Alt Goes Mainstream: The Latest on Alternative Investments, WealthTech, & Private Markets (Michael Sidgmore)

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode welcomes two elite performers in Steve Young of HGGC and Scott Wood of True North Advisors, where they talk about how they formed a partnership based on shared values.

Steve’s private equity firm, $7B AUM HGGC, took a minority stake in Scott’s independent wealth management firm, $3.9B AUM True North Advisors, as part of their broader wealth management investment thesis.

After an illustrious 15 year Hall of Fame career as a three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, Steve embarked on second act to found HGGC that has rivaled his career on the field. Over the past 17 years, HGGC has grown to a $7B private equity firm that has completed 600 portfolio investments.

After working on Wall Street where clients were not being fiduciarily served, Scott's journey as a registered independent advisor started in 2000, when he and his partner Mark Gehlbach decided to pioneer the fee-only  model to eliminate conflicts of interest in the client advisor relationship. The foundation they built has led to the growth of a firm that now stands at over 3.9B in AUM, with a large portion of that capital, $812M allocated to alternatives. 

Steve, Scott, and I had a fascinating conversation about how they’ve built their respective investment firms, the importance of values and culture, and how they create abundant, fulfilling relationships. We discussed:

• Why “the score takes care of itself.”
• How and why defining the relationship up front is key in advisor M&A.
• How to assess culture fit when merging or acquiring advisors and wealth management firms.
• The importance of alternatives for better serving the client in an advisor’s practice.
• The concept of “decading” and why long-term thinking is critical in business and life.

Thanks Steve and Scott for sharing your thoughts and decades of wisdom on business building, investing, and partnership.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

01:17 Welcome to the Podcast

01:59 Meet the Guests: Steve Young and Scott Wood

02:22 Steve Young's Journey from the NFL to Private Equity

06:13 Scott Wood's Path to Founding True North Advisors

09:13 Building a Scalable and Collaborative Wealth Management Firm

12:22 Need for a Partner

12:57 Choosing HGGC: The Importance of Culture and Values in Business

13:30 HGGC's Investment Philosophy

15:03 Cultural Alignment in Partnerships

22:25 Evaluating Cultural Fit in Partnerships

22:40 Evaluating Cultural Fit

27:12 Governance and Day Two Operations

27:53 Commitment to Cultural Integrity

28:19 Navigating Cultural Fit in Wealth Management

28:55 Wealth Management Growth and Consolidation

29:40 The Role of Private Equity in Wealth Management

30:03 Changing Wealth Management Engagement

31:07 Challenges and Opportunities in Wealth Management Consolidation

32:22 True North's Unique Business Model

33:01 The Impact of Private Equity on Wealth Management

34:42 Exit Strategies and Long-Term Vision

39:39 Building an Alternatives Platform

40:31 Decading: Long-Term Thinking

40:53 Evolution of Alternatives Strategy

45:13 Simplifying Complex Investments

46:37 Fee Structures and Client Alignment

47:24 M&A Opportunities and Relationships

48:37 Mentorship and Professional Relationships

52:56 Future of Alternative Investments

55:56 Closing Thoughts and Reflections

“The room where it happens …

No one really knows how the game is played

The art of the trade

How the sausage gets made

We just assume that it happens 

But no one else is in the room where it happens …

When you got skin in the game, you stay in the game

But you don’t get a win unless you play in the game.”

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. 

These excerpts were in a song by Leslie Odom Jr. and Lin-Manuel Miranda from Hamilton. But they could also be applied to the conversation Laurence Tosi of WestCap and I had today.

Today’s show is with someone who has been in the room where it happens. Stories and perspectives shared today were from someone who has helped turn bills into laws in private markets.

Laurence Tosi has been part of building foundational technology businesses and companies in capital markets and private markets – from investing in and building Ipreo, iLevel, TMC Bonds, and Tradeweb as an executive at Merrill Lynch where he served as COO of Global Investment Banking and Trading, building Blackstone from 2008-2015 as the CFO, Management & Risk Committee Member, Head of the Tech Innovations Fund, and Blackstone Treasury Solutions Fund, and building and scaling Airbnb as CFO and Head of Payments, Customer Experience, and Corporate Development.

At Merrill Lynch and Blackstone, L.T. deployed $500M of capital, returning over $1.6B without taking a loss.

He's now building WestCap, a $7.6B growth investing firm that L.T. characterizes as an “operating equity firm” that helps founders and companies scale their businesses at the inflection point in between traditional venture capital and private equity. L.T. and WestCap have leveraged their collective operating knowledge to invest in a number of industry leaders, including two industry defining companies in private markets, iCapital and Addepar. They’ve also invested in the likes of SIMON, which was acquired by iCapital, GoodLeap, Sharegain, Klarna, Paxos, AccessFintech, Treasury4, Hopper, Avenue One, StubHub, and more.

L.T. and I had a fascinating conversation that took us to a number of places. We discussed:

• Stories from building Blackstone.
• The deeper meaning behind Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman’s comment “scale is our niche” and how “scale begets skill.”
• Insights L.T. and the Blackstone team had around working with the wealth channel that enabled them to transform how Blackstone and the industry worked with private wealth.
• Why the realization that at Blackstone, they weren’t selling to the end investor but that they were selling to the financial advisor was such a critical insight as they worked with the wealth channel.
• What it means to transform Blackstone from a firm into a business.
• Parallels and patterns L.T. took from building and investing in foundation market infrastructure businesses at Merrill Lynch and Blackstone to how they are investing in private markets at WestCap.
• L.T.’s learnings from a focus on customer experience and simplifying the product at Airbnb.
• What’s the unlock for alternatives that harmonizes the industry?
• Why consortium is a “bad word” but why standardization will be so critical to the next phase of private markets.
• Why private equity firms have the best business models in finance.
• The difference between being in the business of building their business between being in the business of building your business and what L.T. is trying to accomplish at WestCap.
• Why L.T. believes in the partnership model for alternative asset managers and why he believes that’s an enduring model.

