Asset Management Account

Asset management account

Account at a brokerage house, bank, or savings institution that integrates banking services and brokerage features.

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asset management account

A comprehensive brokerage account that includes checking, a credit or debit card, margin loans, and the automatic sweep of cash balances into a money market fund. Examples of brokerage asset management accounts include Cash Management Account® by Merrill Lynch (the first firm to offer this type account), Financial Management Account® by Smith Barney, and Schwab One® by Charles Schwab. Features and fees vary by firm. Also called central assets account, sweep account.

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Asset Management Account

An account at a bank or other financial institution that allows the account holder to place money for both banking and investment services. When money is placed into the account, it is automatically placed into a money market account, which carries a higher interest rate than normal checking or savings accounts. The account holder can then direct the money to various banking and investment services. Asset management accounts were allowed after the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which allowed financial institutions to offer both banking and investment services for the first time since at least the Great Depression.

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Asset management account (AMA). All-in-one asset management accounts provide the financial advantages of an investment account combined with the convenience of an interest-bearing checking account.

AMAs generally offer check-writing and ATM privileges, credit cards, direct deposit, and automatic transfer between accounts, as well as access to reduced-rate loans and other perks. There are usually annual fees and minimum account requirements.

AMAs are offered by many brokerage firms and mutual fund companies, and are also known as central asset accounts (CAAs) or cash management accounts (CMAs).