Assets under advisement (AUA)

Assets under advisement is the value of assets a firm advises on without holding discretionary authority over them — for example, assets following a model portfolio the firm publishes but does not itself trade.

Advice without discretion

The distinction is control. Under management, the firm can trade the account. Under advisement, the firm provides the advice and someone else executes it.

A model provider whose allocation is followed by other advisors has assets under advisement. Those advisors have the assets under management.

Why the distinction is easy to blur

AUA is generally the larger figure and it sounds like AUM to anyone not paying close attention. Presenting one as the other is a common and meaningful overstatement.

Stating which measure a number represents, as of what date, is the difference between a fact and an impression.

Where model providers sit

Strategists who publish model portfolios onto platforms usually report AUA, because the accounts belong to other firms.

The presentation

Name the measure, give the date, and say what is counted. A figure that cannot survive those three questions should not be in the marketing.