L.T., thanks so much for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom, experience, and deep industry knowledge from being a pioneer in private markets.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today’s show, we welcome a senior member of the team at the world’s 3rd largest alternatives manager. Tyler Jayroe is a MD and Portfolio Manager in the Private Equity Group at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which manages over $2.4 trillion of assets on behalf of a diverse group of global institutions and individual investors. Tyler’s team, the Private Equity Group, has a 40 year history of investing across private markets, covering the alternative investment spectrum and investing over $42B of capital. Tyler helps spearhead a team that invests into funds, co-investments, and secondaries across private equity, growth equity, and venture fund strategies.

Tyler and I had a fascinating conversation about how an industry behemoth allocates capital across funds and strategies. We discussed:

• What they look for when investing into funds.
• Why middle market private equity is an area they have focused on.
• The opportunity for secondaries in the current market.
• The differences between a first time investor and a first time fund manager.
• What a scalable and replicable process really means when it comes to evaluating fund managers.

Thanks Tyler for coming on the podcast to share your deep experience in private markets. Hope you enjoy.

Contact JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc. at 1-800-480-4111 for a fund prospectus. You can also visit us at www.jpmorganfunds.com. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives and risks as well as charges and expenses of the mutual fund before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the mutual fund. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

This document is a general communication being provided for informational purposes only. It is educational in nature and not designed to be a recommendation for any specific investment product, strategy, plan feature or other purpose. Any examples used are generic, hypothetical and for illustration purposes only. Prior to making any investment or financial decisions, an investor should seek individualized advice from personal financial, legal, tax and other professionals that take into account all of the particular facts and circumstances of an investor’s own situation.

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The following considerations, which summarize some, but not all, of the risks of an investment in the representative strategy, should be carefully evaluated.

General Investment Risks

There is no assurance that the investments held by the Fund will be profitable, that there will be proceeds from such investments available for distribution to Shareholders or that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is speculative and involves a high degree of risk. Fund performance may be volatile and a Shareholder could incur a total or substantial loss of its investment. There can be no assurance that projected or targeted returns for the Fund will be achieved.

Financial Market Developments

Volatile conditions in the capital markets may cause limitations on the ability of companies in which the Portfolio Funds will invest to obtain capital, or subject such companies to higher costs of capital for financing. This lack of available credit could impede upon the ability of such companies to complete investments and higher costs of capital could reduce the returns of the Fund or Portfolio Funds. Changes in interest rates may adversely affect the investments held by the Fund. Changes in the general level of interest rates can affect the value of the Fund’s investments. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental, monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations, fiscal deficits, trade surpluses or deficits, regulatory requirements and other factors beyond the control of the Fund and the companies in which the Portfolio Funds invest. Although it is expected that the Fund’s borrowings, if any, will be short-term in nature, the companies in which the Portfolio Funds invest may finance a significant portion of their activities with both fixed and floating rate debt. By financing the acquisition and development of an investment with floating rate debt, such companies and Portfolio Funds, and indirectly the Fund, will bear the risk that in the event of rising interest rates and a lack of concomitant growth in income, or any increase in underwriting standards that might limit the availability of credit, it could become difficult for such companies and Portfolio Funds to obtain refinancing. In such a case, a company or Portfolio Funds could be forced to take actions that might be disadvantageous at the time in question, such as refinancing on unfavorable terms or selling an asset. Any rise in interest rates may also significantly increase the interest expense of the companies in which the Fund and Portfolio Funds invest, causing losses and/or the inability to service debt levels. If a company in which a Portfolio Funds invests cannot generate adequate cash flow to meet debt obligations, the Fund may suffer a partial or total loss of capital invested in the Portfolio Funds. Given current market conditions following a historically low interest rate environment, risks associated with rising interest rates are heightened.

Closed-End Fund Structure; Liquidity Limited to Periodic Repurchases of Shares

The Fund is designed primarily for long-term investors. An investment in the Fund, unlike an investment in a traditional listed closed-end fund, should be considered illiquid. The Shares are appropriate only for investors who are comfortable with investment in less liquid or illiquid portfolio investments within an illiquid fund. An investment in the Shares is not suitable for investors who need access to the money they invest. Unlike open-end funds (commonly known as mutual funds), which generally permit redemptions on a daily basis, the Shares will not be redeemable at a Shareholder’s option. Unlike stocks of listed closed-end funds, the Shares are not listed, and are not expected to be listed, for trading on any securities exchange, and the Fund does not expect any secondary market to develop for the Shares in the foreseeable future. The Fund’s private market investments will be illiquid and typically cannot be transferred or redeemed for a substantial period of time. The Shares are designed for long-term investors, and the Fund should not be treated as a trading vehicle.

Repurchase of Shares Risk

Although the Board may, in its sole discretion, cause the Fund to offer to repurchase outstanding Shares at their net asset value and the Adviser intends to recommend that, in normal market circumstances, the Board conducts quarterly repurchase offers of no more than 5% of the Fund’s net assets. Shares are considerably less liquid than shares of funds that trade on a stock exchange or shares of open-end registered investment companies. It is possible that the Fund may be unable to repurchase all of the Shares that a Shareholder tenders due to the illiquidity of the Fund investments or if the Shareholders request the Fund to repurchase more Shares than the Fund is then offering to repurchase. In addition, substantial requests for the Fund to repurchase Shares could require the Fund to liquidate certain of its investments more rapidly than otherwise desirable in order to raise cash to fund the repurchases and achieve a market position appropriately reflecting a smaller asset base. This could have a material ad...

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s guest is an industry leader in wealth management who has been very active in private markets.

Mike Tiedemann is a pioneer in the wealth management space in a number of ways.

He's at the helm of the first pure play publicly traded wealth management business, AlTi Global. AlTi, a $72B AUM platform, came out of a merger between Mike's successful and highly regarded wealth management and alternatives business, Tiedemann Advisors, which merged with Alvarium.

Founded in 1999, Tiedemann grew into a global company under Mike's leadership, expanding across geographies and building out a Trust Company and an alternatives manager on its way to overseeing $29B AUA.

Mike has since run the combined company of AlTi Global as CEO, where they've built a global wealth management and alternatives platform.

They are also backed by Allianz and Constellation Wealth Capital as they continue to serve many UHNW families worldwide.

Mike is very well-versed in private markets given his deep expertise in allocating to many of the industry's best leading managers so we had a fascinating conversation about the intersection of private markets and wealth management.

