RIA Success Requires 'Relentless' Attitude: Orion CEO

"From advancements in AI that simplify complexity, to new approaches that deliver more personalized portfolios and deeper client connections, to executive tools that give leaders a clearer view into their firms' performance, Ascent 2026 will spotlight Orion's most powerful innovations yet," said Wolfsen, leading her third annual conference since taking the CEO reins from Eric Clarke.

She also teased more platform-related announcements in store at Ascent.

"Our clients have achieved an organic asset growth rate nearly 10% higher than their peers," Wolfsen said. "They are also leading 75% of wealth management M&A, by assets, and are consistently pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Their success is our north star, and Ascent is designed to celebrate that mindset and fuel it with bold ideas, practical tools, and a community that empowers advisors to push further, faster."

Here are some additional highlights from our conversation, edited for length and clarity.

THINKADVISOR: Can you give us your overall perspective on how 2025 and early 2026 have gone for Orion and its clients? How does this moment compare with earlier times in your career leading wealth management technology innovation?

NATALIE WOLFSEN: As you recall, the last time we spoke was to mark the moment Orion passed the $5 trillion mark in terms of total client assets, including $103 billion in assets under management on the platform. That was in July 2025, and in the time since those figures have grown to $5.8 trillion and $113 billion in AUM, so the growth has just been accelerating in an incredible way. It's a reflection of the amazing work our advisor-clients do on behalf of the clients they serve in turn.

Overall, 2025 was a great year in so many ways. We built on our AI initiatives in a very meaningful way, and in early 2026 we have several exciting AI-powered solutions that are nearing launch. We will be talking about those at Ascent, where we're also going to be hosting our first-ever AI Lab specifically focused on helping advisors come to grips with our capabilities and learn about how they can utilize AI.

We also spoke previously about internal survey data that shows that Orion clients achieved an organic asset growth rate that was nearly 10% higher than that of non-Orion clients. A big part of this outsize growth 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. That success continues and we couldn't be prouder.

All of that continues in 2026, so we feel that we are in a very strong position as we prepare to come together in San Diego, which is such a great venue for an advisor conference. It's going to be another record-setting conference in terms of attendance, which is gratifying to see.

THINKADVISOR: Artificial intelligence certainly gets a lot of attention in both the financial media and the general press, with many saying AI is going to transform how advisors do their work — if it hasn't already. The attention seems justified, but what's your opinion?

WOLFSEN: I couldn't agree with you more, and that is for two main reasons. The first one is that never in my technology-focused career have I seen change that is so important and that is happening so fast. It's no exaggeration to say that we have already advanced our AI tech by two generations since we last spoke in the middle of 2025. That's a pace of change that is something new for everyone involved in the wealth management industry, and it is not going to slow down.

As an advisor, you just have this rapid tooling up that allows you to continue to improve what you're doing in ways that maybe you couldn't have imagined even six months or a year ago. The opportunities to add scale while increasing personalization for clients is something that is truly exciting for us and for the industry.

And then the second related reason is that there's never been such abundance of information and access to insights for advisors. That abundance presents an amazing opportunity to elevate and personalize the planning that advisors are doing, but it also comes with its own complexity.

At Orion, we find beta testing with advisors to be extremely important as we develop tools and capabilities in this environment. It's an essential part of the process in terms of understanding how we can deliver information and new capabilities without overwhelming our clients.

THINKADVISOR: Beta testing is always an important part of rolling out new capabilities to the advisor industry, but it's arguably more so for AI. It is, on the one hand, potentially so powerful, but you have to make sure people are engaging with it the right way — and that the data is secure and flowing as it should. Do you think that's the case?

WOLFSEN: Again, couldn't agree more.

For example, one of the things we learned in our beta testing of some forthcoming tools is that even though you're working to make sure that advisors can engage with them using natural language questions, sometimes advisors don't automatically know the questions to ask. Effectively engaging with AI is an ongoing process.

For that reason, we found that it is very helpful if we give advisors some standard questions or prompts to start with, and then we made sure the tools themselves learn how to help them understand how to improve their prompts. This is the kind of evolving approach that can make advisors much more effective and efficient as they engage with the AI.

These dynamics are a big reason why this year will feature our first AI Lab at the Ascent conference. We are creating a space where folks can not only engage with and learn about all our AI-powered solutions, but it's also an opportunity for us to learn about and understand the real business problems they're facing and how AI could be deployed to help.

THINKADVISOR; Are there other conference highlights or information about Ascent 2026 that our readers should know about? It's interesting to see that Tim Grover will be a keynote speaker. What are some other highlights?

WOLFSEN: That's definitely a highlight, and it's actually a nice synergy that his book is literally titled "Relentless." Tim Grover has been the trusted advisor to some of the world's greatest champions — including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. He's been recognized by USA Today as one of the top mindset and performance coaches in the world. At Ascent, his keynote will bring those lessons to life for financial advisors, inspiring them to pursue excellence with the same focus and discipline as the legends he's coached.

Overall, I would just highlight that our mission is to create a truly transformative three-day environment where folks can invest their time to tell us about their key challenges and to learn about our tools and resources. It's also about creating connections so that they can come out of that three-day experience feeling like they have more resources, more understanding, than they've ever had before.

Beyond the AI Lab, there will be some other exciting firsts for Ascent 2026, including a women's empowerment lounge. It's a place where women in wealth management can connect and learn from leaders who we have drawn from across the industry. They're going to have "office hours" where they will give guidance, create mentorship, give career advice and just connect.

We're also setting up other specific community groups and networking opportunities, including breakout tracks for COOs, CTOs, chief compliance officers, CIOs, etc. We launched those last year and they were really popular.

As in past years, we'll also have our personalized consultations sessions where you can schedule time and get one-on-one consultations about specific Orion investments or technology.

Finally, I'd highlight our top-notch exhibit hall, where you can learn more about all of our integration partners. Right now, we have about 550 integrations, and many of those partners will be at Ascent to talk to their clients about how to get the most out of what they're trying to do for advisors and investors.

To sum it up, Ascent is about helping advisors access smarter strategies, deeper personalization and new ways of connecting wealth to each client's goals and values. That relentless focus on clients is what sets the best advisors apart, and it's what this event is all about.

Pictured: Natalie Wolfsen