Sowell Management has entered an exclusive partnership with global asset manager Rayliant and will leverage its quantitative and research-based investment strategies to bolster Sowell’s outsourced chief investment officer platform for independent advisors.
As part of the collaboration, Rayliant founder and chairman Jason Hsu, PhD, has been appointed chief investment strategist for Sowell. Hsu is a leading figure in quantitative and smart beta investing and will work alongside Sowell’s OCIO team to refine portfolio management processes and reinforce the firm’s institutional discipline.
“The most successful financial advisors realize that their greatest value to clients is devoting time to financial planning and relationship building, not on the ever increasing complexities of investment management,” says Bill Sowell, CEO of Sowell Management. “Outsourcing this time-consuming yet vital process has been central to our philosophy since our founding. That is why we’ve invested so heavily in our OCIO platform.”
The partnership expands on Sowell’s longstanding relationships with Affinity Investment Advisors and other asset managers, further diversifying its OCIO platform. Rayliant will contribute global research capabilities and new model strategies to complement existing portfolios managed by Affinity, Goldman Sachs, and select third parties.
“Over the last decade, Rayliant has partnered with advisors to bring institutional-quality investing to wealth management,” said Hsu. “During that same time, Sowell has helped countless advisors succeed by providing high-touch, turnkey OCIO services. Our partnership brings together the best of both worlds: Rayliant’s institutional asset allocation strategies using smart beta ETFs delivered through Sowell’s white-glove concierge platform, built as the ‘easy button’ for advisors.”
Sowell is approaching its 25 year anniversary in 2026 and last year partnered with Tifin to supercharge client acquisition. The privately held RIA’s network of financial advisors represent over $6 billion in client assets (AUA/AUM) as of September 2025.
Rayliant is a relatively young company, founded in 2016 by Hsu, who also co-founded Research Affiliates and is a finance professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management.
The Cleveland-based RIA's latest tie-up extends the firm's national footprint into the Golden State, where opinions continue to be split over a contentious billionaire wealth tax proposal.
Meanwhile, Cetera has welcomed a family-run practice from Commonwealth, and a Merrill advisor joins an existing UBS team in Connecticut.
The Olympia, Washington firm's retirement planning expertise reinforces the consolidator's growth momentum to exceed $160 billion in client assets.
Beyond content generation and execution, firms that can offer answers around governance, transparency, and supervision are set to pull ahead in the next leg of the AI race.
The experienced advisory teams join Ameriprise and Janney as the race for experienced talent continues.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
