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Orion Empowers 'Forgotten' Brokerages With Outsourced Asset Management and End-to-End Enterprise Offering
[October 23, 2018]

Orion Empowers 'Forgotten' Brokerages With Outsourced Asset Management and End-to-End Enterprise Offering


Orion Advisor Services, LLC ("Orion"), the premier portfolio management solution provider for registered investment advisors, today announces at the T3 Enterprise Conference the expansion of its investment management capabilities with the availability of Orion Enterprise, a joint offering developed with NorthStar's newest subsidiary FTJ FundChoice, LLC, a leading turnkey asset management platform that offers the proprietary multi-strategy investment process, Market Movement Strategies (MMS).

Designed to support the unique portfolio management technology and managed account needs of broker-dealers and RIAs of all sizes, the expanded offering aligns with Orion's strategy to provide a continuum of self-directed to turnkey asset management solutions.

"There is a segment of the market-70-75% of broker-dealers as well as many RIAs-currently underserved by the big technology players who seem to be focused on serving the needs of only the largest firms in the space," said Eric Clarke, founder and CEO of Orion. Packaged with the complete power of Orion's portfolio accounting capabilities, the enterprise offering provides technology and service solutions to support the full scope of portfolio management needs within a single platform.

Clarke continued, "Since NorthStar's acquisition of FTJ FundChoice, a long-time integration partner and client of Orion, we have worked to deepen the connection between our platforms to empower these forgotten firms-and any others ready for the kind of streamlined service experience they deserve-with the full range of in- and outsourced investment management options, all within their Orion portfolio management technology."

Available alongside Orion's tools for portfolio optimization, trading and rebalancing, and model sharing, Orion Enterprise includes access to FTJ FundChoice's selective list of leading, third-party investment strategists and due diligence workflow to represent the most turnkey of the investment management options offered. The complementary suite of soltions now includes:



  • Eclipse - A next-generation trading and rebalancing solution integrated directly into the Orion Connect platform.
  • ASTRO - Powerful portfolio rebalancing solution, providing the ability to automatically create portfolios that address client-specific issues like legacy holdings, ESG concerns, and tax considerations.
  • Communities - A peer-to-peer model marketplace that enables advisors to easily offer a wide variety of investment choices and compete with digital advice solutions on price and rebalancing functionality.
  • Managed Accounts Platform - Access to third-party strategists, best-in-class investment models, including custom management portfolios from CLS Investments, LLC and integrated due-diligence and oversight.

"Advisors crave control," said Dean Cook, CEO of FTJ FundChoice. "As more mid-size and regional broker-dealers look to begin the transition to fee-based business models, providing a seamless experience that pairs Orion's powerful trading and back-office technology with our open-architecture TAMP and oversight architecture, lowers the barrier to entry many of these firms and their advisors and teams face."

Advisors aren't the only ones who will benefit from the flexibility and choice provided by Orion Enterprise. The platform also offers firm executives and home office staff the ability to define advanced platform configuration options, set global and advisor-specific permission settings, and manage available templates and models to reflect their firm's goals.


"We're working hard to help our clients experience the power of a platform built to reflect the expectations they've set for the experience their advisors and clients enjoy as part of their relationship," Clarke said. "Through this process of consultative customization, we help each firm implement best practices customized to enhance their unique value proposition."

In addition to access to technology and independent strategist-directed portfolios, Orion Enterprise users will also have access to ongoing education and practice management resources delivered by a newly established team of specialists working across organizations to ensure a consistent and reliable implementation, training, and service experience. Opportunities will include onsite and online meetings for onboarding best practices; investment management coaching and support; regular education and content on topics of most interest; and access to Ascent, Orion's learner-led online training platform.

"We see our implementation and ongoing support model as a major differentiator for Orion Enterprise," Clarke said. "Because Orion and FTJ FundChoice have been such close partners, our clients don't have to worry about a disjointed post-sale experience that is often the result when working with firms involved in a lot of M&A activity."

To learn more about Orion's continuum of services for firms, sign up for a webinar here or contact us here.


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