Two firms have combined to create a technology and services hub for wealth management and accountant firms.

Visory, which launched today and is headquartered in Chesterfield, Mo., has been created from the merger of True North Networks with RIghtSize Solutions. The combined entity will provide technology management, cybersecurity and hosting solutions, particularly for small-to-medium-sized RIAs.

“We’ve been on a mission to unlock the power of innovative technology for small- and medium-sized businesses that often don’t benefit from the technology that larger firms have,” said Bob Hollander, president and CEO of Visory. “We see a market out there in the professional services space, and we’ve been building a business to attac that space and deliver technology that larger enterprises are already really benefitting from. The combination of True North with other properties positions us to build a strong competitor in the wealth management space.”

True North Networks, founded in 2002, focused on compliance, network security and technology support to independent RIAs, while RightSize Solutions, also founded in 2002, offered IT management and cybersecurity services to RIAs.

In 2020, RIghtSize was acquired and merged with Swizznet, a hosting services business for accounting and construction firms, and Hollander became CEO and president of the combined entity.

Before the merger, True North and RIghtSize were both independent portfolio companies of Bluff Point Associates, a Westport, Conn.-based private equity firm, the companies said in a press release.

Joining  Hollander will be RightSize founder Wes Stillman, who becomes chief technology officer of VIsory, and True North founder Steven Ryder, who becomes chief strategy officer of the new firm.

“The game plan when we were acquired in 2021 was that eventually these three companies would get together and form a larger entity,” said Ryder. “We’ve all been strong leaders of the marketplace within the financial services industry, and it’s exciting that we’re getting together to offer an incredible level of services.”

Visory will help organizations bridge the gap between their “on-premise” technology and solutions they have moved to the cloud.

According to Hollander, the momentum of technology and services going onto the cloud leaves a lot of small- and medium-sized financial firms at an impasse.

“The combination we’re bringing to the table not only meets market demands from a regulatory standpoint, but also addresses the merger and acquisition activity within the industry as organizations are combining and splitting apart,” said Stillman. “VIsory brings a powerful and flexible solution to help meet all of those demands.”

In reality, there’s no good reason that all of a firm’s technology has to be cloud-oriented, and a hybrid of on-premise and cloud technology will likely be the model most financial firms embrace moving forward.

“Clients are starting to question the need to move to the cloud as a lot of what they use—Salesforce, Moneyguidepro, RedTail, pick your poison—are online and in the cloud already,” said Ryder. “Our clients are questioning why they should have to go to the cloud themselves to access software that’s already hosted on someone else’s cloud. Why they should have to go to a fully-hosted environment to run hosted applications. For example, Swizznet hosts a full version of QuickBooks. A client should be able to come off that hosted environment and run whatever else they want on a local computer, using it as an access point for QucikBooks. That’s the kind of hybrid solution that’s in demand. Some clients have actually moved off of cloud hosting, and we secure what they want locally and then they can access cloud-based applications as needed.”

While synergies may be found between the merged firms, Hollander said the combination is one oriented toward future growth. As a result, the True North and RightSize workforces will be retained, he said.

The combined firm will be headquartered in Chesterfield, Mo., but retain a remote workforce with existing offices in Lenexa, Kansas; Swanzey, N.H.; and Scarborough, Maine. Swizznet will continue to do business under its existing brand.