Eric Clarke's startup is taking on a giant unseen RIA problem -- bifurcation of wealth and investments, but will asset managers pick up the tab?

Eric Clarke is back in the RIA game to solve a problem created by the staggering upsurge of SMAs and model portfolios – with a model that gets asset managers to foot the bill for a fix.

The famed founder and former CEO of Orion Advisor Solutions is launching Hamachi.ai to create a “layer” to address the most fundamental shift in the RIA business – the move from an emphasis on investment management to more an emphasis on wealth management.

“Our goal is to build a unified, compliant communication layer for the industry, one that connects asset managers, RIAs, and advisors through a single intelligent platform,” he says in an RIABiz emailed interview. 

Clarke is one of a super team of co-founders and former CEOs seeking to build and own nothing less than the entire communication chain between asset managers, wealth managers and investor in the RIA business. 

His team includes Brian McLaughlin (Redtail), Mike Wilson (AdvisoryWorld), and Mustapha Baassiri (Advizr). Clarke acquired Redtail and Advizr as CEO of Orion and he and Wilson share a long friendship. 

They are funding the venture themselves and have hired AI engineers.

Engaging clients

The giant disconnect between asset managers, advisors and end clients came about in large part because the advisor and investment manager are no longer the same entity, according to Bill Winterberg, an independent  consultant in Boston.

"The adoption of automated investment management has put pressure on portfolio management fees. So, many wealth management firms have reduced their internal costs by eliminating custom investment management activities and transitioning to the use of model marketplaces and separate account management providers. 

"This allows wealth management firms to perform more ‘financial quarterback’ services around diverse topics like client cash flow, tax, estate, and business planning."

Winterberg adds: “But when firms are no longer directly managing client investments, how do they adequately engage clients when clients have investment- and portfolio-related questions? 

"This is where I see Hamachi solving this issue for wealth managers.”

Big opportunity

Winterberg has put his finger on the opportunity, Clarke agrees.

“Absolutely, advisors are increasingly outsourcing investment management so they can focus on client relationships," he says.  

“Making that outsourced expertise instantly accessible, and compliant, was a big opportunity we wanted to solve for.”

Model portfolio assets will hit $2.9 trillion by year-end 2026, including $795 billion managed by outsourcers – asset managers, TAMPs, outsourced chief investment officers and third-party strategists – on behalf of the wider investment management industry, according to Cerulli data.

Cerulli reports that 18% of advisors use model portfolios today, although RIA assets managed through outsourced models are relatively small. It's estimated to be 2.5% of AUM, or $212 billion, out of $8.5 trillion in total assets, according to an RIABiz estimate based on Broadridge data.

But by 2029, model portfolio assets will grow 15% year-over-year, to $13.2 trillion, including $1.5 trillion from RIAs. Outsourcers will likely manage $360 billion of those funds– a 69% jump, according to a Broadridge data estimate.

Bot powered

The new artificial intedlligence-based software could eliminate nearly two days of work per week for many advisors, according to the Hamachi release.

“Advisors spend up to 12 hours a week on research distribution, email drafting and compliance review—time that slows delivery of insights as the industry contends with a growing investor base and shrinking advisor workforce.”

Still, with a multutude of companies selling “compliant communications,” Hamachi will need to set itself apart - and it does, Wilson explains.

"Yes, there are firms that provide tools for ‘compliant communications,’ but most are focused on generic marketing automation or email review workflows. Hamachi is different because it centers on expert-level bots, not static templates.

Clarke adds: "Hamachi.ai’s role is to draft, not decide. Advisors always have the final say. Every communication is editable, reviewable, and fully within the advisor’s control before it’s ever shared externally.

“Where Hamachi adds value is in the preparation layer, pulling together the right firm content, data, and disclosures, and assembling them in the firm’s voice. It accelerates the process, but doesn’t replace the advisor’s judgment or compliance oversight.”

Value add

Cerulli analyst Scott Smith says there is apparent value in what Hamachi is addressing.

“Being able to instantaneously pull together all the relevant content the firm has and deliver it coherently in THE VOICE of THE FIRM is powerful,” he writes by email

Still, he has concerns.

“There is certainly merit in pitching this as an asset manager solution as they seek ways to remain connected to advisors and clients, but I’m not sure it's the path of least resistance to FA use,” he says.

“Certainly, AM can speak to attribution analysis in their own sleeve, but it seems like this should more often be a portfolio discussion more so than sleeve level – so more at the wealth manager firm/practice seems a better focus for use cases. 

"But not very many practices would have the budget to train their own AI bots with their voice – maybe it’s an AM value add – with option to let RIAs train up the bot in their process and voice for their use only.”

Seeing limits

Clarke says that the platform has flexibility.

“Hamachi’s model is sponsor-powered but open. Asset managers fund the platform so advisors can use it for free, but anyone can create or access approved bots, whether built by asset managers, broker dealers, or advisors themselves. 

"Even if a firm isn’t a sponsor, advisors can still bring its content into Hamachi by uploading PDFs or training internal bots on that material. Sponsorship simply ensures those insights are kept accurate, compliant, and distributed at scale.”

Speed, efficiency

Scott MacKillop, founder and former CEO of First Ascent Asset Management, also sees limits to Hamachi.

“I'm not sure that advisors are all that disconnected from information about their outsourced portfolios because TAMPs and model-creators usually do a pretty good job of producing content, both general and specific, that keeps them informed and is designed to be used in communicating to clients,” he says.

"Having said that, the benefit here would be speed and efficiency.  If advisors didn't have to do the work to create the content or package it up for their clients, and the bots were actually good at doing that quickly and without much advisor input, this product would be a win for advisors.  

MacKillop also notes that getting the buy-in of asset managers could be critical.

“It would be most useful if many asset managers participated in the program, so a significant portion of the universe of investment products would be covered. 

"Otherwise advisors may be left having to fill in gaps about products that are not included in the program.”

Recognizing opportunities

Of course, Hamachi, which means “yellow tail” in Japanese – a whimsical play on McLaughlin's Redtail brand – is only just getting started.

The four executives came up with the Hamachi concept through exploratory calls that quickly gelled into a vision and business model.

“The four of us started having weekly calls to share AI use cases and best practices,” Clarke says. 

“While those discussions began as exploratory, we quickly recognized opportunities to go beyond generic AI tools; embedding expert-trained, compliant assistants directly into the advisor workflow. That’s where Hamachi was born.”