Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
SEPTEMBER 2015
CONTENTSADVISOR SPOTLIGHTPaul Zappala
3
5EVENTS
INSIDE ORIONTJ Maher
6
8
INTEGRATION SPOTLIGHT10
IN CASE YOU MISSED ITOrion Announces Its Inclusion in LPL Financial’s Newly Launched Vendor Affinity Program
3
ADVISORSPOTLIGHT
Q: Location
A: Cleveland, Ohio
Q: One word that describes how you work
A: Efficiently
Q: Why did you decide to join the RIA industry?
A: While working in another industry, this opportunity to assist in another presented itself. I saw it
as another step in my professional journey, centered in information technology, but often varied in
its application.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working with your clients?
A: Helping to solve challenging problems that stand in everyone’s way to achieving their goals.
These can be technological, operational, even spiritual in nature.
Paul Zappala
Q: Current position & company
A: Chief Compliance Officer, Director of Operations and Information Technology, Fairport Asset Management
(continued on next page)
4
Q: Tell us about some of your favorite books, or what you are currently reading?
A: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald are two favorites.
I also enjoy Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy, Annie Proulx, and the late Elmore Leonard.
Q: What do you do to unwind when not working (in other words, what are some of your hobbies)?
A: Riding my Harley Davidson Sportster under blues skies with the sun shining brightly.
Q: What is your favorite type of music?
A: Rock and Roll, but I enjoy all genres.
Q: What is your favorite app?
A: Any web browser, it takes me to everything I need.
Q: WHAT IS ONE THING YOU CAN’T DO WITHOUT AT WORK?
A: Music. Coffee. Ok that’s two.
Q: What are the top three essential tools in your workspace?
A: eMail, Orion, and CRM.
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
A: Computers. The year was 1976. There were two other C’s on the list; the others were crime and
communications, believe it or not.
Q: Where do you see this industry going in the next five years?
A: Into the the light, evolve technologically and operationally or get left behind.
Want to be featured in our Advisor Spotlight or know someone who should? Contact Orion’s marketing team at [email protected] for more information.
5
EVENTS
Sept 15-18
Dreamforce 2015San Francisco, California
Sept 15-17
XY Planning Network 2015 Charlotte, South Carolina
Sept 10-13
Fuse 2015Park City, Utah Learn more at fuse2015.com
Sept 2-3
Orion Tech LabOmaha, Nebraska
Sept 21-23
NorthStar Summit 2015Nashville, Tennessee
6
INSIDEORION
Q: How long have you been here?
A: 5 years
Q: What would you say you do here?
A: I oversee a department of talented project managers, account managers, coordinators, and senior
historical analysts that work to onboard new advisors to the Orion platform. With an emphasis on project
management we provide setup, training, historical data conversions, and consulting on back office
management best practices to ensure our advisors have a successful start with Orion.
Q: How many different positons have you had at Orion and what were they?
A: I started as an Account Manager back in 2010. In 2012 I started transitioning over into our Implementation
department in various capacities and shortly after that began managing one of the Implementation
teams. In 2014 I began managing that department.
TJ Maher
Q: What’s your current job title?
A: Senior Implementation Manager
(continued on next page)
7
Q: What’s your favorite thing about working here?
A: I have an entrepreneurial mindset so one of my favorite things about working for Orion is getting to help
new RIAs and breakaways start their new businesses off on the right foot. It’s an exciting time for those
new firms, but can also be stressful and confusing as there are often a lot of new things happening in
their company all at once. I like being able to work with their offices on creating scalable best practices
to ensure they have a solid foundation to grow on.
Oh yeah…and did I mention that our office can transform into an 18 hole putt putt course at a moment’s
notice, food truck sightings are a frequent occurrence in the parking lot here, and our building backs up
to an awesome lake and recreation area? Needless to say, Orion is a pretty cool place to work.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I detasseled corn and umpired baseball games in jr. high, but my first actual job was at Ace Hardware
when I was 15.
Q: What’s your favorite movie?
A: I don’t know if I have a favorite, but I would have to put Tommy Boy towards the top of my list.
Q: What’s your favorite book?
A: Wins, Losses, and Lessons by Lou Holtz. Whether you love the guy or can’t stand him he’s got a great
story and a very entertaining and positive outlook on life.
Q: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
A: Anything that involves being outside and active and I’m in. I’m fairly competitive and enjoy any and all
sports. I also like traveling to new places and trying new things.
Q: What is your favorite article of clothing?
A: A nice pair of jorts (do they even still make those?)
Q: R&B, Blues, Slow Jams, or Hip Hop. You can only choose one.
A: Hip Hop
Connect with your Service Teamfor Solutions to Empower You!We are excited for the upcoming Tech Labs! Contact your Account Manager for registration instructions. Here are the dates for the 2015 Tech Labs as well as the Tech Lab daily schedule:
• September 2-3 - FULL
• November 4-5 - FULL
• December 2-3 - FULL
Limited attendance – each session is capped at 25 attendees
Day One:LunchTechnology UpdateOne-on-one Meetings & Flex
TimeDinner at Lazlo’s Brewery & Grill
Day Two:Group Discussions & Idea SharingOne-on-one MeetingsLunch & Departures
8
The Vendor Affinity Program by LPL Financial is a
new initiative designed to help advisors reduce the
complexity and costs of running their businesses
Orion is the largest privately owned portfolio
accounting platform in the United States
Orion Advisor Services, LLC (“Orion”), the premier
portfolio accounting service provider for advisors,
today announced its inclusion in the recently
launched Vendor Affinity Program by LPL Financial
LLC (“LPL”), the nation’s largest independent
broker-dealer*, a custodian for registered
investment advisers (RIAs), and a wholly owned
subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc.
