The bench

Resources.

Reference material the team draws from — glossary, FAQ, the 60-day implementation playbook, Brinker × Orion DST integration notes, Ascent 2026 alts track preview, and the video training library.

Glossary · 30 key terms

The 30 highest-leverage terms every Orion advisor should be fluent in. Full 120-term glossary available on request.

Accredited Investor
Income >$200K/$300K joint or net worth >$1M ex-residence. SEC standard for most private funds.
Qualified Purchaser (QP)
$5M+ in investments. Higher threshold; required for 3(c)(7) funds.
Drawdown Fund
Capital committed up front, called over time. Classic PE/VC structure.
Evergreen Fund
Continuously open, perpetual capital structure. No fixed end date.
Interval Fund
'40 Act fund offering quarterly liquidity at NAV. Retail-friendly.
BDC
Business Development Company. Regulated entity lending to middle-market companies.
DST
Delaware Statutory Trust. Replacement property vehicle for 1031 exchanges.
1031 Exchange
Tax-deferred exchange of like-kind real estate. 45/180-day clock.
J-Curve
PE return pattern: negative early years from fees + write-downs, positive later years from exits.
DPI
Distributions to Paid-In. Cash returned / capital invested. The real performance measure.
TVPI
Total Value to Paid-In. DPI + NAV value as multiple of capital. Includes unrealized.
IRR
Internal Rate of Return. Annualized return accounting for timing of cash flows.
Hurdle Rate
Minimum return before GP earns carry. Typical: 6–8%.
Catch-up
After hurdle is met, GP receives 100% of profits until carry split (e.g. 80/20) is reached.
Clawback
Mechanism returning excess carry to LPs if later distributions fall short of hurdle.
PPM
Private Placement Memorandum. The primary disclosure document for private fund offerings.
Side Letter
Negotiated terms between LP and GP outside the LPA. Common for large LPs.
K-1
Partnership tax form. Reports investor's share of fund income/loss. Common for LP-form funds.
1099
Tax form for corporate / registered fund distributions. Simpler than K-1.
NIGO
Not In Good Order. Subscription that's missing info — typically slows settlement by days.
Subscription Doc
Document signed by investor committing capital to the fund.
Capital Call
Notice from GP that committed capital is now due. Typical: 7–14 day notice.
Co-Investment
LP invests directly in a single deal alongside the fund. Lower fees, concentrated exposure.
Secondaries
Purchase of existing LP interests in a fund. Mature exposure, shorter J-curve.
Continuation Vehicle
GP-led secondary moving an asset from old fund to new fund with new LPs.
Lockup
Period during which LP cannot redeem. Common in hedge / evergreen vehicles.
Gate
Cap on how much can be redeemed in a period. Typical: 5–25% per quarter.
High-Water Mark
Threshold above which incentive fees apply. Prevents double-charging on recovered losses.
Vintage
The year a fund was raised. Critical for benchmarking — vintages perform differently.
UBTI
Unrelated Business Taxable Income. Important consideration for tax-exempt LPs (IRAs).

The 12 questions Orion advisors get asked most

Field-tested answers, compliance-reviewed.

"How much of my portfolio should be in alts?"

It depends on the client's age, liquidity needs, and risk tolerance — but as a rough Orion default: 5–10% for income-focused / near-retirees, 15–20% for typical accredited investors, 25–30% for qualified purchasers with multi-decade horizons. Use the Allocation Builder for a client-specific recommendation.

"Are these funds liquid? Can I get my money out?"

Most Orion-curated funds offer quarterly liquidity, typically capped at 5% per quarter of the fund's NAV. That means 20% annualized redemption capacity at the fund level. Drawdown funds (Apollo Aligned, Stratford) are illiquid for 7–10 years. Always run the Liquidity Stress Test calculator before subscribing.

"Do I need to be accredited?"

For most funds, yes — accredited investor status (~$200K income or $1M net worth ex-residence) is required. The exception: interval funds like Ares ASIF, which require no accreditation. Qualified Purchaser status ($5M+ in investments) opens up the highest-end drawdown funds.

"Will I get a K-1 or 1099?"

Partnership-form funds (most PE drawdown vehicles) issue K-1s, typically arriving in late Q1 or Q2 the year after. Corporate-form vehicles (BDCs, REITs) and registered '40 Act funds (interval funds) issue 1099s, which arrive in February. K-1 timing can delay the client's tax filing — set expectations up front.

"Why are the fees so high?"

Active management at scale is expensive. The benchmark to use isn't a mutual fund — it's the net-of-fees return after the fund manager takes their cut. KKR PEC at 1.5% + 15% incentive has delivered 13%+ net returns since inception. The fee comparator tool shows total cost across vehicle types over a holding period.

"What happens if the fund manager underperforms?"

Watch the high-water mark + clawback provisions. For most funds, the manager doesn't earn incentive fees until they recover prior losses. Drawdown funds have clawback clauses where over-paid carry is returned to LPs at fund-end if the final IRR misses the hurdle.

"How is the fund valued?"

Most Orion-curated funds use a quarterly third-party valuation policy. Underlying holdings are marked at fair value per ASC 820. For non-traded BDCs and REITs, valuations are NAV-based and reviewed by an independent valuation firm.

"What's the minimum?"

Ranges from $2,500 (BCRED, BREIT, ASIF) to $50,000 (KKR PEC) to $250,000 (Apollo Aligned). The full minimum table is on the marketplace page.

"Can my IRA invest?"

Yes, for most funds — but check for UBTI implications. Funds using debt-financed acquisitions (most PE buyout) can generate UBTI in retirement accounts, requiring a tax filing. Direct-lending BDCs and many interval funds are UBTI-friendly.

