Our top blogs of 2025 by reader popularity: busting direct index “lock-up” myths, thoughts on rebalancing in a crisis, robots vs. power screwdrivers…and more!.jpeg?width=795&height=530&name=AdobeStock_451032889%20(1).jpeg)
The results are in! We’ve gathered your most-read Smartleaf blog posts from the past year and ranked them by popularity, all in one place. This year’s favorites covered direct indexing debates, real-world case studies, and a deep dive into what “automation” really means (and what it doesn’t). Equal parts opinionated, practical, and a little contrarian.
1. From Our Mailbox: How We Address Concerns About Direct Index Lock-Up
Do the tax benefits of direct indexes “ossify” over time—leaving ETFs just as good in the long run? The answer is no. Even if a direct index portfolio eventually exhausts tax-loss harvesting opportunities, it does not lose its tax advantage. Security-level control continues to deliver meaningful tax benefits over the life of the portfolio, including during transitions, withdrawals, charitable giving, and rebalancing—advantages that ETFs simply cannot replicate.
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2. Case Study: How Cheetah + Smartleaf Deliver Better Service at Scale for Peak Trust
Peak Trust combined Smartleaf with the Cheetah trust accounting system to eliminate manual processes, reduce errors, and scale personalized investment management. What once took weeks now takes days or even minutes. Trades flow automatically, tax optimization is consistent, and staff focus only on exceptions. The result: better tax management, faster implementation, and more time spent with clients, all without adding headcount.
Read the case study
3. The Power of Being Able to Rebalance at Scale
True control over rebalancing means zero extra effort to tax optimize, personalize, or work with direct indexes, and no loss of agility as customization increases. With automated rebalancing, firms can implement model changes and harvest losses, across all accounts in hours, not weeks. And they can generate transition plans, and document tax value in minutes, not days. Scale is about delivering better outcomes to every client.
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4. Redefining the Meaning of Automation
“Automated” has become a marketing buzzword. We draw a clear distinction between tools that merely assist advisors and systems that truly do the work. Real automation produces trades (not alerts) by holistically evaluating each portfolio every day. When rebalancing, tax management, customization, and transitions are parameter-driven and fully automated, firms eliminate capacity constraints and free advisors to focus on what only humans can do: advise clients.
Read the full essay
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