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Strategic Advisor·RIA Rollups

Eric Clarke

Founder and Strategic Advisor at Orion Advisor Solutions (Founder); Board Member at Elevation Point

Omaha, Nebraska, USA

EC
Why they matter

Founder of Orion Advisor Solutions and now a McKinsey advisor and multi-board RIA-tech operator, Clarke has first-hand insight into where wealthtech consolidation and capital are heading next.

Background

Eric Clarke founded Orion Advisor Tech in 1999 and built it over nearly 25 years into Orion Advisor Solutions, a leading wealthtech platform serving thousands of independent advisory firms and over five million accounts. He retired as CEO in 2023, succeeded by Natalie Wolfsen, and has since built a portfolio of board seats, an advisory role at McKinsey, and a new startup, Hamachi.ai, all focused on RIA technology and industry consolidation.

Notable deals

  • 1999
    Founded Orion Advisor Tech, a portfolio accounting platform for independent advisors that grew into Orion Advisor Solutions
  • 2023
    Guided Orion through seven acquisitions (incl. Redtail Technology, Brinker Capital, Advizr) before retiring as CEO
  • 2024
    Named senior advisor to McKinsey & Co. to help the firm build out its RIA industry strategy
  • 2025
    Joined the board of Elevation Point, an RIA minority-stake investment platform

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Founded Orion Advisor Tech in 1999; led it for nearly 25 years, growing it into a top wealthtech platform serving 5M+ accounts before retiring as CEO in 2023.
  • Guided Orion through seven acquisitions (2018–2022), including Redtail Technology, Brinker Capital, and Advizr, building an integrated advisor tech stack.

Current focus

  • Senior advisor to McKinsey & Co. on RIA industry strategy (since 2023/24).
  • Board seats at Orion, SignatureFD, Elevation Point (joined 2025), and TaxStatus.
  • Founder of new startup Hamachi.ai (2025), building an AI-driven communication layer between asset managers and RIAs/advisors.

What he cares about

  • Digital infrastructure and AI as the next scaling lever for independent advisors.
  • The wealth-management/investment-management "bifurcation" problem as advisors outsource portfolio management.
  • RIA consolidation and minority-stake capital models (reflected in his Elevation Point board seat).

Recent moves

  • Launched Hamachi.ai (Oct 2025) with fellow wealthtech founders (Redtail, AdvisoryWorld, Advizr alumni), self-funded, with a model where asset managers sponsor advisor access.
  • Added board seats at TaxStatus and Elevation Point in 2025, signaling continued deep engagement with RIA fintech infrastructure despite being retired from day-to-day operating.

Potential sensitivities

  • Multiple concurrent board/advisory roles (Orion, SignatureFD, Elevation Point, TaxStatus, McKinsey, Hamachi.ai) may raise conflict-of-interest or bandwidth questions for any new engagement.
  • As a McKinsey senior advisor, he may be constrained in discussing certain competitive or client-specific strategy topics.

Questions to ask

  1. Given his McKinsey advisory work, what patterns is he seeing in RIA M&A and minority-stake deal structures right now?
  2. What gap is Hamachi.ai solving that existing custodians/TAMPs (including Orion) aren't addressing?
  3. As an Elevation Point board member, what does he look for when evaluating an RIA's readiness for outside capital?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on RIA tech and consolidation trends
Hi Eric, I've been following your move from Orion into board and advisory work — the Elevation Point and TaxStatus appointments, plus Hamachi.ai, suggest you're seeing where RIA technology and capital are headed next. I'm on the deal team at a private equity firm evaluating opportunities in RIA aggregation and wealthtech infrastructure, and your perspective building and scaling Orion for 25 years would be extremely valuable as we think through where the next wave of value creation happens. Would you have 20-30 minutes in the next couple of weeks for a call? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

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