"How long is the lockup?"

Evergreen funds (KKR PEC, BCRED, BREIT): typically no hard lockup, but quarterly redemption gates of 5%. Drawdown funds (Apollo, Stratford): 7–10 year life. Interval funds (Ares ASIF): no lockup, quarterly liquidity at NAV.

"What about fees inside fees?"

For fund-of-funds (rare in our lineup), there's a second layer of fees at the underlying fund level. Most Orion-curated funds are direct, not fund-of-funds, so the stated fees are the all-in number. The two exceptions: Apollo Aligned (secondaries — manager skims a small layer) and Stepstone Venture Plus (multi-fund).

"How do I think about alts in a high-rate environment?"

Floating-rate private credit (BCRED, ASIF) benefits directly from elevated SOFR — current portfolio yields 10%+. PE returns are more sensitive to multiple compression and exit conditions; expect 12–14% net through-cycle rather than the 18%+ of the zero-rate era. Real estate is mixed — opportunistic strategies do well, core+ levered to cap-rate stability.

0 → Orion alts business in 60 days

A week-by-week plan for firm leadership and advisors. Built around Michael's stated timeline: "I need to get it out, in the next two months."

Week 1–2 · Foundation

Advisor education kickoff

Roll out the Education Portal to advisor leadership. 6 asset-class deep-dives + the marketplace tour. Identify the 5–10 lead advisors who'll pilot.

Week 3 · Curation

Finalize the curated lineup

Lock the 10-fund initial lineup. Orion IC vote on each. Marquee names (KKR, Blackstone, Ares, Apollo, Carlyle) plus the long tail. Each fund goes through the 10-point DD framework.

Week 4 · Models

Configure the 3 model portfolios

Orion Alts Conservative / Balanced / Growth. IC sign-off on composition + suitability filters. Loaded into the portal as deployment-ready.

Week 5–6 · Pilot

Pilot with 5–10 advisors

Lead advisors run the workflow with 1–2 real client conversations each. Capture: time-per-subscription, NIGO rate, advisor feedback. Polish before broad rollout.

Week 7 · Full rollout

Broad advisor enablement

All-hands rollout to Orion advisor base. Live demo + Q&A. Portal access for everyone. Video training library + advisor FAQ.

Week 8 · Press play

Public launch

Customer-facing launch. PR push. Marketplace open for subscription. Goal: $50M in subscriptions in first 30 days.

Brinker × Orion

DST integration as the wedge.

Michael's exact words: "Thank you for bringing up the Brinker use case. That's spot on." Brinker is uniquely positioned to drive Orion's DST/1031 ramp — and here's how that integrates with the Alternatives Marketplace.

The opportunity

Brinker has 30+ years of trust + investment expertise. DST is a natural extension — Orion clients selling real estate and looking for replacement property need a sophisticated DST partner with diligence depth.

The integration

DST products from Brinker-curated sponsors appear in the marketplace under a "Brinker Select" filter. The 1031 calculator (in Tools) auto-routes to Brinker-vetted replacement properties when the client tags their sale.

The advisor workflow

Sale closes → Calculator runs → Advisor sees Brinker DST candidates → Subscription workflow (same as any other fund in the marketplace). 45/180-day clock auto-tracks in the Orion dashboard.

The economics

Brinker keeps its DST asset management economics. Orion gets a platform fee + the integration fee. Advisors get a workflow that's faster + lower-NIGO than the current QI-led model.

Ascent 2026 · Alts track preview

The dedicated alts track at Ascent.

Orion's 2026 Ascent conference includes a full-day alts track. Designed to align with the UMH 2026 (Unified Managed Household) roadmap, where alts becomes a first-class data domain alongside portfolios, planning, estate, and CRM.

Track sessions

9:00 AM · Keynote

The State of Alts in 2026 — Why the Wealth Channel Crossed the Line

Survey data + market sizing + the operational ceiling thesis. Sets up the rest of the day.

10:00 AM · Panel

Curation at scale — How to think about a marketplace

CIOs from Blackstone, KKR, Ares + Orion IC. What gets in, what stays out, what's the framework.

11:30 AM · Workshop

Hands-on: The Education Portal + Allocation Builder

Live workshop with the portal. Build a custom allocation, generate a tearsheet, walk the workflow.

1:30 PM · Panel

Diligence in the wealth channel — what to ask, what to trust

Mercer, Wilshire, Cliffwater on the 10-point framework + the third-party DD integration.

3:00 PM · Case study

Brinker × Orion DST — A real integration playbook

How Brinker's DST products plug into Orion's alts marketplace. Live walkthrough.

4:30 PM · Fireside

UMH 2026 roadmap — Where alts fits

Eric Clarke + product leadership on the household-level alts thesis and the Denali Data Layer.

Video Training Library

Short-form videos walking through every workflow in the marketplace. Pulled into new-advisor onboarding.

Marketplace tour — 60 seconds
1:02 · Beginner
Building your first allocation
2:14 · Beginner
Reading a fund tearsheet
2:48 · Beginner
Walking a client through suitability
3:21 · Intermediate
The subscription workflow end-to-end
4:09 · Intermediate
Generating a client tearsheet
1:48 · Beginner
The 10-point DD framework
5:36 · Intermediate
1031 / DST calculator walkthrough
3:14 · Intermediate
Talking about fees with clients
2:55 · Advanced
Reading a PE track record
4:42 · Advanced
When alts aren't right for a client
3:08 · Intermediate
Quarterly rebalancing in alts
4:21 · Advanced