We discussed:

• The business of wealth management.
• The evolution of the wealth management industry.
• Why understanding private markets is so critical for wealth managers.
• The advantages of being a global wealth management business.
• The experience of being a publicly traded pure play wealth management firm.
• How to structure investments for global clients.
• The need to customize private markets portfolio construction as a way to differentiate versus other wealth management platforms.

Thanks Mike for coming on the show to share your views and wisdom on wealth management and private markets.

This conversation is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. It does not endorse or recommend any specific investments, products, or strategies. The opinions shared regarding investment approaches, risk allocations, and portfolio decisions are purely for discussion and do not constitute formal recommendations.

Any statements, assertions, or views regarding past or future market events or investment approaches are based on the speaker’s beliefs and do not necessarily reflect those of the firm as a whole, unless explicitly stated with supporting sources. Additionally, some statements may be forward-looking in nature, and actual outcomes may differ materially from expectations.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction and Message from our Sponsor Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:18 Podcast Theme Song

01:55 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream

01:58 Introducing Mike Tiedemann

05:26 Lessons from Mike’s Early Career in Brazil

06:51 Geopolitics and Investing

09:10 Private Markets Insight

09:33 History of Tiedemann Advisors

11:13 Evolution of Wealth Management

13:18 Challenges in Wealth Management

13:40 Multi-Strategy Managers

16:23 Client Needs and Expectations

17:58 Global Expansion and Services

20:25 Investment Differentiation

23:11 Tax Efficiency in Investments

24:23 Partnerships and Collaborations

26:18 Decision to Go Public

27:52 Benefits of Being Public

28:00 Challenges of Going Public

28:49 Building a Permanent Business

28:59 The Importance of Permanent Capital in Wealth Management

29:11 Wealth Management Business Longevity

29:54 Public Company Dynamics

30:15 Surviving Market Downturns: Strategies for Wealth Management Firms

31:12 Industry Consolidation

32:00 Global Wealth Management Focus

32:54 Regional Wealth Hubs

34:08 Nuances of Global Markets

35:30 Structuring for Global Clients

37:19 Creating Scalable Private Market Offerings

38:27 Differentiating in Private Markets

40:11 Tax Efficiency in Alternatives

40:52 Innovative Investment Structures

41:19 Partnerships with Managers

41:58 Public vs. Private Wealth Management

43:44 Brand and Public Listing Impact 

45:35 Future of Wealth Management

47:26 Technology and AI in Wealth Management

48:38 Talent and Retention

50:48 Skills for Modern Wealth Managers

51:57 Next Gen Client Demands

53:11 Exciting Trends in Private Markets

54:40 Capital Flows and Private Credit

56:33 Challenges in Private Markets

58:16 Favorite Alternative Investments

01:01:05 Concluding Thoughts 

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is with someone who has experienced the growth and evolution of the credit space from different vantage points.

We welcome Alona Gornick, a Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist, and Co-Head of the Chicago Office for Churchill Asset Management, a firm with $50B committed capital that is a provider of financing solutions to middle market private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Churchill is an investment-specialist affiliate of Nuveen, the asset manager of TIAA.

Alona provides investment insights across the private capital spectrum to the investment community – and has a particular focus on working with the Private Wealth and Retail channels. She works closely with Nuveen’s global distribution team to deepen relationships with and educate Churchill’s investors and partners.

Alona leverages her experience in capital markets, investor relations, and credit investing from working at the likes of Nuveen, Golden Gate Capital, and Oaktree Capital Management.

Alona and I had a fascinating conversation. We discussed:

• The evolution of credit investing.
• The opportunities and risks in private credit. 
• Are we in a private credit bubble?
• Why the product specialist role is critical for working with the wealth channel.
• The power of scale, particularly in private credit, and how it helps alternative asset managers win deals and invest.
• The strategic benefit of platforms and permanent capital.

Thanks Alona for coming on the show to share your views and wisdom on private markets. We hope you enjoy.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction to Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:18 Welcome to the Podcast

02:00 Guest Introduction: Alona Gornick

03:45 Alona's Career Path and Experience

06:59 Growth of Middle Market Direct Lending

07:41 Changes in the Credit Landscape

10:21 The Importance of Size and Scale in Private Credit

13:27 Deal Structuring and Market Evolution

14:46 Impact of High Rate Environment

16:06 Private Credit Returns and Underwriting

20:53 Investor Questions and Market Insights

21:24 Educating Investors on Private Credit

23:43 Private Credit in Wealth Portfolios

24:09 Diversification Benefits of Private Credit

24:24 Yield Premium in Private Credit

26:40 Private Credit vs. Private Equity

27:06 Exploring Private Equity and Private Debt

27:24 Transitioning from Public to Private Credit

27:49 The Role of a Product Specialist

28:09 Balancing Risks and Benefits

28:49 Relating to Advisors with Real Examples

29:40 The Importance of Education in Allocation

30:25 Diverse Viewpoints on Alternative Asset Managers

31:48 Challenges in Access to Capital

33:26 The Significance of Hiring Quality People

34:12 Non-Traditional Backgrounds in Specialist Roles

36:29 Patience and Commitment in Educating Investors

39:13 The Hardest Part of Educating the Wealth Channel

40:47 The Role of Structure in Education

44:21 Concerns About the Future of Private Credit

47:00 The Growth Potential of Private Credit

49:38 The Most Interesting Alternative Investment

50:15 The Opportunity in Private Equity Secondaries

52:47 Private Credit Secondaries: A Nascent Space

54:17 Primary and Secondary Considerations in Credit

54:34 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Everyone is talking about evergreens.

Alt Goes Mainstream has collaborated with iCapital and Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Head of Portfolio Management Nick Veronis to dive into the evergreen question with some of the leading practitioners in private markets.

This three part series with industry experts from Vista Equity Partners, KKR, and Hamilton Lane shines a light on one of the fastest-growing areas in private markets and its impact on the wealth channel.

The three part series features:

• Vista Equity Partners Managing Director, Global Head of Private Wealth Solutions Dan Parant.
• KKR Managing Director, Head of Americas, Global Wealth Solutions (GWS) Doug Krupa.
• Hamilton Lane Managing Director, Co-Head US Private Wealth Solutions Stephanie Davis.

