Orion merges with Brinker Capital to form $40 billion TAMP

Orion Advisor Solutions is merging with competing turnkey asset management platform Brinker Capital to create an investment management firm and technology provider with approximately $40 billion in managed assets.

The merger opens potential opportunities for the combined company and gives it the necessary scale to contend in a highly competitive industry — just behind TAMP powerhouses like Envestnet, SEI and AssetMark in terms of assets.

Private-equity firm Genstar Capital will invest in the business, as will Orion’s existing backer, TA Associates, according to a release. Brinker’s founder, Charles Widger, other Brinker executives, including CEO Noreen Beaman, and Orion CEO Eric Clarke are also minority investors. 

Brinker Capital’s investment management business will be unified with those of Orion's CLS Investments, an ETF strategist working with over 6,000 financial advisors and 1,300 qualified plan sponsors to manage nearly 45,000 investor portfolios on the Orion platform. That business line will be rebranded as Brinker Capital Investments. 

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Thirty-year-old Brinker already manages $24.5 billion in client assets as of June for more than 4,000 registered investment advisers at insurance broker-dealers and independent broker-dealers. The investment platform’s Wealth Advisory service provides advisers with a portfolio management team, tax management and ESG, banking, lending and trust services. 

“The Genstar team came to us and asked us what we would think about combining our businesses,” Clarke said. “Their investment capabilities have such a great reputation and the work they do around behavioral finance was something that really interested us.”

Also joining the Orion family are Brinker’s Behavioral Innovation Lab and proprietary investment strategies, including the Destinations mutual fund portfolios, which have more than $12 billion in assets and a 25-year track record, according to the release.

Rumors circulated in January that Orion was up for sale by private-equity investors TA Associates. The PE firm acquired Orion (formerly known as NorthStar Financial Services Group) in 2015, and reportedly was working with Raymond James to sell Orion for an estimated $1.875 billion.

“We’re always evaluating our strategic business,” Clarke said. “There was a  lot of speculation as we explored this opportunity specifically around TA. Their continued support and interest in our business is exciting and to have Genstar on board will really provide a fresh, new perspective for our team.”

Orion’s recent acquisition of financial planning startup Advizr helped push the company past the $1 trillion threshold in assets under advisement. The company underwent a major rebranding in 2019, changing the name of parent company Northstar, which also owns FTJ FundChoice, CLS Investments and Constellation Trust, to Orion Advisor Services.

Orion has more than 850 employees across six office locations and works with 2,000 advisory firms, according to a release. 

“There are fintech projects that we've been working on together around behavioral finance tools for advisers, and this gives us a chance to bring them to a much bigger pond,” said Brinker's Beaman. “From the few phone calls I’ve been able to be on today, clients are very happy. We think this is going to be a game changer.”