Orion, one of many main suppliers of wealth administration know-how to bigger RIAs, is buying Summit Wealth Methods, a next-generation portfolio administration and reporting platform and appointing Reed Colley, its co-founder and CEO, as President of Orion Advisor Know-how.
Colley will report back to Orion CEO Natalie Wolfsen and exchange Brian McLaughlin, who stepped down in August.
The deal’s monetary phrases weren’t disclosed, however the transaction is predicted to shut in early 2025. Summit’s 12 workers will be a part of Orion, and the model will, for now, stay on inside Orion.
Regardless of the excellent news and notable business wins (for instance, Seattle-based RIA Brighton Jones signed an settlement with Summit in January), the surroundings for gross sales of wealth administration platforms has been difficult, and Summit has not been immune to those headwinds, based on business specialists.
This may particularly be the case for advisory companies that make portfolio accounting and administration platforms the core of their operations. The advantages of investing in a brand new and fashionable platform continuously don’t justify the price of changing present techniques.
Requested in regards to the present local weather and the way Summit has been faring by way of gross sales, Colley declined to reply instantly.
“It may be robust if you find yourself constructing one thing—there’s a lot you intend for and loads you don’t—however on the finish of the day, in constructing Summit, my goal was to construct one thing that may have an excellent influence on the business,” stated Colley
Requested whether or not the acquisition duplicates a vital quantity of the know-how Orion already sells, CEO Natalie Wolfsen, whom WealthManagement.com interviewed by way of a web-based video name on the identical time, responded, “No.”
“I don’t consider it as duplicative,” she stated, noting that Orion has a really broad set of applied sciences that serve advisory companies and that these companies are extra selective when deciding on a platform.
“Like all know-how, should you don’t innovate, you’ll fall behind,” Wolfsen stated. Buying the fashionable tech stack out there inside Summit could be a method to carry collectively the very best in portfolio accounting and reporting, she stated.
Summit Wealth Methods was based by Colley (who additionally based Black Diamond, later acquired by Creation) in 2020. It was constructed from scratch in Java Script to reap the benefits of the newest cloud-native applied sciences and make its person interface each extensible and interactive.
The platform combines a holistic visible stability sheet, wealth modeling, and monetary planning, as effectively as advisor-client collaboration instruments, portfolio administration and efficiency reporting.
A part of what has impressed advisors with the platform is its collaborative elements. One instance is its Wealth Journey module, which by default shows a protracted arc line graph of a consumer’s portfolio over time that is filled with interactive information. This permits an advisor to work with shoppers and intuitively illustrate their previous and current whereas reviewing or planning for the longer term.
Summit gained WealthManagement.com Trade Awards in 2022 and 2023 within the Trade Disruptor and Revolutionary New Apps classes.
“Reed is a visionary, modern, extremely skilled chief with a deep dedication to serving to wealth companies, monetary advisors and traders thrive in right this moment’s dynamic surroundings,” Wolfsen stated of Colley within the assertion saying the deal.