Please enjoy the first episode of the series as Nick and I talk with Vista Equity Partners’ Dan Parant.

Show Notes
00:19 Welcome and Guest Introduction

00:39 Vista's Founding and Early Days

02:05 Vista's Growth and Achievements

03:11 Dan's Background and Role at Vista

04:07 Enterprise Software Investment Thesis

05:11 The Resilience of Enterprise Software

07:11 The Private Market Advantage

07:25 Constructing Portfolios for Wealth Channels

08:13 The Shift from Public to Private Markets

09:52 Evergreen Funds and Their Benefits

11:06 Evergreen Strategies in Software Investing

12:01 Advantages of Evergreen Structures

13:09 The Role of Private Equity in Evergreen Funds

13:17 Private Companies Staying Private Longer 

19:25 Vista's Approach to Different Company Sizes

20:28 Growth vs. Yield in Evergreen Strategies

21:11 The Importance of Scale in Evergreen Funds

24:24 Challenges of Managing Evergreen Structures

26:12 The Discipline of Manager Selection

28:41 Educating Investors on Evergreen Structures

30:08 Omnichannel Education Strategies

31:04 Product-Specific Education

32:00 Understanding Liquidity in Evergreen Funds

33:37 Structuring Liquidity Parameters

36:17 The Future of Evergreen Strategies

39:45 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts
40:17 Legal & Compliance Information

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives into the details of distribution and how to build a high-performing global business to serve the wealth channel across brands and strategies.

John Sweeney is the Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Oaktree Wealth Solutions, a business unit that was created to harmonize the distribution efforts across the Brookfield and Oaktree brands. He previously served as Head of US Business Development and Sales for Brookfield Oaktree Wealth Solutions and was a Managing Director and Head of the Americas intermediary business at Oaktree Capital. He also served as president of Oaktree Funds from 2014-2018.

Before joining the alternative asset manager side of the business, John had extensive experience working in alternative investments roles at private banks. Before joining Oaktree in 2013, he was a Managing Director and Head of Product Management and Development for the alternative investments business at Morgan Stanley. Prior to that, he was the Head of Product Management in the US for the alternative investments business of the Citi Private Bank.

John and I had a fascinating and informative discussion. We covered:

• How John is building Brookfield Oaktree’s wealth business.
• The benefits of scale.
• Wisdom from John’s Oaktree colleague Howard Marks.
• How advisor education is critical to the adoption of private markets.

Thanks John for coming on the show to share your wisdom and views on private markets and working with the wealth channel.

Subscribe to Alt Goes Mainstream to receive the weekly newsletter every Sunday and all of AGM’s podcasts.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction to our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:55 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream

02:06 Introduction to John Sweeney

03:58 John's Early Career at Morgan Stanley

04:34 Evolution of Alternative Investments

05:15 Impact of Technology on Private Markets

06:42 Service and Distribution Strategy

09:33 Building Brookfield Oaktree's Wealth Business

11:16 Brookfield and Oaktree Acquisition

12:42 Creating Investment Solutions

14:07 Understanding the Wealth Channel

15:05 Global Distribution Strategy

17:52 Importance of Brand and Service

19:06 Effective Client Engagement

21:09 Advisors vs. Institutional Investors

22:27 Evergreen Funds and Distribution

25:09 Balancing Content and Engagement

27:15 Investment Philosophy and Market Context

29:36 Risk Control and Consistency

30:53 Generational Wealth Transfer

31:40 Educating the Next Generation of Investors

32:04 Long-Term Track Record and Conclusion

32:18 Delivering Returns and Long-Term Success

32:31 Accessing Evergreen Funds

32:45 Compounding Returns Over Time

32:52 Thinking in Decades

32:57 Private Credit and Economic Cycles

33:16 Experience and Results

33:41 Brand and Experience in Private Markets

34:55 Marketing and History

35:12 Brookfield Real Estate Introduction

35:34 Oaktree's Credit Roots

35:55 Integrating Two Brands

36:15 Building Solutions and Partnerships

39:03 Global Presence and Scale

39:13 Navigating Wealth Channel Conversations

40:34 Competing in Various Deal Sizes

41:16 Exploring Secondary Markets

41:56 Private Capital Opportunities

42:50 Survey Insights on Alternatives

44:04 Global Wealth Channel Strategies

44:44 Regional Strategies and Local Teams

47:42 Building a Culture of Shared Success

48:42 Educating Advisors

49:43 Early Stages of Wealth Channel

51:41 Model Portfolios and Solutions

56:32 The Appeal of Music Royalties and Human Connection

58:14 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

I've been having many conversations with GPs and LPs over the past few months — and it feels like we've reached a point in private markets where both sides are trying to figure out how to navigate this space, from a product perspective and a technology perspective. 

To better understand these issues, I asked Lawrence Calcano, Chairman & CEO of iCapital, the largest platform in the space and a business that is in the middle of much of the flows of activity between GPs and LPs, to come back on the show to dive deeper into these topics.

The main topic of conversation? The evolution of the different service models that enable GPs to unlock access to private markets for more LPs.

As private markets welcomes more investors to the space, the how becomes as important as the why. 

How can investors gain access to private markets in ways that work for them?

How can alternative asset managers better serve those investors? 

How can this all be done in a responsible, thoughtful way that sets up both investors and private markets for success in the long-term?

Lawrence and I had a fascinating conversation. We discussed:

• How can operational efficiency across the entire value chain lower fees?
• Where do technological innovations like distributed ledger and AI factor into industry transformation?
• How important is education in driving adoption of alternative investments?
• How model portfolios and customization can transform the investor experience.
• Platform versus point solutions.
• Overestimating and underestimating market trends and market size.
• Why effortless is a myth.

