surmount is helping advisors do just that—by making automated investing accessible, flexible, and fast to implement.

The information presented is for educational purposes only and not an offer or solicitation for any specific investments. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Consult with a financial adviser before making any investment decisions. Past performance does not guarantee future results.