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Orion Advisor Solutions
Eric Clarke launched Orion in Omaha, Nebraska in 1999, originally as an online portfolio accounting and performance-reporting service for independent...
Orion Advisor Solutions
Eric Clarke launched Orion in Omaha, Nebraska in 1999, originally as an online portfolio accounting and performance-reporting service for independent financial advisors. The company emerged from a technology gap Clarke observed while working at a registered investment advisory firm: standalone reporting tools were scarce, and advisors spent too much time on manual reconciliation. Early growth came from an integration with TD Ameritrade's custodial platform that let Orion automatically ingest and normalize account data across multiple custodians. Orion's core business spans three pillars: portfolio accounting and performance reporting, a turnkey asset management platform that lets advisors outsource investment management, and a suite of client-experience and financial-planning tools. The TAMP gives advisors access to model portfolios, tax-optimized rebalancing, and direct-indexing strategies. M&A accelerated the stacking — the 2018 acquisition of Advizr added goals-based financial planning, 2020 brought the Brinker Capital and CLS Investments TAMPs under one roof, and the 2022 purchase of Redtail Technology folded in a CRM used by roughly 100,000 advisors. Orion's platform now serves RIAs, IBD-affiliated advisors, and enterprise wealth-management firms across the United States. In February 2023, private-equity firm Genstar Capital acquired a majority stake in Orion from TA Associates, valuing the business at roughly $1.8 billion. Clarks remained CEO through the transition before Natalie Wolfsen, previously CEO of AssetMark, succeeded him in late 2023. Post-acquisition, Orion integrated the Redtail CRM with its existing dashboard, giving advisors a single sign-on environment that connects client data, trading, billing, and communication. The firm also rolled out a behavioral-finance module and expanded its direct-indexing capabilities, responding to advisor demand for tax-aware personalization at scale. The power-distribution landscape is one Orion plays differently than peers Envestnet and AssetMark. Orion owns both the portfolio-accounting backbone and the TAMP, while also offering an open-architecture marketplace where third-party strategists and asset managers can plug in. This dual posture — fiduciary-tech utility plus curated investment outsourcing — creates a stickiness that pure-play TAMPs struggle to replicate, as the firm becomes the advisor's operating system rather than a plug-in.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1999
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Omaha
Corporate office
Omaha, NE, United States
Principals
Eric Clarke
Founder
Natalie Wolfsen
Chief Executive Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Orion Advisor Solutions?
Orion is not a single decision-maker shop. The firm operates a turnkey asset management platform with a curated roster of third-party strategists — including its in-house CLS Investments and Brinker Capital teams — who construct model portfolios. Advisors select from these models or build their own, so investment decisions sit with the strategist or the advisor.
How does Orion source and deliver its model portfolios?
Orion's TAMP, named Orion Portfolio Solutions, houses model portfolios from internal teams like CLS and Brinker and from dozens of external asset managers. Advisors access the models through Orion's platform, which handles trading, rebalancing, and tax management. The sourcing is a marketplace model: strategists compete for shelf space and advisor allocation.
Is Orion a TAMP, a technology vendor, or both?
Both. Orion provides the portfolio-accounting and performance-reporting software many RIAs use as their core system, and it also offers a TAMP that manages assets on an outsourced basis. The 2018, 2020, and 2022 acquisitions of Advizr, Brinker/CLS, and Redtail show a clear strategy to bundle the operating system and the investment engine.
How is Orion different from Envestnet or AssetMark?
Orion's accounting and billing engine is independent of its TAMP — advisors can use the reporting tools without buying Orion's model portfolios. Envestnet and AssetMark are more tightly coupled between reporting and managed accounts. Orion also integrated Redtail's CRM, creating a single sign-on workflow that few competitors match.
What is Orion's ownership structure after the Genstar deal?
In February 2023, Genstar Capital acquired a majority stake, with TA Associates exiting and Genstar becoming the controlling institutional owner. Orion management and employees retain a minority position. The deal was reported to value the company at roughly $1.8 billion.
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