Thanks Lawrence for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your thoughtful perspectives on the industry and its continued evolution.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction to Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:18 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream and Introduction to Lawrence Calcano

02:26 Navigating Private Markets

03:36 Holistic Solutions for GPs and LPs

03:57 Importance of Education in Alts

04:46 Understanding Alts in Portfolios

06:50 Lowering Fees Across the Chain

07:32 Technology and Tools for Advisors

08:36 Success in the Wealth Channel

10:21 Investment Product Innovations

11:44 Direct Relationships in Private Markets

13:26 Operationalizing Cost Structure Changes

14:21 The Role of AI and Data

14:43 Fee Evolution in Private Markets

15:31 Operationalizing New Workflows

16:06 Long-Term Industry Investments

18:37 Collaboration in the Industry and Education

20:34 Model Portfolios and Customization

23:04 Addressing Liquidity Concerns

24:18 Democratization of Private Markets

25:14 Platform vs. Point Solutions

31:14 The Importance of Scale

38:53 Moving Fast and Moving Slow 

40:33 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a guest who is making alts go mainstream by streamlining the process of investing into funds.

Carta and fund manager veteran Tim Flannery is the Co-Founder of Passthrough, a fund workflow automation tool that digitizes and automates the fund subscription process.

We had a fascinating discussion about how Passthrough is providing critical market infrastructure to the alts space and what the future of investing into funds looks like with Passthrough.

We discuss:

• Why there needs to be innovation around fund closings.
• How data matters in the fund closing process.
• How creating an investor passport can lead to efficiencies across the alts space.
• How Passthrough is the “narrow waist” of the alts space — building the connective tissue for funds and LPs to complete closings and then use that data in all sorts of places and sit on top of platforms like iCapital, CartaX, AngelList, Republic, and others. In a sense, Passthrough is a solution for the alts space in a similar manner to how WalletConnect is the connective tissue between wallets and DApps in the crypto ecosystem.

Fund closing is generally a painful process for everyone involved — LPs have to manually input data into subscription documents, which means they often miss questions or err in their answers. Much of this data is unstructured, hidden within PDFs, meaning that funds can’t use this when LPs re-up to following funds or to other funds. Fund managers have little visibility into the raise and timing for closings.

Tim is building a product with Passthrough that gives fund managers one of their most valuable assets — time — back and provides for a great user experience with fund closings. Passthrough automates the fund closing process by digitizing subscription agreements, turning them into a custom, TurboTax style workflow.

We were lucky enough to use Passthrough for our investment into Lowercarbon Capital and we never knew how easy a fund closing could be after using Passthrough. Passthrough’s fastest sub doc completion on record is said to be 6 minutes and mine wasn’t that far off.

The process is simple, automated, and efficient since Passthrough collects relevant data on LPs so that it's easier and quicker to subscribe for the next fund.

Tim has a great background to be building Passthrough. He was previously the Head of Go-To-Market for Investor Services at Carta and also worked on a number of large strategic accounts. He also spent time as a Partner at Pilot Mountain Ventures and started his career at JP Morgan in PE fund services, so he's seen the lifecycle of a fund investment from all angles.

He's a sharp, thoughtful, and focused founder who is building a product that many GPs and LPs already love.

This was a fascinating conversation about bringing technology to automate the alts space that I’m excited to see play out over the coming years in the space.

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments.

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios.

Over the past few days, we have brought to you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference.

There were 10 great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we have released these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (10/10), the Finale, in this CAIA mini-series is with Bill Kelly (CEO) and John Bowman (EVP) at CAIA. Bill, John, and I discuss the portfolio of the future, why 60/40 is dead, and how institutional investors will adapt to the current market environment.

Welcome to the 14th episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream. 

Here’s the latest episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a live conversation in studio with Lawrence Calcano, the Chairman & CEO of iCapital. As the leader of a platform with over $200B of assets that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, Lawrence and iCapital have their finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

On this episode, Lawrence and I had a fascinating and lively discussion. We covered:

• Has private markets moved from access as table stakes to customization and differentiation?
• What are the different phases of private markets — and how has iCapital built solutions for each?
• Is data the oil for private markets?
• How will model portfolios fit into the wealth channel’s adoption of private markets?
• If advisors now have access to private markets, how do they differentiate?
• How does the trend of OCIOs being acquired by wealth managers factor into the continued evolution of wealth channel adoption of private markets?
• The nuances of diligence on fund managers.
• Why do private markets “start and stop at the advisor’s desktop?”
• What's the interplay between brand, access, and customization?

Thanks Lawrence for a great episode … looking forward to next month’s conversation!

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction

00:23 Trends in Wealth Management: Customization and Differentiation

00:46 The Evolution of Private Markets Access

01:28 Building Bespoke Programs for Advisors

01:50 The Importance of Better Fit for Clients

02:26 Infrastructure and Customization in Wealth Channels

02:39 Phases of Evolution in Wealth Management

03:29 Expanding Product Access and Automation

03:49 Creating an Operating System for Wealth Management

04:30 The Role of Model Portfolios

04:56 The Role of Technology and Tools in Customization

05:21 Differentiation Through Custom Solutions

06:17 Understanding Customization in Wealth Markets

07:11 The Role of Diligence in Wealth Management

09:40 Reconciling Efficiency and Thoughtful Allocation

09:59 Advisors' Role in Customization and Differentiation

10:08 The Advisor's Role in Client Education

11:01 The Future of Secondary Markets and Evergreen Products

12:07 Tools for Advisors: Information and Fit

14:57 The Importance of Education and Technology

16:17 Product Innovation and Customization

19:23 Conclusion: Balancing Tensions in Wealth Management

On the latest episode of Alt Goes Mainstream, we talk with one of the pioneers of the online investment space.

Today’s guest is Ben Miller, the Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise, America’s largest direct-to-investor alternatives investment manager.

Ben has tremendous experience and expertise in both the real estate space and in building innovative alternative investment technology solutions. Prior to founding Fundrise, Ben was a Managing Partner of WestMill Capital Partners and President of Western Development Corporation, where he was responsible for acquiring, developing, and financing more than $500M worth of property.

In Fundrise, Ben has built a company whose aim is to use technology to build a better financial system for the individual investor, which is simpler, lower cost, more reliable, and transparent. They build software that enables the company to develop and manage investments uniquely well-positioned to grow and preserve their clients’ capital in any economic environment.

Since launching America’s first online real estate investment platform in 2012, Fundrise has now become one of the largest direct-to-investor alternatives investment managers with more than 1.6 million active users, more than $3.3B of equity under management, and $7B of real estate transacted. From private credit to real estate private equity to growth-stage venture capital, Fundrise offers investors exposure to various asset classes.

