Horizon Investments

What Horizon Investments does

Horizon Investments is a US-based registered investment advisor founded in 1995/1996 and headquartered in Charlotte, NC (with the firm also listing Chicago as a primary office). The firm operates under a goals-based investment philosophy codified in its Gain Protect Spend framework, which maps portfolios to investor life stages: accumulation (Gain), preservation (Protect), and distribution (Spend). Horizon builds and distributes a suite of proprietary investment solutions including the Horizon mutual fund and ETF family (notably HNDRX and AAANX), Horizon Custom Portfolios (single-stock SMAs with lot-level tax management), and Horizon One, an Outsourced CIO (OCIO) consulting service for larger advisory firms. Underlying the product suite is the Horizon Dashboard, a white-labeled advisor workstation for planning, proposal generation, and portfolio tracking, supplemented by proprietary quantitative strategies such as Risk Assist (rule-based drawdown mitigation) and Real Spend (multi-year retirement spending reserve). The firm also runs active thought leadership through market commentary, podcasts, and appearances on BNN Bloomberg, CNBC, FOX Business, Yahoo Finance, Schwab Network, and Bloomberg Television.

Horizon's primary customers are financial advisors and advisory firms who use its technology, model portfolios, and OCIO services to serve their underlying clients; financial institutions represent a secondary enterprise segment. Revenue is generated through investment advisory fees on assets under management, mutual fund and ETF expense ratios, and professional services fees from Horizon One consulting engagements. The firm had approximately $7 billion in AUM at the time of its November 2021 strategic investment from Altamont Capital Partners, and operates with 51-100 employees. In November 2024, Horizon expanded its SMA capabilities through the acquisition of Centre Asset Management. Leadership includes CEO Robbie Cannon, CIO Scott Ladner, President John N. Drahzal, and Managing Director Ben Johnson.

Name

Horizon Investments

Legal name

Horizon Investments, LLC

Website

https://www.horizoninvestments.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Horizon Investments is a US registered investment advisor providing goals-based investment solutions, proprietary technology (Horizon Dashboard, Risk Assist, Real Spend), mutual funds/ETFs, SMAs, and outsourced CIO consulting services to financial advisors and advisory firms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Portfolio Construction & Asset Allocation Advisory (FSAEAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Financial Planning & Goals-Based Advice (Mass Affluent) (FSAAAAAF), Advisory Portfolio Management (Non-Discretionary) (FSAAABAD)

Keywords

• Goals-based investing
• Investment advisory services
• Asset management
• Outsourced CIO services
• Mutual fund management

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory Fees: Fees charged to clients for investment advisory services, likely based on assets under management (AUM). As a registered investment advisor managing client assets, the primary revenue stream comes from advisory fees calculated on the value of assets managed.
2. Mutual Fund Management Fees: Management fees earned from the Horizon mutual funds and ETFs. The company manages multiple mutual funds including Horizon Defined Risk Investor (HNDRX) and Horizon Active Asset Allocation Investor (AAANX), generating revenue through expense ratios charged to fund investors.
3. OCIO Consulting Fees: Revenue from Horizon One consulting solutions, which provide outsourced CIO services to financial advisors and advisory firms. This includes portfolio strategy, business consulting, and ongoing support services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Horizon Investments is a registered investment advisor that delivers goals-based investment solutions organized around its Gain-Protect-Spend framework. The company offers staged portfolio strategies (Gain for accumulation, Protect for preservation with Risk Assist, Spend for distribution with Real Spend), customizable single-stock SMAs (Horizon Custom Portfolios), mutual funds and ETFs, outsourced CIO consulting (Horizon One), and advisor-facing planning technology (Horizon Dashboard) to help financial advisors align client portfolios with life-stage financial goals.

Product overview

Horizon Investments is a registered investment advisor offering a unified platform of goals-based investment solutions organized around its Gain-Protect-Spend framework. The core product portfolio includes Horizon Dashboard (advisor workstation with planning and proposal tools), three staged portfolio strategies (Gain Stage for accumulation, Protect Stage for preservation with Risk Assist, and Spend Stage for distribution with Real Spend), Horizon Custom Portfolios (single-stock SMA with tax management), Horizon One (OCIO consulting), and Horizon Mutual Funds + ETFs. These products are designed to work together through the Expectational Certainty investment framework, enabling advisors to manage client portfolios aligned with life-stage financial goals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Horizon One: Comprehensive consulting solution for financial advisors, including outsourced CIO (OCIO) services and practice management.
• Horizon Custom Portfolios (HCP)
• Risk Assist
• Real Spend

Quantifiable outcome

• Horizon Defined Risk Investor (HNDRX) achieved 3-year annualized returns of 13.2% and 5-year annualized returns of 9%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Morningstar Investment Management: Goals-based investment management arm of Morningstar serving advisors and institutions. Direct overlap with Horizon's outcome-oriented philosophy and advisor distribution model.
• SEI Investments: Provider of advisor platforms, OCIO services, and investment management solutions. SEI competes with Horizon across the advisor technology stack and OCIO consulting, with comparable multi-product breadth.
• Parametric Portfolio Associates: Direct competitor in customized SMA and tax-managed portfolio strategies for advisors. Parametric's direct-indexing and lot-level tax management capabilities closely mirror Horizon Custom Portfolios, serving the same advisor channel.
• AssetMark: Advisor-focused investment platform providing model portfolios, SMAs, and practice management. AssetMark's turnkey platform competes with Horizon Dashboard and the firm's goals-based portfolio strategies.
• Manning & Napier: Multi-decade, advisor-focused asset manager offering goals-based and outcome-oriented strategies. Comparable operating model, advisor distribution, and emphasis on tailored multi-asset portfolios versus Horizon's Gain/Protect/Spend framework.
• Russell Investments: Global OCIO provider and advisor-focused investment solutions firm. Russell's OCIO platform directly parallels Horizon One, and its advisor channel overlaps with Horizon's primary distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Envestnet: Broad incumbent advisor platform offering model portfolios, SMAs, and OCIO capabilities. Envestnet's Tamarac platform and PMC division overlap with Horizon's goals-based SMA and OCIO offerings at greater scale.
• Natixis Investment Managers: Multi-affiliate global asset manager with a strong advisor distribution focus and goals-based/solution-oriented product shelf. Comparable to Horizon in advisor GTM and multi-product strategy framing.
• BlackRock: Largest global asset manager with advisor-focused model portfolios, iShares ETFs, and OCIO capabilities via its Advisor Center. Represents scale competition for Horizon's mutual funds/ETFs and advisor platform.

Emerging players

• Orion Advisor Solutions: Advisor technology and portfolio management platform with growing goals-based portfolio offerings. Competes with Horizon Dashboard for advisor wallet share in planning and proposal tooling.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/horizoninvest
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@HorizonInvestments
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/horizon-investments

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Horizon Investments