Advisors are fulfilled and happy (87% find meaning and 84% happiness in their career), and over half see AI acceleration as the No. 1 growth catalyst for 2026

Orion kicked off Ascent 2026 in San Diego today, setting the tone with its “Relentless” theme. CEO Natalie Wolfsen took the stage and shared results from Orion’s fourth annual Advisor Wealthtech Survey – spotlighting how AI and better-integrated workflows and data are shaping advisor priorities for 2026. The four-day conference runs February 24–27 at the San Diego Marriott Marquis.

“The energy in our industry is unmistakably positive – advisors are innovating, collaborating, and executing with a relentless focus on client outcomes,” said Natalie Wolfsen, CEO of Orion. “At Ascent 2026, we’re bringing the advisor community together to share what works, learn from one another, and advance a mission we all believe in: building a wealthtech community where advisors and investors thrive. Orion is proud to be a growth partner to advisors – unifying data, integrating the stack, and bringing AI into everyday workflows so firms can do more of what matters. The results speak for themselves: our clients reported a 2025 organic asset growth rate that was approximately 40% higher than that of non-Orion clients¹, and Orion clients utilize 10% more of their tech stack compared to peers.”

Advisors Report Remarkably High Purpose, Happiness

The survey reveals widespread career fulfillment: nine in ten respondents say they’re leveraging their strengths to improve client outcomes; 87% find purpose and meaning in their work; and 84% say helping clients reach financial goals brings genuine happiness. This purpose-driven focus positions advisors to help investors pursue their goals with confidence – echoing the “Relentless” theme and advisors’ unwavering commitment to better investor outcomes.

AI Acceleration, Integration, Tax Efficiency Fuel 2026 Growth

To compete and scale in 2026, advisors are prioritizing:

• Harnessing AI as a force multiplier:  While three-quarters (73%) of advisory firms are leveraging AI in some capacity, just 6% utilize agentic workflows and 5% have implemented cross-system AI integration. Over half (55%) say AI and automation will have the greatest impact on firm success in 2026 and beyond, but there are key obstacles to expanding AI use, including: concerns about accuracy and client trust (49%); uncertainty about compliance/regulation (42%); and limited internal expertise or training (37%).

• Increasing use of alternative investments - especially for high-net-worth: Advisors are using alternatives across their client base, with the highest adoption among HNW households. Allocation to alternatives increases with investor AUM, peaking in portfolios over $10 million, where alternatives represent approximately 9% of total assets.

• Investing in tech to supercharge effectiveness: In 2026, half of advisors expect their firms to increase their technology budgets, by an average of 19%. Two-thirds (67%) say streamlining operations and reducing manual work will supercharge effectiveness, and 44% expect technology to free up more time for clients.

• Optimizing tech stack utilization and integration: Advisors are utilizing 60% of their tech stack, with 54% of their tech integrated. Firms that grew the most in 2025 utilized a higher percentage of their tech than firms that didn’t grow.

• Advancing data unification: Only 3% report fully unified, free-flowing data across systems, while 60% say it’s mostly unified but still requires manual steps. In 2026, 61% are prioritizing better tech integration and data use.

• Leveraging third-party investment expertise: Currently, 7 in 10 advisors use third-party tax optimization services; still, 52% of advisors plan to adopt or expand such usage over the next five years. Advisors also plan to adopt or expand their use of direct indexing (46%), Unified Managed Household (UMH) capabilities (42%), SMAs (38%), and UMAs (36%).

In 2030, the advisor of the future will succeed by building enduring trust despite digital noise and synthetic content (53%) and by combining human judgment and empathy with AI-powered intelligence (46%).

“Our Wealthtech Survey shows that advisors are sharpening how the work gets done – accelerating responsible use of AI, integrating data and systems, and embracing outsourcing,” said Chris Shutler, Head of Strategy at Orion. “That’s time back for what matters most: clients.”

More detailed survey results are available here.

Survey Methodology

Advisor survey: A 10-minute online survey of financial advisors was conducted in December 2025 by AMS Research. Sample size = 571.

About Orion

Orion is a premier provider of the tech-enabled fiduciary process that transforms the advisor-client relationship by enabling financial advisors to Prospect, Plan, Invest, and Achieve within a single, connected, technology-driven experience. Combined, our brand entities, Orion Advisor Tech, Orion Portfolio Solutions, Brinker, Redtail Technology, and Orion OCIO create a complete offering that empowers firms to attract new clients seamlessly, connect goals more meaningfully to investment strategies and outcomes, and ultimately track progress toward each investor’s unique definition of financial success. Orion services $5.8 trillion in assets under administration and $133 billion of wealth management platform assets (as of December 31, 2025), supporting over 8 million technology accounts and thousands of independent advisory firms. Today, 17 out of the Top 20 Barron’s RIA firms² rely on Orion’s technology to power their businesses and win for investors. Learn more at Orion.com.

¹ Source: 2026 Orion Wealthtech Survey, Orion portfolio accounting clients grew organically (excluding market movements and M&A activity) an average of 3.2 percentage points faster than non-Orion clients in 2025 (11.5% vs. 8.3%), which equals a 39% higher growth rate. Sample size: 200 Orion clients, 248 non-Orion clients.

² Source: 2025 Top 100 RIA Firms, Barron's, 2025.

Wealth management services provided by Orion Portfolio Solutions, LLC (“OPS”), a registered investment advisor. Orion OCIO services provided by TownSquare Capital, LLC (“TSC”), a registered investment advisors. OPS and TSC are affiliates and wholly owned subsidiaries of Orion Advisor Solutions, Inc.

Orion Portfolio Solutions, LLC d/b/a Brinker Capital Investments a registered investment advisor

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