CONCORD, Calif., April 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AssetMark, a leading wealth management platform for independent financial advisors, today announced an enhanced Self-Directed Brokerage Account (SDBA) program designed to help financial advisors deliver professional, in-plan investment advice and portfolio management services for client assets held in workplace retirement plans.
Workplace retirement accounts represent a significant portion of household wealth, yet advisors have long faced structural, operational, and advisory fee barriers to managing assets within these plans. While approximately 40% of employer-sponsored retirement plans offer an SDBA option, adoption has remained limited due to the complexity of plan configuration and implementation details. These challenges have impeded advisors’ ability to provide integrated, holistic guidance across a client’s full financial picture.
“For many investors, their workplace retirement plan represents their largest financial asset,” said Michael Kim, Chief Executive Officer of AssetMark. “We enhanced our SDBA program to help financial advisors more seamlessly extend holistic wealth management into the plan environment so retirement assets can be managed with the same level of care, consistency, and professionalism as the rest of a client’s portfolio.”
The enhanced SDBA structure is built around ten diversified, professionally managed mutual fund strategies designed specifically for in-plan retirement accounts. Advisors can select the investment strategy that best aligns to investor objectives, which include ongoing monitoring, rebalancing, and risk management. The solution integrates into AssetMark’s existing platform and advisor workflows, allowing advisors to manage in-plan retirement assets alongside other client holdings with greater consistency and operational efficiency.
“There is significant demand from investors for in-plan advice,” said David McNatt, Chief Wealth Solutions Officer at AssetMark. “We redesigned our SDBA approach to remove many of the structural hurdles that have hindered advisors from addressing this demand, including adding professionally managed investment strategies covering multi-asset classes and a comprehensive program that addresses complexities associated with account opening, consolidated reporting and advisor fee billing. Collectively, this program empowers advisors to deliver holistic advice and professional portfolio management at scale within workplace retirement plans.”
Employer-sponsored retirement plans hold more than $12 trillion in assets, yet only a small fraction – approximately 2.4% - of participants currently utilize an SDBA option. By addressing historical adoption barriers and simplifying the advisor experience, AssetMark’s enhanced SDBA program expands where advisors can participate. This makes it easier for advisors to deliver ongoing, professional investment management within retirement plans and provide more comprehensive guidance to clients, while keeping client assets invested where they are.
The enhanced SDBA program is available to AssetMark advisors beginning April 2026.
About AssetMark
AssetMark, Inc. operates a wealth management platform with a mission to help financial advisors and their clients. AssetMark, together with its subsidiaries AssetMark Trust Company, Voyant, and Adhesion Wealth Advisor Solutions, serves advisors at every stage of their journey with flexible, purpose-built solutions, powered by its innovative technology platform. The company equips advisors with planning tools, investment solutions, and operational capabilities to help deliver better investor outcomes by enhancing their productivity, profitability, and client satisfaction.
Founded in 1996, AssetMark has over 1,000 employees and serves more than 10,000 financial advisors and over 300,000 investor households. As of December 31, 2025, the firm had over $160 billion in platform assets. AssetMark, Inc. is a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Media:
Jen Deitsch
PR and Investment Communications Lead
jen.deitsch@assetmark.com
