In early 2019, CLS Investments will combine its turnkey asset management platform business with FTJ FundChoice, which was acquired by CLS parent company, NorthStar Financial Services Group, earlier this year. The combined businesses will have over $14 billion in TAMP assets, plus $4 billion in platform and privately managed assets.
FTJ CEO Dean Cook will lead the initiative to bring the businesses together. The move will allow CLS to focus on investment management, which will be led by Rusty Vanneman, president and chief investment officer at CLS. CLS CEO Ryan Beach will transition to FTJ as president.
Advisors on the CLS platform will now have access to FTJ’s lineup of investment strategists.
NorthStar Financial Services Group, the parent company of Orion Advisor Services and CLS, announced plans to acquire FTJ in April. The acquisition adds managed account capabilities to the Orion tech stack, and moves it closer to competing with larger enterprise rivals like Chicago-based Envestnet.
In October, Orion announced an expansion related to the acquisition, Orion Enterprise, which includes FTJ’s proprietary multi-strategy investment process, Market Movement Strategies.