Professionally managed assets in the U.S. stand at $73.7 trillion, with the retail client channels comprising $36.6 trillion and institutional channel assets totaling $37.1 trillion. These figures mark all-time highs across both segments of the U.S. market, according to Cerulli’s research, The State of U.S. Retail and Institutional Asset Management 2025.

Retail client channel marketshare briefly surpassed institutional channel marketshare in 2020 and 2021, before declining in 2022 amidst a significant equity market pullback. However, after that blip, retail client channels have continued to gain ground and again are nearing 50% marketshare. “A significant drop in assets during the equity market correction of 2022 has led to retail client channel assets posting lower three- and five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) figures compared to institutional client channel assets,” says Brendan Powers, director. “A higher year-over-year growth rate in 2024 highlights a return to the long-term 10-year growth rate trends that have favored retail client channels. We expect this to continue as corporate DB plans pursue pension risk transfers and corporate DC plans continue to witness assets roll over into IRAs.”

Asset managers evaluating addressability in either channel should continue to monitor emerging trends with key intermediaries. Outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs) continue to grow their footprints as intermediaries across most U.S. institutional asset owner channels. Total U.S. OCIO assets now equal $3.3 trillion as of year-end 2024, having tripled in less than a decade. While new client adoption will drive future growth projections, Cerulli also highlights that replacement mandates are becoming part of this maturing industry. Asset managers distributing products through OCIOs need to be aware of these changing dynamics and monitor the potential evolution of OCIO provider relationships.

Likewise, the RIA channels have become increasingly important to many asset managers’ retail distribution strategies. The independent and hybrid channels’ outsized asset growth has been fueled by advisor movement and M&A activity, creating an attractive $5.9 trillion in professionally managed assets. As M&A efforts, fueled by private equity and aggregators, roll on, there are now a handful of mega firms controlling the bulk of the RIA assets.

Additionally, the range of vehicle options being made available by asset managers for both retail and institutional investors continues to expand as asset managers seek to offer more choice to their clients. “For managers seeking to distribute to institutional investors, the demand will typically start with institutional separate accounts but extend to private funds and/or mutual funds for smaller institutions or for asset classes that are operationally challenging for separate accounts,” says Powers. “The CIT vehicle is now table stakes for managers operating within the DC space. For those pursuing distribution in retail client channels, the ETF and SMA are increasingly utilized, while managers also seek to build out a variety of illiquid alternative wrapper options (e.g., private funds, interval funds) to make private market strategies easier for affluent investors to access,” he concludes.