Michael Gates: Why More Advisors Are Migrating to Model Portfolios

Today’s guest on The Long View is Michael Gates. Gates is the head of model portfolio solutions for the Americas and the lead portfolio manager for target-allocation models at BlackRock. BlackRock’s target-allocation models have been adopted by a large and growing contingent of advisors in the US. Four of the model families within BlackRock’s target-allocation suite have been awarded Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Gold. In 2025, Morningstar’s manager research team nominated Gates for a Morningstar Award for Investing Excellence in the Outstanding Allocation Portfolio Manager category. Gates’ time at BlackRock dates to 1999, including his years with Barclays Global Investors, which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Before founding the model portfolio solutions group, Gates conducted quantitative trading research for equities in BlackRock’s global trading group. At Barclays Global Investors, Gates led the development and implementation of the firm’s quantitative approach in fixed-income and alternative asset investing. Gates earned a master’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of California, Davis. He is a CFA charterholder. Episode Highlights 00:00:00 What Are Model Portfolios and How Do They Work? 00:08:19 How Tax-Loss Harvesting and Other Offerings Reshape Model Design 00:15:50 AI‑Driven Productivity and the Market Outlook 00:17:57 Rebalancing With Risk in Mind 00:24:56 Building AI Exposure Into Equity Models 00:35:39 Thematic Investing and Active vs. Passive Investing 00:42:07 How Technology May Shape Portfolios’ Future More From Morningstar Alpha Isn’t Dead. You’ve Just Been Measuring It Wrong Tax-Efficient Model Portfolios for Retirees and Retirement Savers Can AI Chatbots Build a Retirement Portfolio? We Tested Them If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.