bluejazzy

A mutual fund manager is a PM. An RIA (or any other FA) that has full discretion is still not a PM. There’s a lot more to portfolio management than just putting some securities together and seeing how they do. A huge part of a PMs job is to manage daily cash flows and liquidity (especially for the mutual fund guys). They also have to manage a fund based on their prospectus. And, though I wouldn’t consider it a requirement, they generally manage a team of analysts as well.
Some FAs and just about all RIAs have full discretion over their clients’ portfolio, but they’re still in an advising capacity. Each client is different. They have different goals and needs and their assets have to be managed as such. These advisors don’t have a “portfolio” they manage. They manage client accounts.
Now, some RIAs do blur the line since you have some that specialize in certain areas (I know one that does only small value). Those guys are closer to the PM role. Obviously the RIAs that go the hedge fund route would be considered PMs. But that’s way different than a Northwestern Mutual (or even a Merrill Lynch) advisor that buys some mutual funds, SMAs, and ETFs for a client and calls himself a PM.
Again, it really comes down to whether or not what they manage is a stand-alone product. If it is - mutual fund, SMA, hedge fund, even just a composite - then you could safely call them a PM. Yes there is some grey area, but not much. The differences are pretty profound.