Unified for your success
Manulife Wealth’s Apex Unified Managed Account (UMA) Program streamlines portfolio construction and administration in a single, fee-based account, simplifying how portfolios are delivered, monitored, and reported across your book.
Get time back to do more.
Apex UMA centralizes trading, rebalancing, monitoring, cash management, and fee collection with the Manulife Wealth Investment Management Team, giving you back time to focus on clients, planning and growing your business.
39% of advisors’ time is spent on investment management and administration.1
A flexible program that grows with you
You stay in control
Build your own models or choose from diversified proprietary model portfolios. Combine SMAs, mutual funds, and ETFs in one managed account.
Designed around the client experience
Clients see their full wealth picture clearly with one fee, one return, and one performance report—with consolidated holdings, account and household-level reporting, and less paperwork (no trade confirmations or Fund Facts).
Powered by Envestnet
The platform makes trading and service requests easy, with built-in analytics and customizable reporting that integrates smoothly across technology systems. Auto-rebalancing keeps portfolios on track and helps support tax-efficient implementation.²
Deliver personalization at scale—and choose to white-label your own models.
Program features advisors value
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30+ SMA models Across equity, fixed income, and balanced mandates; starting at $50,000
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13 Manulife Wealth model portfolios Built for a range of client risk/return profiles and objectives, available with a $25,000 minimum.
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Smarter technology Industry-leading account and portfolio tools to manage investments faster, deliver customized reporting, and serve clients better.
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Hi, my name is Shelly Lairar and I'm a senior investment
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advisor here in Ottawa.
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I've been asked to speak to you today about why I've worked
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to build a practice around the UMA Apex program.
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Let me be clear, this isn't new for me.
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I've been an advisor for over 25 years and this discipline
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approach has created a career and a client experience that
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I'm extremely proud of.
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I joined Manulife Life in October of 2024.
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Ensuring this offering was available to my clients was one
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of the deciding factors that led me to join Manulife Life
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Wealth.
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UMA Apex provides benefits like no other environment I can
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create on my own.
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My clients get access to the best money managers in Canada.
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I can deliver pension-style management for their hard-earned
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wealth.
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This creates capacity.
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I get to grow a very large practice knowing that my clients
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get timely execution on investment decisions
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backed by veteran money managers doing their due diligence
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and delivering consistent returns.
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Pair your investment selections with a financial plan
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through Conquest,
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and now you have extremely sticky assets.
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Compliance in the know your product
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area
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The program covers these bases so we can spend our time
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talking to our clients and creating new relationships.
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Our pricing is more than competitive.
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I did my homework.
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It's some of the best on the street.
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And don't forget, in taxable environments, these clients now
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have a tax-deductible investment expense.
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Finally, CRM.
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I know clients are gonna be reviewing these numbers,
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and I know they will see the work, the training, the
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research, and the client service that they're receiving.
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Again, my name is Shelly and I'm in Ottawa.
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Please reach out if you'd like to chat.
My clients get access to the best money managers in Canada. I can deliver pension-style management for their hard-earned wealth.
– Shelly Lairar, Senior Investment Advisor, Manulife Wealth Inc.
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I really like UMA's unified managed accounts for a lot of
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reasons.
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It's a great fit for our practice.
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It's a great fit for our clients.
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We have multi-generational families.
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we've often dealt with folks heading into retirement,
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potentially downsizing,
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also,
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potentially looking for care for a loved one
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or dealing with family loss.
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For us, one of the most important things is being able to
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provide a consistent,
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dependable
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income throughout retirement
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and a, a smooth transition to the next generation,
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with managed tax consequences throughout.
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The UMA program allows us to take
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our model portfolios, combine them with recommended
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portfolios,
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separately managed accounts, all under one umbrella,
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and to get the benefit of the team supporting us through
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things like capital loss selling to offset some of the
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capital gains that have been triggered over the course of
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the year,
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rebalancing portfolios on whatever timeline we've set
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quarterly, semiannual, annual,
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uh, raising cash,
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investing cash.
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All of those things allow us to invest time in the things
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that really matter for our clients,
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relationship with them, and the financial planning that
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solves the issues that they're having.
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It
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provides peace of mind for everyone,
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myself included.
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As an independent adviser working in a smaller office, it's
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important to me that I have a solution should I ever not be
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able to act on client's behalf,
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and knowing that
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the head office team is looking after the day to day
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maintenance means
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there's no urgency.
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There's a consistent approach happening even when I can't
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give instructions.
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Uh for succession planning, it's the same thing,
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you know, bringing on an advisor who is, is new and learning
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all of those relationships,
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who doesn't have to spend
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all of that extra time on the day to day maintenance of
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portfolios,
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and the benefit of the clients just knowing that things will
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consistently happen,
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um,
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as they always have.
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It's all a great help.
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And from a client perspective, the fee structure is very
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generous as well.
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Uh, fees are very manageable,
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compare quite nicely with the other programs at Manulife and
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the industry
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and allow the clients to be householded across multiple
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generations.
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I really don't think there's much out there that fits our
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practice as well as the UMAs do right now,
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uh, and we're taking advantage of them as we can for clients
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that, uh,
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uh,
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as we see them and for new clients as well.
