If you run a discretionary strategy for professional clients, you have probably delivered it as a separately managed account (SMA) — a segregated portfolio, in the client's name, that you manage under a mandate. It works, but it does not scale: every new client means another account, another set of paperwork, and another portfolio to trade in parallel. An actively managed certificate (AMC) offers a different route to the same outcome. Instead of managing one account per client, you run a single reference portfolio and wrap it in a bankable security with an ISIN that many investors can buy. This guide compares the two.
What a separately managed account is
An SMA is an investment account held in the client's own name, managed by you under a discretionary mandate or power of attorney. The client owns the underlying assets directly; you trade them on their behalf. It is a clean, transparent, one-to-one relationship, ideal when a client wants a bespoke portfolio and direct ownership. The limitation is replication: because each SMA is a separate account, running the same strategy for twenty clients means trading twenty accounts, with the operational load and dispersion that come with it. Scaling an SMA book is essentially linear work.
What an actively managed certificate is
An actively managed certificate takes that same discretionary strategy and puts it inside a single reference portfolio, issued as a security with an ISIN. You manage one book; investors get exposure by buying the certificate through their bank and holding it in custody like any other security. One strategy, one portfolio, many investors — instead of one account per client.
The core difference
| Dimension | SMA (Separately Managed Account) | Actively Managed Certificate |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | One account per client, in their name | One reference portfolio, many investors |
| Ownership | Client owns the assets directly | Investor owns a security (ISIN) |
| Scalability | Linear, one account per client | One book scales to many investors |
| Access | Account opening & mandate per client | Buy the ISIN through any bank |
| Operations | Trade every account in parallel | Trade a single portfolio |
| Best for | Bespoke single-client portfolios | Distributing one strategy widely |
When an SMA is the better fit
Stick with an SMA when the client wants direct ownership of the assets, a genuinely bespoke portfolio tailored to their constraints, or full look-through transparency at the account level. For a single large mandate — a family office wanting its own segregated, customised portfolio — the SMA is often exactly right.
When an actively managed certificate is the better fit
Choose an actively managed certificate when you want to deliver the same strategy to many investors without opening an account for each one. Because it is a single bankable security, professional investors, family offices and wealth managers can all buy the same certificate through their existing custody — no per-client mandate, no parallel accounts. You trade one portfolio; everyone gets the identical exposure and an audited track record under one ISIN.
From SMA to AMC
Many managers make exactly this move — they start with a few SMAs to prove a strategy, then wrap it in an actively managed certificate once they want to raise from more investors without multiplying operational overhead. The strategy does not change, only the packaging.
How Noray helps
Noray Capital is a Swiss-based structuring coordinator that issues actively managed certificates, ETPs, CLNs and Tracker Certificates across Luxembourg, Guernsey, Cayman and Switzerland. If you are running a strategy as a set of separately managed accounts and want to make it a single, scalable, bankable product, we set up the compartment and reference portfolio, obtain the ISIN and run the lifecycle, typically reaching the market in 4 to 8 weeks.
This article is for informational purposes only and is intended for professional investors. It does not constitute legal, tax, financial or investment advice, nor an offer of any security.