The Vendor Affinity Program is a new initiative
designed to help advisors reduce the complexity
and cost of running their businesses. The program
creates a centralized repository of vendors who
have been reviewed by LPL and will provide
their products and services to LPL advisors at
discounted prices.
“We are thrilled to be part of the very first group of
vendors to be reviewed and included by LPL in their
Affinity Vendor Program,” said Eric Clarke, CEO
of Orion. “In today’s increasingly technologically
complex world, being able to provide advisors with
a vetted ecosystem of reliable and quality providers
gives them the confidence and time to focus on
building wealth for their clients. We are proud
to be included as part of this collection of tier
one vendors.”
Orion can enhance or become an advisor’s back
office, dramatically increasing efficiencies and
improving firm performance. Orion implements
scalable solutions that include:
Portfolio accounting services
Digital and video statement reporting
Advisory fee billing
CRM integration
Client communications (Deliver)
Trade order management (TOM)
Open web API supporting integrations
Cost basis and tax reporting
Composite performance reporting
Open-source client web portal
New account opening interface
Business metrics reporting
Mobile apps
Orion Advisor Services, LLC Announces Its Inclusion in LPL Financial’s Newly Launched Vendor Affinity Program
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
“For our advisors, technology solutions drive some of the greatest impact to the operational efficiencies of their practices,” - Victor Fetter
(continued on next page)
9
“For our advisors, technology solutions drive
some of the greatest impact to the operational
efficiencies of their practices,” said Victor Fetter,
LPL managing director and chief information
officer. “Understanding that, we are excited to be
able to connect our LPL clients with providers such
as Orion, which shares the same belief as LPL that
by simplifying and streamlining their operations,
they can spend more time with clients to help them
to reach their financial goals.”
10
INTEGRATIONSPOTLIGHT
Running a successful advisory practice requires that you wear a lot of different hats and wear each of them well. Today’s
fast-paced environment means that you need to
be able to move between all of these roles that
compete for your time quickly and efficiently. Simply
put, your tech choices can go a long way toward
determining the success of your efforts to stay on
top of everything while also helping you to create
the best possible experience for your clients.
Client Relationship Management (CRM) software is
one of the primary tools advisors can use to improve
operational efficiencies and boost their productivity.
Redtail CRM is an industry leader in the financial
advisor technology space, offering web-based
solutions built specifically for financial advisors since
2003. The integration between Orion and Redtail
CRM allows you to work with the full suite of Orion’s
tools directly within Redtail (via Orion Connect).
What does this mean for you?
It means no more jumping back and forth between
platforms to get at the information you need to
(continued on next page)
11
service your clients and prospects. And, with all of
the popular industry software that Redtail offers
integration, it’s likely that the other tech solutions
you are already using (or plan to use) can easily be
incorporated as well, creating further efficiencies.
Rather than focusing here on the features and
functionalities present within Redtail CRM, it’s
probably more beneficial to mention a few of the
business goals those features and functionalities can
help you to achieve. After all, it’s most likely not the
nuts and bolts you’re interested in as much as, taken
together, how all of the tools Redtail CRM puts at
your disposal will allow you to work smarter in order
to reach your goals.
We do, however, encourage you to check out our ongoing webinar sessions to learn more about different aspects of daily Redtail usage at your leisure.
That said, let’s explore a few of the goals of the
advisory business that Redtail can help with:
• Differentiation — it’s competitive out there
for advisors, making it increasingly important
that you find ways to differentiate your business
from all the other options your clients/prospects
have access to. When you couple the amount and
types of data that Redtail facilitates tracking with
the different types of processes and automations
available in Redtail, you’ll find that consistent
usage of Redtail really allows you to achieve
a client-centric approach (which is often a
differentiator, in and of itself).
In addition to putting everything about the client
that you need to know literally at your fingertips,
Redtail offers the means (and the prompts)
to reach out to your clients and prospects in a
timely fashion, ensuring that you don’t miss any
of the details that help you to build trust and
lasting relationships. This can range from meeting
your SLAs with clients to fulfilling other client
expectations you’ve created during other points
of contact with them. If you’re using Redtail to set
up processes (Workflows and/or Automations)
to cover all of your possible client interactions,
and you and your staff are diligent about using
Redtail’s Notes and Calendaring capabilities,
you’ll soon find that it’s much easier to keep both
your clients and your team on track. The aim
is providing an experience to your clients and
prospects that, because of you and your staff’s
professionalism and messaging and timing, is a
genuine differentiator: an experience that they
want their circle of acquaintances to experience
themselves. Which leads us to . . .
(continued on next page)
12
Referrals — Referrals can be difficult to
come by and directly asking for them can be
uncomfortable both for advisors and for their
clients. This is why the experience you create
for your clients is so important – you want your
clients to want to share your name with others.
Redtail allows you to standardize, streamline and,
in some cases, automate your processes, all of
which will, over time, display to your clients that
your office is consistently on top of things and
that you have a steady hand on the tiller.
Perhaps equal in importance to your consistency
is your ability to quickly access all of the Notes
and information you have stored on your clients
within Redtail. Because everything is always so
close at hand, you can easily retrieve relevant
information during any of your client interactions,
which in turn means that you and your staff are
able to include a human touch at every point
of contact.
When you provide consistently good service and
timely communications in a manner that exhibits
your ongoing interest in your clients’ lives, you
are building a business that will garner referrals
organically.
The ultimate success of your business depends
upon the efforts of you and your staff. There
are tools though that can greatly enhance your
efforts in regard to streamlining and automating
your processes, managing your client/prospect
relationships, differentiating your business and
encouraging referrals. Redtail CRM is a leading tool
in the industry for assisting with all of these efforts.
For more information, visit corporate.
redtailtechnology.com.
0400-OAS-8/20/2015
