Orion, the wealth management technology firm, announced Tuesday that its technology supports $5.2 trillion in client assets under administration, including nearly $103 billion in assets held directly on its wealth management platform. The figure, reported as of June 30, is up some 35% since 2023.
CEO Natalie Wolfsen, in an interview with ThinkAdvisor, cited advisors’ strong organic growth and heightened M&A activity as key drivers of the performance. Additional factors include the push for more personalized and tax-savvy portfolios, as well as a general trend of advisors shifting their practices toward fee-based financial planning.
“It’s been a remarkable few years of growth for our clients, and by extension, for Orion,” Wolfsen said. “We’ve seen an over 15% year-over-year increase in technology accounts for three consecutive years. Today, the firm supports more than 7.5 million technology accounts, 326,000 wealth management accounts and 25,000 firms.”
A new internal survey shows that Orion clients achieved an organic asset growth rate that was nearly 10% higher than that of non-Orion clients. Part of this outsize growth, she said, stems from Orion clients using their client relationship management tools more seamlessly than their peers — saving them time and effort to reinvest in client service and business development.
Separately, Wolfsen noted, an Orion analysis of Fidelity data shows that the firm’s clients led deals representing 75% of all 2024 merger and acquisition activity in the wealth management space (based on assets), with six of the top seven “mega RIAs” tracked by Barron's now relying on Orion technology.
“These findings underscore Orion’s role as the growth partner of choice for RIAs, enterprises and hybrid firms across all advisory models,” she said. “Our clients are among the most forward-thinking and growth-oriented firms in the industry. Orion is proud to serve as a force multiplier that helps advisors scale more efficiently, deepen client relationships, and unlock new opportunities.”
Wolfsen, who took on the CEO role in late 2023, also thanked her staff and leadership team for making the $5 trillion milestone possible — including both long-tenured professionals and more recent hires like Reed Colley, president of Orion Advisor Technology, and Ron Pruitt, president of Orion Wealth Management.
“On a personal note, it’s just an amazing time to be leading an organization like this,” Wolfsen said. “I can’t go through the whole team right now, but we have exactly the right people in place to lead the next phase of Orion’s growth.”
Importance of Open Architecture
Under Wolfsen, Orion has achieved more than 500 distinct technology integrations with outside service providers, supplemented by advisor access to 1,500 portfolio models and 225 asset managers.
“A lot of our success stems from our perspective on data,” Wolfsen said. “We have a perspective that is fundamentally about building an open architecture platform. That means the way we handle data is much more flexible, and it means we can integrate more quickly and effectively as advisors’ needs evolve. We also believe that the advisor should own the data, and we aren't in the business of building silos.”
On Orion’s Recent Board Split
Wolfsen also discussed Orion’s recent decision to split its board of directors into two distinct entities: a “focused” board that includes members of its two private equity owners and a new advisory council consisting of a number of former top executives, including its founder, Eric Clarke.
The advisory council features what Wolfsen called “visionary” former Orion executives. In addition to Clarke, these include Noreen Beaman, who was CEO of Brinker Capital before its acquisition by Orion, and Brian McLaughlin, CEO and co-founder of Redtail, which is also now part of Orion.
“It’s been a wonderful process so far,” Wolfsen said. “I always felt a deep sense of accountability to the board of directors, and now even more so. Both groups are able to offer such great guidance, and splitting them in two gives me twice as much time to engage and take advantage of their expertise and leadership. A lot of folks have asked me, does this mean that Eric or Brian or Noreen are less involved? Actually no, the opposite is true.”
Could Anything Spoil the Party?
Wolfsen said she is optimistic about the future for Orion and its advisor clients while noting the firm's need to reinvest in technology and to keep abreast of economic trends and potential policy changes coming out of Washington.
“You can think of this space as kind of an ongoing arms race,” Wolfsen said. “There is a need to just continually reinvest and rethink your approach. I’m optimistic, but I’m also paid to worry about what could possibly go wrong. The fact of the matter is that the pace of innovation in our space is already so high, and it continues to accelerate. For us, that's both a big challenge and our biggest opportunity.”
Wolfsen said that holds true for Orion’s clients, and she looks forward to continuing to deliver exceptional service for their clients and prospects.
“We like to think of Orion as the research and development art arm of every advisor that we serve,” Wolfsen concluded. “That means we’re constantly exploring and experimenting with things like artificial intelligence, personalization, new investment philosophies, you name it."
Pictured: Natalie Wolfsen
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