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Orion CEO Natalie Wolfsen

Financial Planning > Trusts and Estates

Orion Launches New Tech Tools for Estate Planning, Client Goal-Setting

By John Manganaro

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What You Need to Know

  • Fintech solution provider Orion is hosting its annual Ascent conference this week in San Diego.
  • The firm is using the event to unveil a number of new tech tools and advisor platform initiatives.
  • CEO Natalie Wolfsen said the new tools support estate planning and emotionally aware client service.

The fintech solution provider Orion is hosting its annual Ascent conference this week in San Diego, and as in past years, the firm is using the event to unveil a number of new tech tools and advisor platform initiatives.

So far, the firm has put a spotlight on two new tech-enabled planning tools — one designed to support fiduciary advisors as they work with clients on estate and legacy goals and another meant to allow advisors to foster deeper planning discussions with clients that factor in their emotions and personal viewpoints regarding the meaning of wealth and financial freedom.

In an interview with ThinkAdvisor in the morning ahead of the event’s final day, Orion CEO Natalie Wolfsen said the Ascent conference was “going great” thus far. She noted that more than 900 of the firm’s advisor-clients are in attendance and that so many one-on-one training consultation sessions were booked that the firm had to add more on the fly to meet the demand.

“It’s really nice to see how our advisors are coming here and showing us how they are using our tools and seeking new insights and solutions from our end,” Wolfsen said. “We’re giving training sessions both to new users and to those who are seeking to become power users of our platform, so there’s just a whole lot going on.”

Demystifying Estate Planning

As Wolfsen explained it, Orion’s new estate planning tool helps advisors demystify the legacy planning process for families they serve by providing them with “clear, visual asset maps” that provide understanding and peace of mind.

“This addition to the Orion planning platform seeks to empower financial advisors to take a lead role in guiding families through the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history,” Wolfsen said. “The financial landscape is set to undergo a monumental transformation as the baby boomers and the silent generation prepare to pass down an astonishing $72 trillion in assets to their heirs through 2045.”

As revealed in Orion’s second annual Wealthtech Survey, 57% of advisors are currently focused on generational wealth transfer as a growth opportunity, with another 36% expected to do so over the next three years.

Wolfsen said the new tool is designed to “simplify and scale” this process.

“It enables financial advisors to expand their services, effectively offering estate planning to both high-net-worth individuals and a broader range of investors,” she noted.

Key features include what Wolfsen called “intuitive and transparent” visualization capabilities that help distill complex estate planning information into easier-to-understand formats, including both estate planning flowcharts and a comprehensive table view. This approach, Wolfsen said, allows advisors and investors to clearly see who inherits which assets — and when — without the need to navigate confusing legal documents.

Also key is the advisor-driven workflow, Wolfsen said, which has been added to the platform in order to allow advisors to collect relevant estate planning data within their existing platform processes. The tool also facilitates estate planning “what ifs,” including the capability to model and compare hypothetical scenarios.

In the firm’s announcement, Orion’s financial planning product director Brian Morgan pointed out that this launch represents the most significant enhancement to the platform since the acquisition of Advizr in 2019.

PulseCheck Tool Focuses on Behavioral Insights

Another big announcement from the firm, Wolfsen said, is the launch of PulseCheck, which she billed as a sophisticated behavioral finance tool developed under the guidance of Orion’s chief behavioral officer, Daniel Crosby, and his team.

As Wolfsen explained it, PulseCheck is a tool that helps advisors consider investors’ personal well-being and fulfillment as part of the financial planning process. She said it “embodies Orion’s commitment to empowering advisors” and align clients’ personal planning goals with investment strategies.

As a workflow within Orion Planning, PulseCheck guides users through a reflective and actionable journey, Wolfsen said. The process starts with the identification and prioritization of six wellness categories that represent the pillars of a fulfilling life. These are happiness, engagement, advancement, relationships, truth and strength.

“This may sound very ‘California’ to some people, but I’m OK with that, because I’m from California,” Wolfsen joked. “The tool facilitates an individualized and introspective planning experience. Investors rank these categories and gauge their current level of satisfaction in each. The advisor can then focus on the category with the largest gap between importance and fulfillment.”

According to Wolfsen, this data-driven insight enables the setting of meaningful goals — be they financial or personal — which are then incorporated into a comprehensive financial plan.

Pictured: Natalie Wolfsen

John Manganaro

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