@Chris Gure That's interesting. Did you negotiate a price decrease from Orion as part of moving to irebal? I have a client considering Orion but struggling to get their broker workflows in Eclipse. We're currently exploring a Bloomberg EMS workflow in tandem with Eclipse.

@Lauren Bernal - some additional trade workflows to consider: 1. Reviewing Sweep Cash (Schwab pays very low rates on sweep cash) by creating a view/filter by the asset, so that you can then trade into a money market mutual fund paying a higher rate. 2. Reviewing tax loss harvesting opportunities. 3. Reviewing high cash accounts, reviewing cash vs. recurring distributions, etc. Ops/Trading - ensuring trade blocks added by Ops in Orion feed through to Eclipse. There is a setting in Orion to allow this. Both Ops and Traders can review these daily in their respective systems. Ops may trade block new accounts missing paperwork, accounts with reconciliation issues, account trade restrictions at custody, etc.

@Shelly Jones It may depend on where you land for your portfolio management software on what they work with, if you are moving off Morningstar office. Also to consider, if you need to see the records as a courtesy (in which case use an emoney or Orion planning where it is more cost-effective) or if you need the data on reports from the portfolio system including performance reporting which can be more expensive. Aside from Electra, Pontera is also an option. It may make sense to go through your accounts one by one to see which ones could be pulled via a direct data feed vs. another means with whichever provider you are leaning towards to replace Morningstar. I've also setup some automations in the past to scrape websites and bypass external software where it made sense.

@Shelly Jones - the answers will also depend on who your portfolio accounting system integrates with. Orion has ByAll, Electra, Pontera, and numerous direct feed options for the accounting system, and also incorporates Plaid into their portal/financial planning tool. I know APEX can aggregate data as well, but I believe they are more expensive. There are other ways to get the data as some have mentioned - like using developers to automate the pulling of data (API, but also setting up SFTP, or using RPA, or code to screen scrape using the html).

@Lauren Bernal What CRM are you using and which custodian(s)? There should be a way to grab the metadata on the back-end of Docusign, or like Theo mentioned, the pdfs saved can be restructured for import to the CRM, depending... Larger firms have their own instance of Docusign that is allowed by the custodian so they integrate their Docusign to Salesforce CRM, so everything is pre-mapped from the data input to the CRM, then sent to the client for signature, and then custodian forms get sent to the custodian and all the metadata comes back into Salesforce. Custodians do not approve smaller firms' instances of Docusign, just the large ones, so everyone else has to work out an alternative.

@Carolyn Sipperley - I know this an older post but had some recent activity so it popped up in my feed. Orion can update the "mapping" in their transaction recon process to map however you need them coded. Same is true of Registration Types in the name files. You should just be able to submit a case to update this, and they can also run a query to identify and flip these in mass. @Debbie Hall - you will love Orion! With proper up front setup, small things like this will be a non-issue. :)

@Todd Smith check out this recent post: https://www.skool.com/ria-os/morningstar-advisor-retired?p=bd4f28d0 If you are on Reddit, there are also some great posts about Black Diamond, Orion, and Advyzon from users - just google "Orion reddit" or "Black Diamond reddit" to see feedback from many users. Reviews are mixed, but I suspect part of this on the Orion front is from Advisors not setting up database defaults/customizations for workflow properly during the Onboarding process. Using a partner to assist your firm with onboarding can alleviate these issues later. Black Diamond charges $20K for onboarding, Orion is free and cheaper, so use that cost savings to hire an implementation partner to assist.

@Lisa Bacon - I have a consulting client using Vanilla. They like it for their clients in states outside of their primary knowledge domain. This client also operates as a Trust Company in two states, so I find that helpful context when evaluating Vanilla. Hamburger Law Firm was an early investor in Wealth.com. I have seen this offering through TAMPs, where the firm contracts with Wealth, and then upcharges the Advisor and the Advisor then upcharges the client. Another Advisor I know recommends https://trustandwill.com/ for having clients do their own setup (and coordinated with them to offer a discount to their clients) for those DIY clients who want to save $2-5K. Lastly, many firms in my network partner with CPA's and Attorneys in their area to offer this to clients and should not be overlooked! The benefit there is opportunity for bi-directional referrals which most Advisors I see do not have nearly enough referral partner programs. Lots of options for referral partners out there (but keep in mind revenue share agreements with these referral partners should be reviewed by your compliance resource). I can personally attest that Creative Planning hit their first $100B in AUM almost exclusively through referral partners.