Ben and I had a fascinating conversation. We discussed:

• Fundrise’s evolution from real estate to broad based alternatives investment manager and how they got there. 
• The evolution of the real estate market and current investment opportunities in real estate. 
• The importance of technology in building a more efficient and low cost way for investors to access alternatives and how Fundrise has focused on this to grow their platform.

Thanks Ben for coming on the AGM podcast to share your views. We hope you enjoy.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode features the architects behind one of the industry’s faster growing wealth management platforms, NewEdge.

We welcome NewEdge CEO, Managing Partner, and Co-Founder Rob Sechan and NewEdge CIO Cameron Dawson.

Both Rob and Cameron have a wealth of experience in both wealth management and private markets. Rob has over two decades of experience in financial services, beginning his career as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley, before running a family office business as a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers. He later joined UBS as a Managing Director and Head of the Intellectual Capital Subcommittee, where he helped guide the firm’s tactical investment process for wealthy families and institutional clients before founding NewEdge in 2020. Cameron was the Chief Market Strategist at Fieldpoint Private Securities and a Senior Equity Analyst at Bank of America before joining NewEdge as CIO.

Since its founding in 2020, NewEdge has grown to over $44B AUM, supports over 300 financial advisors. NewEdge has built a platform that combines wealth management, technology, custody, research, and alternatives capabilities. They’ve built out a sophisticated private markets investment practice, which we unpacked in detail on today’s podcast.

Rob, Cameron, and I had a fascinating discussion. We covered:

• The transformation in wealth management and the approach that NewEdge has taken in the independent wealth channel.
• The evolution of Super RIAs.
• The role of alternatives in wealth management. 
• Navigating client psyche and market cycles.
• The importance of due diligence and why fee discipline matters in private markets.
• The importance of liquidity in a client's portfolio.
• Why portfolio construction is key in the wealth channel.

Thanks Rob and Cameron for coming on the show to share your thoughtful views on wealth management and private markets.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and Ultimus Sponsor Message

01:21 Welcome to the Podcast

02:03 Introducing NewEdge Wealth and the Guests

02:20 Rob Sechan's Journey in Wealth Management

07:46 Cameron Dawson's Perspective on NewEdge

11:45 The Role of Alternatives in Wealth Management

20:09 The Evolution of Super RIAs

24:10 Investment Strategies and Client Focus

31:31 Balancing Proactivity and Client Sensitivity

31:56 The Importance of Transparency and Differentiation

32:30 Navigating Client Psyche and Market Cycles

33:33 The Role of Alternatives in Portfolios

36:05 Private Equity Opportunities and Challenges

38:00 Fee Discipline and Alpha Generation

51:57 Engaging with Wealth Channels

56:52 Favorite Alternative Investments

59:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency. 

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products. 

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is with a fintech founder who has scaled one of the larger private markets investing platforms for individual investors.

Michael Weisz is the Founder and CEO of Yieldstreet, a leading private markets investing platform, with more than 450K members and $3.9B invested (as of October 2023). 

An award-winning entrepreneur, he co-founded Yieldstreet in 2015 with the ambition to provide individual investors with access to curated private market assets typically reserved for institutions. As CEO, Michael leads Yieldstreet’s strategic vision to make alternatives a fundamental piece of investor portfolios.

Before Yieldstreet, Michael held a variety of positions across the specialty finance spectrum, including founding Soli Capital. Previously, Michael was Vice President at a New York-based credit opportunities hedge fund with $1.2B under management.

Michael and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of private markets and how to deliver investment opportunities directly to consumers. We discussed the business evolution of Yieldstreet, how they work with both individuals and advisors, and what he thinks is important when it comes to providing investors with access to private markets.

Thanks Michael for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your thoughtful views on private markets.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a guest who has rich experience in the alts space.

Robert Picard, who was recently tapped to become the Head of Alternatives at Hightower, a $117B AUM wealth management platform, has over 32 years of experience on the buy and sell side in alts.

Robert came onto the podcast to discuss how he’s witnessed alts evolve over the past 30 years. He’s worked with top-tier asset managers, built private wealth units for banks, and is now building out Hightower’s expansive alts capabilities in-house to provide bespoke sophisticated solutions for some of the industry’s best wealth managers.

Robert was recently First Republic’s MD and Head of Alternative Investments. At First Republic Private Wealth Management, he consolidated two alternative investment businesses into a single platform and generated meaningful growth in wealth management team participation in alts and fund offerings across all asset classes.

Prior to First Republic, he founded and was CEO of the Rumson Ridge Group, a consultancy focused on building alternative investment platforms. Prior to Rumson Ridge, he held senior leadership positions at The Carlyle Group / Rock Creek, Optima Fund Management, RBC Capital Markets, and InfraHedge / State Street.

Robert and I had a thought-provoking conversation about the evolution of alts and the importance of alts in an investor’s portfolio.

We drilled down on how an expert like Robert performs manager due diligence and what he looks for in a successful fund manager, which is becoming increasingly important as many new managers enter the alts world and as new allocators look to invest into funds. 

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode features an industry titan who has been on the forefront of the intersection of alts and wealth.

We talk with Stephanie Drescher, Partner, Chief Client and Product Development Officer at Apollo and a member of the firm’s Leadership Team. She oversees the Client and Product Solutions Group (CPS), which includes Apollo’s Global Wealth Management Solutions, Institutional Sales, and Global Product teams. She is also involved with Apollo’s strategic investments in private markets, as a Board Observer at iCapital and a Board Member at Vega.

Stephanie is responsible for leading Apollo’s global wealth buildout, which is one of the firm’s strategic priorities. They’ve invested heavily in educational resources and have built out a specialized team to work with the wealth channel. Apollo has set a goal of achieving $150B from its global wealth business by 2029 and, in 2024, under Stephanie’s leadership the global wealth business exceeded the total capital raised in 2023 from the wealth channel.

Before joining Apollo in 2004, Stephanie was with JP Morgan for 10 years, working primarily in its Alternative Investment Group.

Stephanie and I had a fascinating conversation about how to build and scale a business in the wealth channel. We discussed:

• What is safe and what is risky?
• How can investors approach asset allocation and portfolio construction?
• How working with institutional investors has influenced and helped Stephanie think through how to work with investors in the wealth channel.
• The anatomy of building a wealth business.
• How critical is brand building when working with the wealth channel?

