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Vault Fees

When you invest in an Orion vault, you may pay fees to the curator (the portfolio manager who runs the strategy).
These fees reward the curator for their work and are always shown in the app before you confirm a deposit.

Orion vaults can have two main types of fees:

  • Management fee - a recurring fee on total value locked (TVL) - assets under management (AUM), capped at 3% per year.
  • Performance fee - a fee on generated returns, capped at 30% of profits.

Both fee types:

  • Are subject to protocol-level limits to protect users; you cannot be charged above these caps.
  • Are subject to an immutable 7-day delay before changes take effect - if a curator updates management fees, performance fees, or fee type/model, those changes are announced in the app and take effect after 7 days. If the curator makes another change before the 7 days are up, the timer resets for the new change, giving you time to react to pending changes.

You will always see the current fee settings on the vault page before you deposit.

Management Fees​

Management fees compensate curators for ongoing portfolio design, monitoring, and operations.

  • Basis: Charged as an annualized percentage of vault AUM (e.g., 1-2% per year), accrued continuously and settled on-chain at defined intervals.
  • Collection: Typically taken in-vault by minting curator shares or by periodically siphoning a small portion of the vault’s assets, depending on the implementation.

Management fees are independent of performance; they accrue even if the vault is flat or down, within the configured thresholds.

Performance Fees​

Performance fees align curator incentives with depositors by rewarding positive returns.

  • Basis: Charged as a percentage of realized gains over a reference level.
  • Timing: Crystallized on predefined events (e.g., rebalance, crystallization epoch, or withdrawal), depending on the strategy and vault configuration.
  • Reference: Gains are always computed relative to a fee model that defines when and on what basis performance is measured.

In the app, you will see the performance fee as a percentage and the fee model (for example, “20% performance fee, high-water mark”).

Fee Models (How Performance Fees Are Calculated)​

Curators can choose different fee models that define when a performance fee is charged.
Here are the main models you may see as a user.

Absolute Return​

In the absolute model, performance is measured against a flat baseline: any positive return from the starting point is fee-eligible.

  • Reference level: Starting Net Asset Value (NAV) or the last crystallization point.
  • Fees trigger when: The vault’s value is above this baseline; all positive Profit & Loss (P&L) since the last crystallization can be charged.

Absolute fee model

Hard Hurdle​

A hard hurdle introduces a minimum required return before any performance fee can be charged.

  • Reference level: Starting NAV plus a hurdle rate (e.g., +5%).
  • Fees trigger when:
    • The vault’s performance exceeds the hurdle level, and
    • Only the return above the hurdle is fee-eligible.

Hard hurdle fee model

High Water Mark​

A high water mark (HWM) ensures curators only earn performance fees on new highs in the vault’s value.

  • Reference level: The highest historical NAV on which a performance fee has previously been charged (the “high water mark”).
  • Fees trigger when:
    • The vault’s value rises above the prior HWM, and
    • Only gains above the previous peak are fee-eligible.
  • Drawdown behavior: After a drawdown, no performance fees are charged until the vault value has recovered past the old HWM.

High water mark fee model

Soft Hurdle​

A soft hurdle combines aspects of hurdle-based and absolute models.

  • Reference level: Starting NAV plus a hurdle rate.
  • Fees trigger when:
    • Once the vault’s value exceeds the hurdle, performance fees can apply to all gains, not just the excess above the hurdle.

Soft hurdle fee model

Protocol Fees​

Protocol Revenue Share​

  • Revenue-share model: Orion earns a protocol fee as a share of curator fees.
  • Default setting: The protocol currently takes 10% of the curator’s fee take (i.e., 10% of the total % of profits you earn as fees).
  • Accounting: This split is handled automatically at the protocol level; you configure your gross fees, and the protocol retains its share from that amount.
  • Maximum Protocol Fee: 20% (currently configured at 10%).

Withdrawing Accrued Fees​

The protocol and curator can periodically withdraw their accrued fees:

  • They may withdraw some or all of the fees that have built up over time.
  • This withdrawal is part of normal vault operations and does not introduce extra charges beyond the configured fees you already see.

What This Means for You as a User​

Before you deposit into a vault, always:

  • Review the fee section on the vault page - check both the management and performance fee percentages.
  • Understand the fee model - look for whether the vault uses absolute, hard hurdle, high water mark, or soft hurdle.
  • Track updates - if a curator changes their fees, those changes will be visible in the app and should be clearly communicated to depositors.