An FA-supporting software firm just doubled its list of asset manager allies, and that list will more than double again soon.

"We have eight partners that are currently part of the platform, with another 14 partners that will be joining the [OranjMAX] platform over the next two to three months," David Lyon, CEO and founder of Oranj, tells MFWire. "We are going to limit the number of partners that we have. I don't expect that number to be over 30."

In October, the team at Chicago-based Oranj unveiled OranjMAX (MAX stands for "Manage, Advise, eXperience"), a wealth management platform available for free to financial advisors their clients via a kind of freemium model, where FAs only pay for the use of premium features. OranjMAX links in to custodial platforms and launched with funds and model portfolios tied in from five asset managers: BlackRock, Direxion, ETF Securities, Morningstar Managed Portfolios, and Frost Investment Advisors. Earlier this month Oranj unveiled four more asset manager OranjMAX additions: First Ascent Asset Management, Marsico Capital Management, and SpiderRock Advisors.

"We're going direct to the manager and providing access to those managers' strategies," Lyon says. "We're just looking for best-of-breed managers in their respective areas."

Watch for Oranj to add more asset managers to OranjMAX.

"We've definitely had a focus on what we call core portfolio strategies," Lyon says. "We're also looking to other sectors like alternatives and ways for advisors to add to those core portfolio strategies without having a lot of turnover in their portfolios and models."

The OranjMAX platform is financially supported by the asset managers who are tied in. Yet, in contrast with some TAMPs or roboadvisors, there is no platform overlay fee charged to FAs or their investor clients.

"We wouldn't be able to do this without our partners," Lyon says, adding that they're looking for "a shared vision of helping financial advisors reach investors that they wouldn't reach otherwise."

"The managers that are on our platform are aligning with us from a strategy standpoint," Lyon adds. "In order for advisors to grow and prosper, we need to help them be able to run not just more efficient and scalable businesses but also more profitable ones."

FAs using OranjMAX can access the partners' funds and models, can construct their own models out of those pieces, and more, without paying for the platform. FAs then pay for premium features like some financial planning tools, an instant messenger feature, or access to other asset managers who are not partners of the platform.

Oranj's OranjMAX platform is predominantly supporting advisors with independent broker-dealers and RIAs. 

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