Thanks Stephanie for coming on the show to share your wisdom and expertise on private markets and work with the wealth channel.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction and Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:55 Welcome Back to Alt Goes Mainstream

02:04 Introducing Stephanie Drescher

03:55 Stephanie's Journey at Apollo

04:14 Focus on Institutional Clients

04:43 Strategic Focus on Wealth Channels

05:05 Learning from Different LPs

05:27 Early Days at J.P. Morgan

08:04 Importance of Communication

08:17 Transparency and Client Centric Approach

08:56 Educational Initiatives at Apollo

10:07 Apollo Academy Engagement

10:42 Content Creation Strategy

11:37 Combining Short and Long Form Content

11:43 Direct Client Communication

12:00 Distribution and Marketing

12:26 Client Centric Approach

13:06 Creating a Narrative for Private Markets

13:40 Defining Private Markets

14:34 Public vs. Private Markets

15:50 Changing Definitions in Private Markets

16:18 Impact of 2022 on Public Markets

17:02 Concentration in Public Markets

17:41 Benefits of Private Markets

18:17 Helping Clients Understand Private Markets

18:44 Developing Accessible Solutions

19:45 Client Focused Solutions

19:51 Balancing Client Needs and Market Nuances

20:15 Apollo's Origination Capability

22:12 Athene's Role in Apollo's Strategy

24:26 Tax Efficiency in Private Markets

25:39 Wealth Channel vs. Institutional Investors

25:48 Solving for Tax Challenges

25:53 Listening to Client Needs

27:31 Avoiding K1s and Capital Costs

28:17 Process and Adoption of Private Markets

29:07 Investing in Technology

30:08 Insights from Technology Investments

31:06 Shared Industry Solutions

32:02 Digital Outreach and Thought Leadership

32:38 Apollo's Brand and Public Presence

33:02 B2B2C Relationships

33:10 Building Apollo's Brand

33:50 Communicating Apollo's Value Proposition

34:04 Reaching the End Client

35:39 Media Presence and Brand Awareness

36:59 Tangible Impact of Private Credit

37:35 Evolution of Private Credit

38:14 Role of Asset Backed Credit

38:46 Alternative Asset Managers in Financial Markets

39:18 Partnerships and Convergence

39:48 Discretionary Allocations

40:11 401(k) Business and Retirement Goals

41:18 Focus on Net Return

41:52 Provocative Questions on Liquidity

43:00 Consistency of Messaging

43:26 Innovative Parts of Apollo's Business

43:49 Changing Definitions of Alternatives

45:23 Phases of Adoption in Wealth Channel

47:00 Strategic Focus on Partnerships

52:39 Balancing Scale and Customization

53:26 Personal Reflections and Future Investments

54:48 Conclusion and Farewell

Everyone is talking about evergreens.

Alt Goes Mainstream has collaborated with iCapital and Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Head of Portfolio Management Nick Veronis to dive into the evergreen question with some of the leading practitioners in private markets.

This three part series with industry experts from Vista Equity Partners, KKR, and Hamilton Lane shines a light on one of the fastest-growing areas in private markets and its impact on the wealth channel.

The three part series features:

• Vista Equity Partners Managing Director, Global Head of Private Wealth Solutions Dan Parant.
• KKR Managing Director, Head of Americas, Global Wealth Solutions (GWS) Doug Krupa.
• Hamilton Lane Managing Director, Co-Head US Private Wealth Solutions Stephanie Davis.

Please enjoy the second episode of the series as Nick and I talk with KKR's Doug Krupa.

Show Notes
00:23 Doug's Background in Private Markets

01:18 Early Career as a Financial Advisor

01:55 Understanding Overfunded Pensions

02:47 Focus on Making Private Markets Accessible

03:12 Building Innovative Solutions at KKR

03:25 Evolution of Wealth and Asset Management

03:55 Challenges in Private Markets

05:05 Partnering with KKR

05:55 KKR's Commitment to the Wealth Channel

06:04 Innovations in Fund Structures

06:59 The Conglomerate Model

07:15 KKR's Approach to Wealth Channel

07:46 Expanding Access to Private Markets

08:34 Delivering the Same Investment Experience

09:36 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for Wealth Channel

09:59 Legislation and Access to Private Markets

12:56 Evergreen Structures vs. Conglomerate Model

17:37 Investor Behavior in Evergreen Structures

18:12 Adoption of Evergreen Strategies

21:24 Educating the Industry on Evergreen

22:55 The Shift from Public to Private Markets

24:00 KKR's Educational Initiatives

26:06 Rebranding Alternatives as Private Markets

28:53 Partnerships and Hybrid Solutions

29:04 Market Structure Evolutions

31:11 Future of Private Markets

32:32 Dominant Players in Private Markets

34:18 Rapid Adoption of Evergreen Strategies

34:59 Disruption in the Industry

35:18 Final Thoughts on Private Markets

38:58 Closing Remarks

39:06 Disclaimer and Legal Information

40:55 Copyright Information

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments.

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios.

Over the next few days, we will bring you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference.

There were 10 great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we will release these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (5/10) in this CAIA mini-series is with Evan Darr, Partner at Invesco Private Capital. Evan and I discuss how the fact that we are in the midst of a technological revolution has changed the GP and LP landscape for both technology and crypto.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today’s episode, we travel around the world of hospitality investing. We talk with Carlos Rodriguez Jr., the Founder, President, and COO of Driftwood Capital, one of the US’s leading hospitality sponsors with over $3B in hospitality assets under management. They’ve found a way to do both the traditional things in real estate investing and development well and compliment that with an innovative strategy to bring over 1,200 accredited investors on their platform as they find ways to improve how sponsors can access deals and capital.

Carlos and I had a fascinating discussion about real estate and private markets. We covered:

• How hospitality investing was impacted by Covid and how Driftwood weathered the storm.
• Lessons learned from operating through Covid.
• Why location, location, location rings true in real estate investing.
• How the millennial traveler and work from home have impacted hospitality investing.
• The most surprising things in real estate investing over the past few years.
• How technology is impacting real estate investing.

