Orion Hires Industry Veteran as New EVP of Sales: Tech Roundup

Orion Advisor Solutions appointed industry veteran Tom McCarthy its new executive vice president of sales, effective immediately, the company said Wednesday.

McCarthy joins Orion with over 20 years of industry experience, most recently working with broker-dealers and registered investment advisors in senior leadership roles at AssetMark.

He will lead Orion’s Wealth Management Sales and Strategic Relationships teams and “charter Orion’s course of continuing to grow its wealth management business and capitalize on the many opportunities the company’s ongoing organic and inorganic growth create,” the company said in a statement.

After recently adding Redtail Technology and TownSquare Capital, Orion’s combined platform serviced $3 trillion in assets under administration and $56 billion of wealth management platform assets as of Sept. 30, it said.

Fidelity Buys Shoobx

Fidelity Investments has acquired Shoobx, a provider of automated equity management operations and financing software for private companies at all growth stages, up to and including initial public offerings.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Shoobx is joining Fidelity’s Stock Plan Services business, a provider of equity compensation plan recordkeeping and administration services to almost 700 companies with 2.5 million plan participants, totaling more than $250 billion in plan value, according to Fidelity. Stock Plan Services is part of Fidelity’s Workplace Investing division.

In 2021, Fidelity started a strategic relationship with Shoobx to provide a complete equity management solution to the private market.

That joint solution combined several of the top products and services from Fidelity and Shoobx, including Fidelity’s expertise in equity compensation and benefits administration, as well as Shoobx’s equity management capabilities, board management tools, and data room solutions for the secure storage and sharing of important business information.

“Together, we will accelerate the development of new and innovative solutions designed to help private companies confidently navigate the complex journey all the way through to an exit or IPO,” Kevin Barry, head of Fidelity Workplace Investing, said in a statement.

Fidelity had assets under administration of $10.6 trillion, including discretionary assets of $4.0 trillion as of Nov. 30, it said.

Broadridge Extends Pact With IGM

Fintech firm Broadridge Financial Solutions announced Wednesday that IGM Financial’s IG Wealth Management signed a multi-year contract extension to continue using the Broadridge Wealth Platform’s R.Broker solution.

The pact builds on a “successful five-year partnership,” according to Karin Yorfido, general manager of global technology and operations Canada at Broadridge.

“The Broadridge R.Broker Wealth solution provides IG with enterprise-wide benefits through streamlined operations, timely access to market product advantages and the ability to consistently offer products and services across any channel,” she explained.

IG will “continue to expand its deployment of Broadridge’s capabilities, including core record keeping, regulatory and innovative capabilities for STP processing across currencies, dealers, regulations and jurisdictions,” according to Broadridge.

Advisor360° Acquires Digital Onboarding Tech

Advisor360° acquired the digital onboarding technology and related wealth management assets of technology solutions provider Agreement Express from Frontier Growth, a private equity firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Once the technology is integrated, Advisor360° will be able to seamlessly support investment and insurance accounts at every major custodian and clearing firm and offer a wider range of integrations with industry-leading CRM providers,” it said.

The acquisition, Advisor360°’s first, was completed Dec. 23. The transaction included the transfer of technology, intellectual property, clients, and professionals from Agreement Express’s wealth management business. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Agreement Express’s payment solutions business was acquired by NMI, a full-commerce enablement technology company, in early December.

“Advisor360° expects its existing platform will be enhanced by the newly acquired assets in other areas, including expanded automation and streamlining of paper and electronic workflows; simplified information gathering, organization, and bundling; new digital signing features; and bulk advisor onboarding for team hires or new office acquisitions,” it said.

The Agreement Express acquisition also expands Advisor360°’s increasingly global footprint and talent pool by adding staff from the company’s workforce in Canada. In 2022, Advisor360° opened its first non-U.S. location with new offices in Bengaluru, India.

“In the near term, the transaction will not impact Advisor360°’s operations, employees, or service and support of current clients,” the company said. “The team that supports Agreement Express’s existing wealth management business and clients will continue in their current roles at Advisor360°.”

The company added that, “over time, all Advisor360° clients — including those from Agreement Express — will have the opportunity to benefit from enhanced platform innovation and integrations that result from the transaction.”

CAIS Adds Select Reverence Strategies

Reverence Capital Partners, a global investment firm focused on private equity and structured credit, will onboard select alternative investment strategies to the CAIS platform, CAIS announced Wednesday.

The addition “aligns with CAIS’ commitment to make alternative investment opportunities available to the independent wealth channel to ensure these financial advisors have the same access as large institutional counterparts,” the company said.

The onboarded Reverence funds are being made available to the thousands of RIAs and IBDs that use the CAIS platform for access to alternative investment funds, CAIS said. The Reverence funds underwent a third-party due diligence approval conducted by Mercer, CAIS added.

Reverence will also participate in the second annual CAIS Alternative Investment Summit, to be held Oct. 16-18 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, California.

Reverence participated in CAIS’ $340 million equity raise in 2022, along with Apollo, Motive Partners, Franklin Templeton, Hamilton Lane, and Stone Point Ventures, CAIS said.

Zoe Wealth Platform Launches

Zoe Financial announced the public launch of the Zoe Wealth Platform on Wednesday.

The new tool enables clients to open investment accounts instantly while working with an advisor, the company said.

The platform also features account funding, automated rebalancing and commission-free fractional trading.

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