Activating held-away assets across the household

This case study highlights results from a national wealth management network, advising over $500B in client assets (“the national wealth management network”), which has implemented the Pontera + Orion Eclipse integration to scale tax-aware household management.

Like many advisory firms, a significant portion of client assets—particularly those held in employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k)s—have historically sat outside of core portfolio management, trading, reporting, and billing systems.

Through the integration of Pontera with Orion Eclipse, the national wealth management network brings these held-away retirement accounts directly into its primary workflow, transforming the 401(k) into a fully manageable asset. By bridging the gap between data and action, the integration brings held-away assets into the core fiduciary workflow and enables advisors to deliver a more complete strategy across every dollar.

“We want to look at the household portfolio as a whole. A 401(k) is a major part of that picture, but historically it hasn’t been easy to integrate into the way we manage portfolios.” 

Results at a glance:

• 24% year-over-year growth in held-away assets

• 48% year-over-year growth in managed accounts

• 63% year-over-year growth in clients

Moving beyond aggregation to institutional-grade reporting
Historically, advisors relied on aggregation tools that provided visibility into 401(k) balances but lacked the depth, accuracy, and usability required for active management. Advisors could see these assets but couldn’t act on them in a scalable, consistent way. 

Pontera ensures that held-away retirement accounts receive the same level of reporting treatment as traditionally managed assets within Orion, replacing aggregation tools with enhanced data quality and consistency.

Advisors gain:

• Clearer insight into asset allocation and household exposure

• Consistent, reliable performance reporting

• A unified view of all client assets within a single system

By bringing 401(k)s into the same reporting framework, advisors ensure a consistent investment lens across the full household.

Enabling advisory billing at the household level
The integration also closes a critical gap between visibility and monetization. Without a billing mechanism, firms deliver advice without capturing its full value. Orion’s billing engine enables the national wealth management network to assign an advisory fee to a 401(k) managed through Pontera and collect that fee from a non-qualified account within the household, such as a taxable brokerage account.

This approach allows firms to:

• Designate a separate fee-paying custodial account

• Calculate advisory fees across multiple household accounts

• Debit a single account while allocating fees accurately across all underlying accounts

• Maintain accurate, net-of-fee performance reporting across the full household

Together, these capabilities allow the national wealth management network to not only manage 401(k)s alongside other assets, but also to report on and bill for them in a way that is operationally scalable and aligned with fiduciary standards.

Bringing a Tax-Aware Household Strategy into One Workflow
With full visibility and management capabilities in place, a firm within the wealth management network (“the firm”) extends its core investment philosophy: managing the household portfolio as a unified system rather than a collection of siloed accounts. 

“We’re not managing a 401(k) in isolation—we’re fitting it into the full household portfolio and allocating assets based on tax efficiency across all accounts.”

The Pontera-Orion integration is foundational to this approach. By incorporating 401(k)s into Orion Eclipse, advisors can see how retirement assets interact with taxable and custodial accounts in real time. This allows for more precise decisions around allocation, rebalancing, and risk exposure—without leaving their primary workflow.

Building on this visibility, the firm implements a portfolio-level asset location strategy1 designed to optimize after-tax outcomes:

• Taxable accounts are allocated tax-efficient equities that minimize distributions and defer gains

• Tax-deferred accounts (e.g., 401(k)s via Pontera) are used for income-generating assets such as fixed income and alternatives

• Tax-exempt accounts (e.g., Roth) are reserved for high-growth assets to maximize tax-free compounding

Rather than duplicating models across accounts, the firm deploys a single model across the household and assigns assets based on tax characteristics. Each account plays a deliberate role within the broader portfolio, improving coordination and efficiency.

1While the firm utilizes asset location strategies to improve tax efficiency, Pontera, nor Orion provide official tax or legal advice. Tax-aware strategies do not guarantee a specific tax outcome or a reduction in total tax liability. Clients should consult with a qualified tax professional regarding their specific circumstances. 

Scaling Holistic, Tax-Optimized Advice
By combining Pontera’s ability to manage held-away retirement accounts with Orion’s portfolio management and billing capabilities, the firm has scaled a more sophisticated and cohesive approach to wealth management.

Performance highlights: January 2025 to January 20262;

• 24% year-over-year increase in held-away assets reflects a significant increase in assets included in tax-aware household strategies—not left on the sidelines.

• 48% year-over-year increase in managed accounts, driven by streamlined operational efficiencies that enable advisors to oversee and review 401(k)s in addition to custodial assets within a single workflow.

• 63% year-over-year increase in clients, fueled by demand for unified data and the confidence that their entire portfolio is working together to drive their financial goals.

2 Results shown are specific to the firm during the period of January 2025 to January 2026. These figures are for illustrative purposes, represent a specific historical window, and do not guarantee future performance or similar growth for other firms. Individual firm results may vary based on market conditions and client base. For more information on fees and services, please refer to the firm's Form ADV Part 2A. 

By operationalizing both the management and monetization of held-away assets, the Pontera and Orion integration enables the national wealth management network to deliver on its core promise: comprehensive, tax-aware wealth management at scale.