Orion to Restructure, Rebrand Operations
The company plans to make a major product announcement in the fall.
The brand name for Orion Advisor Services, its parent company and related businesses will be brought together and packaged as Orion Advisor Solutions in the fall, when the company plans to make a major product announcement.
“For more than 20 years, the Orion brand has been known as an industry leader for best-in-breed portfolio accounting technology and integrations …,” according to Orion CEO Eric Clarke. “Now, consolidating our tech and investment companies under the same brand challenges even our largest competitors with a more connected, more seamlessly serviced, and all-around better offering.”
Orion’s parent entity, NorthStar Financial, acquired turnkey asset management platform FTJ FundChoice last year; it has $15 billion in assets. It also owns asset manager CLS Investments, which has $9 billion in assets, and Constellation Trust.
The announcement of Orion’s rebranding and related efforts comes about three months after rival Envestnet restructured its operations by forming two business groups: Envestnet Wealth Solutions and Envestnet Data & Analytics.
More recently, Envestnet — which counts BlackRock as an investor — said it was buying the MoneyGuide suite of tools for $500 million and acquiring PortfolioCenter, Schwab’s portfolio management and reporting technology.
In response to the Schwab development, Orion said in February that RIAs seeking alternatives to PortfolioCenter could use its portfolio-accounting technology for free for nine months.
“They make us better in the competitive environment,” Clarke said of Envestnet. With NorthStar’s announced changes, “we want those on our technology and managed-account sides of the business to gain access to money managers we have on that front. We think our [restructuring and rebranding] definitely will increase our competitiveness in the enterprise marketplace.”
Clarke is set to take on the role of CEO for Orion Advisor Solutions, while continuing to serve as CEO of Orion Advisor Tech (the new name for Orion Advisor Services).
“We are excited about the news and hope it simplifies our message to the industry,” he said.