AUM vs. AUA
Certainly. Here’s the difference in simple terms, using a retirement plan example.
AUA (Assets Under Administration)
What it means: Total assets that a financial firm administers — meaning they handle recordkeeping, reporting, statements, and plan management — but do not have the authority to make investment decisions or select investments.
**Think of AUA as:**The firm is the administrator. They keep the books, track contributions, and send statements, but the client or another manager chooses the investments.
AUM (Assets Under Management)
What it means: Total assets that a financial firm actively manages — meaning they have discretionary authority to buy, sell, and select specific investments (stocks, bonds, funds) on behalf of the client.
**Think of AUM as:**The firm is the investment manager. They decide where the money is invested and can trade without asking permission each time.
Simple Example: A 401(k) Plan
Imagine a mid-sized company has a 401(k) retirement plan with $100 million in total participant savings.
- Voya is the recordkeeper for the plan. They track each participant's balance, process contributions and loans, send quarterly statements, and provide the website logins. Voya charges a fee for these administrative services. → That $100 million counts toward Voya's AUA because they administer it.
- Within the 401(k) plan, participants can choose from a list of 20 mutual funds. Voya Investment Management runs one of those funds — a target-date fund — and has authority to decide which stocks and bonds to buy/sell inside that fund. → The portion of the $100 million that is invested in Voya's target-date fund (say $15 million) counts toward Voya's AUM because Voya actively manages that money.
Key Distinction Table
| AUA (Assets Under Administration) | AUM (Assets Under Management) | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Recordkeeper, custodian, administrator | Investment manager, discretionary decision-maker |
| Authority to trade? | No | Yes |
| Responsibility | Accurate recordkeeping, reporting, plan compliance | Portfolio construction, security selection, performance |
| Fee basis | Per-participant fee, flat administrative fee | Percentage of assets (e.g., 0.50% of AUM) |
| Example | Voya administering a 401(k) plan where participants pick Fidelity funds | Voya running a target-date fund inside that same plan |
Why It Matters for Voya
As of 2025, Voya reports:
- AUA (retirement plan recordkeeping): Approximately $1.1 trillion
- AUM (actively managed assets, mostly through Voya Investment Management): Approximately $300+ billion
The AUA is much larger because Voya administers many plans where participants choose funds from other companies (BlackRock, Vanguard, etc.). Voya only earns active management fees on the portion that sits in its own funds (AUM).
When analysts say Voya's retirement business is "strong but asset management fees are under pressure," they're often noting that AUM growth (high-margin) has lagged AUA growth (lower-margin administration).