Envestnet, Orion Partnerships Add New Advisor Tools to Competing TAMPs

Another day, another wealthtech announcement. 

There’s a good reason why it’s so hard to keep up with all the technology updates being announced in the wealth management industry these days. There’s a bloody lot of them. Established turnkey asset management platforms, emergent fintech software companies and financial advisory firms are all working hard to build an open architecture, interconnected technology ecosystem that puts more tools and information (and also more strategic decisions) into the hands of planning professionals. Leading TAMPs including Orion and Envestnet unveiled partnerships this week that they said would enhance the “wealth management experience.” It’s a big change from proprietary software and closely cordoned data, and one that should ultimately benefit both advisors and their clients

There’s sure to be some discomfort along the way, however, as advisors adapt new workflows and even new philosophies about delivering value in the financial planning process. Consider those growing pains. 

Enlightening Integrations 

Orion unveiled an upgraded integration with Flourish that aims to bring client cash front and center. If clients opt in, eligible cash account data can be linked into Orion’s reporting and planning workflows. 

Historically, held-away cash assets often remained outside the advisory workflow, limiting visibility into an important component of household balance sheets. In practice, this has held advisors back from deeper planning conversations around cash-flow management, distributions, windfalls and excess cash. Similar challenges have existed in other planning areas, including estate and trust planning. Today, advisors are experiencing a steady shift towards a more unified planning framework with a little help from something called …  artificial intelligence: 

• The vast majority of advisors (87%) believe their technology stack effectively supports their achievement of key business objectives, per Cerulli data. 
• Conversely, significantly fewer feel their current tech stack is providing a high-quality client experience (35%) or enabling effective and efficient delivery of investment management services (33%). 

We See You, Envestnet. Not to be outdone, Envestnet joined the party this week and announced a partnership with the fast-growing RIA firm Osaic aimed at enabling advisors to “manage client assets more efficiently from a single platform while increasing their platform assets.” Envestnet executives said the partnership reflects a broader industry trend toward platform-based asset management, including the increased adoption of unified managed accounts.