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And one nice bonus as well, the UMA program has a transition
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sleeve.
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So when we're moving those accounts
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we can do so without triggering capital gains instantly.
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We can sell those items off over time and offset them with
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some of the capital loss selling that the team supports us
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with.
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All in all, the UMAs have been excellent for us.
And one nice bonus as well, the UMA program has a transition sleeve. [If we’re transitioning assets into the program], we can do so without triggering capital gains instantly. We can sell those items off over time and offset them with some of the capital loss selling that the team supports us with.
–Ray Snoei, Financial Planner & Portfolio Manager, Manulife Wealth Inc
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Over the past year, I've been transitioning my business to
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the Apex UMA platform because of the many benefits to my
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clients.
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Clients receive institutional style management,
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including access to separately managed accounts and managers
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that are typically reserved for ultra-high net worth
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clients.
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The combination of SMAs,
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funds, and ETFs helps lower overall client costs versus
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traditional account types.
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Running a model-based business allows us to better serve our
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clients as it frees up time and allows us to have more
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in-depth conversations during our meetings about their
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financial plans
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and insurance needs.
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Model performance is easier to track and monitor closely and
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allows us to identify underperforming investments sooner so
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that we can make changes.
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Doing so at the model level ensures that all clients are
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serviced equally and changes happen quicker.
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Limiting the product shelf is also important for fulfilling
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our KYP requirements.
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It is much more manageable to do the proper in-depth
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research and analysis
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on a shorter product shelf.
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Outsourcing all trading allows us to better respond to
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client requests,
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managing money in and out is much more efficient in Apex,
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as deposits are automatically added to the model,
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and for redemptions, clients can speak with anyone on my
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team if I'm tied up.
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This ensures money is invested immediately once we receive
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it, and clients aren't waiting on their withdrawals, which
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keeps us more compliant.
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Lastly,
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the investment platform is an incredibly powerful tool for
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clients.
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The statements we can generate within the program have
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received a lot of compliments,
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and the way that we are able to manage taxable accounts,
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tracking realized and unrealized gains will help manage
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clients' taxes better.
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Overall,
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the move to Apex UMA will help me gain efficiencies that
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will allow me to be a better advisor for my clients.
Overall, the move to Apex UMA will help me gain efficiencies that will allow me to be a better advisor for my clients. Outsourcing all trading allows us to better respond to client requests.
– Chris Smith, Investment Advisor, Manulife Wealth Inc.
Proof that speaks to scale
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91% Advisors grow total assets through outsourcing⁴
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72% Advisors report 10%+ AUM growth after outsourcing³
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4X growth SMA/UMA AUM rose from $30.1B (2013) to $117B+ today⁵
Pre-vetted models that support compliance and KYP
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Fewer customized portfolios and less documentation – simpler for you and your clients
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Embedded compliance workflows that reduce risk and improve consistency
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Scalable, structured book management with more time freed up to grow
Apex UMA at a glance
Integrated accounts, simplified investments
Where will better take youᵀᴹ
Request a demo from the team today!
This page is for investment dealer advisor use only. This information herein is intended to be general in nature and should not be construed as investment advice. Video testimonials represent the advisor’s personal experiences and opinions and are provided for illustrative purposes only.
Manulife Wealth’s Apex Unified Managed Account (UMA) Program is a fee-based, managed account solution5. UMAs may combine all, one or a combination of separately managed accounts (SMAs sub-advised by third party sub-advisors consisting of primarily stocks and bonds), mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), model portfolios managed by Manulife Wealth, and portfolio manager models6 in one integrated investment account. The initial minimum investment for UMA models, including individually managed portfolios and prepackaged model portfolios managed by Manulife Wealth, varies depending on the asset allocation of the account.
The UMA program is not suitable for all investors. No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee returns or eliminate risk in any market environment. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The information and/or analysis contained on this page have been compiled or arrived at from sources believed to be reliable but Manulife Wealth does not make any representation as to their accuracy, correctness, usefulness or completeness and does not accept liability for any loss arising from the use hereof or the use of information and/or analysis contained on this page. Manulife Wealth disclaims any responsibility to update such information. Neither Manulife Wealth nor its affiliates, nor any of their directors, officers or employees shall assume any liability or responsibility for any direct or indirect loss or damage or any other consequence of any person acting or not acting in reliance on the information contained herein.
1 “Building a Team-Based Approach to Investing.” Envestnet, Published 13 Nov. 2024, January 2024, envestnet.com/financial-intel/building-team-based-approach-investing. 2 ENVESTNET DELIVERING INDUSTRY-LEADING CONNECTIVITY AND ADVANCES TO ITS WEALTH MANAGEMENT PLATFORM. 3 Adhesion | Outsourcing Survey, 2021. 4 AssetMark | Advisors say outsourcing leads to better investment solution, 2022. 5 ISSMI Market Intelligence. Winter 2024 Special Feature Fee-Based Report, 2024. 5 Only offered and sold by investment advisors. 6 Only offered by Manulife Wealth portfolio managers or associate portfolio managers.