Orion Advisor Solutions and Brinker Capital are to join forces to create a combined technology and TAMP provider enabling independent financial advisors to grow their businesses, serve their clients, and win in the marketplace. Genstar Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, will invest in the combined business, as will Orion’s existing financial partner, global growth private equity firm TA Associates. Brinker Capital’s founder, Charles Widger, and other members of Brinker Capital’s management, including Noreen D Beaman, CEO, will invest in the combined business, alongside continued investment from Eric Clarke, Orion’s CEO, and the rest of the Orion team. This newly formed partnership places the combined business in a position to seize new opportunities based on product excellence, channel breadth, and talented senior leadership.
“Over the past 30 years since founding Brinker Capital, we have built the company into one of the nation’s largest independent investment management companies by consistently prioritising investor returns over investment returns,” says Widger. “We are excited to have found a partner in Orion that understands our business and shares the same cultural commitment to providing excellence in investment management goals and outcomes for financial advisors and investors.”
“The entire team at Orion is excited by the enhanced capabilities that Brinker Capital’s team brings to the table, and we welcome Genstar Capital as a major shareholder alongside TA Associates and our employees,” says Clarke. “The future of Orion is incredibly bright, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving financial advisors with our world-class capabilities.”
Brinker Capital Brings Investment Power to Orion Platform
In addition to their respected and tenured investment management capabilities, the decision to merge with Brinker Capital was based on both existing and potential opportunities to provide clients with access to differentiated solutions and expertise, including Brinker Capital’s:
• Comprehensive High-Net-Worth Offering, through its Wealth Advisory service, which provides advisors with a bespoke investment solution to meet the specialized needs of high-net-worth and institutional investors. The offering includes access to a dedicated portfolio management team, tax management, and specialised service offerings, including ESG, banking and lending, and trust services.
• Behavioural Innovation Lab, providing advisors with the tools, training, and technology for the practical application of behavioural finance — an increasingly popular and innovative approach for offering financial advice and delivering a tailored client experience that, with the support of Orion, will become a predictive model for identifying points within the advisor-client relationship that need attention, especially during times of great market volatility.
• Proprietary Investment Strategies, deep investment expertise and capabilities, most notably utilising an institutional multi-asset class investment approach that applies the principles of diversification, innovation, and active management to help investors achieve better outcomes. The Destinations mutual fund portfolios have more than USD12 billion in assets and a 25-year track record.
Brinker Capital’s investment management capabilities will be unified with those of CLS Investments, and both will be integrated into the Orion brand family as “Brinker Capital Investments.” Repositioning CLS Investments as part of Brinker Capital leverages the great synergies that exist between the two companies, bringing together two of the industry’s most well-respected — and tenured — investment management businesses. Beaman will become the president of the combined in-house investment manager, as well as a member of Orion’s board of directors.
”We are entering this transaction from a position of strength, and the growth across our key product areas continues to demonstrate success,” says Beaman. “By marrying our proprietary strategies with Orion’s best-in-class technology and open-architecture investment platform, we’ll be combining our unique strengths to enable clients working with both of our companies to continue building strong, profitable, and future-ready advisory businesses.”