Thanks Carlos for coming on the show to share your insights and wisdom about hospitality investing. We hope you enjoy.

Welcome back to Going Public with Evercore’s Glenn Schorr.

On the latest episode of Going Public, we dive for the loose balls in private markets’ March Madness as Glenn shares his thoughts on why it’s important to separate the forest from the trees when it comes to why certain firms make his “Final Four.”

We cover some of the most pressing topics in alternative asset management, including:

• Separating the forest from the trees — dissecting alternative asset manager stock performance versus long-term business performance.
• Views on the exit environment and what it means for alternative asset manager stock performance.
• Where and why does scale matter?
• Are banks and alternative asset managers enemies, frenemies, or collaborators, particularly in areas like private credit?
• Why does Glenn believe the secular growth trends of private markets and how that impacts alts managers is a fat pitch?
• In the spirit of March Madness, Glenn shares his bracketology on which firms make his “Final Four.”

Subscribe to Alt Goes Mainstream to receive the weekly newsletter every Sunday and all of AGM’s podcasts.

Making private markets more public — with expert analysis

Alt Goes Mainstream has partnered with an expert who has seen the evolution of alternative asset managers from their early days.

Glenn Schorr is a Senior MD and Senior Research Analyst at Evercore ISI, where he covers brokers, banks, asset managers, and trust banks as an analyst. 

He has covered financials since 2000 and started coverage of alternative asset managers when the first firms went public.

He’s consistently come up as one of the most thoughtful and well-respected analysts in the space. He balances deep research with a creative flair (just read one of the titles of his research reports and you can see his love of the game). He’s been named to Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team for his coverage, most recently ranking #2 and runner up in 2023, #1 and #2 in 2022. Prior to Evercore, Glenn was a Senior MD at Nomura, serving as the lead financials analyst. 

Listen in as Glenn shares market stories, the evolution of alternative asset managers as businesses, the biggest and most exciting trends in private markets based on what the industry’s largest players are doing, and we go “around the horn” for his analysis on the publicly traded firms.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and Countdown

00:06 Going Mainstream

00:45 Welcome to the Series

00:58 Meet Glenn Schorr

01:31 Market Stories and Trends

01:54 Live from Evercore

02:04 Earnings and Market Volatility

02:07 Secular Growth Businesses

02:39 Anticipation and Uncertainty

03:26 Alternative Managers' Performance

04:36 Private Markets and Infrastructure

05:53 Valuation and Market Corrections

07:28 Investment Opportunities in Market Downturns

07:54 Fundraising and Fee Related Earnings

08:01 Capital Raising Challenges

09:36 Super Alts Firms

12:22 Brand and Consistency

13:16 Acquisitions and Growth Strategies

15:33 Banks vs. Alternative Managers

16:26 Private Credit and Direct Lending

24:45 Asset Classes Shifting from Public to Private Markets

25:09 Duration Mismatch in Banking and Loans

25:32 Regulatory and Capital Arbitrage

26:01 Flexibility in Private Markets

26:30 Impact of Stock Prices on Strategic Acquisitions

27:01 Stock Deals and Control in Acquisitions

28:29 Accretive Acquisitions and Capital Raising

31:29 Scale Benefits in Private Markets

31:50 Big Ticket Transactions and Scale

33:05 Investor Understanding of Scale in Private Markets

33:37 Challenges in Public Market Investment in Alternative Managers

36:50 Long-Term Trends in Private Markets

38:03 Risks in Private Markets

38:55 Transparency and Oversight in Private Markets

39:30 Thematic Investing and Long-Term Trends

40:31 Private Markets Framework for Public Stocks

41:30 Emotional Investing and Long-Term Capital

43:25 Geopolitical and Economic Policy Impacts

45:38 March Madness: Top 4 Manager Picks

47:09 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Company Coverage and Disclosures

Evercore ISI

Glenn Schorr

| Ticker | Company
| APO | Apollo Global Management, Inc.
| BAC | Bank of America Corporation
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Bank of America Corporation.
| BK | Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
| BLK | BlackRock, Inc.
| BlackRock, Inc. is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to BlackRock, Inc. in the last 12 months.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from BlackRock, Inc. within the next three months.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Blackrock Inc.
| BX | Blackstone, Inc.
| Blackstone, Inc. is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to Blackstone, Inc. in the last 12 months.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from Blackstone, Inc. within the next three months.
| An employee, employee's immediate family member, director or consultant of Evercore ISI or one of its affiliates (but not the covering research analyst or a member of the covering research analyst's household) is an officer, director or advisory board member of Blackstone, Inc.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate has received compensation from Blackstone, Inc. for investment banking services in the last 12 months.
| Analyst has a financial interest in a private equity fund managed by Blackstone, Inc.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Blackstone, Inc.
| OWL | Blue Owl Capital, Inc
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate has acted as a manager or co-manager of a public offering of securities by Blue Owl Capital, Inc in the last 12 months.
| Blue Owl Capital, Inc is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to Blue Owl Capital, Inc in the last 12 months.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate has received compensation from Blue Owl Capital, Inc for investment banking services in the last 12 months.
| BSIG | BrightSphere Investment
| C | Citigroup, Inc.
| An employee, employee's immediate family member, director or consultant of Evercore ISI or one of its affiliates (b...

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode features an industry leader who has pioneered working with the wealth channel.

We talk with Joan Solotar, the Global Head of Private Wealth Solutions at Blackstone, where she also serves on the firm’s Management Committee. Joan has been responsible for leading Blackstone’s impressive work in the wealth channel. She’s grown the firm’s footprint in private wealth to over $250B in assets across Blackstone funds, making the wealth channel comprise roughly a quarter of Blackstone’s $1T AUM.

Blackstone Private Wealth Solutions’ mission is to bring institutional quality products across a broad spectrum of alternative asset classes to high net worth clients and their advisors.

Before joining Blackstone in 2007, Joan was Head of Equity Research at Bank of America Securities and a highly ranked Institutional Investor All Star financial services analyst at Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. She also serves on the Board of Directors at First Eagle Investment Management.

Joan and I had a fascinating conversation about how to build and scale a business in the wealth channel. We discussed:

• How Blackstone built a $250B AUM business in the wealth channel across Blackstone funds.
• How Joan’s background in equity research helped her as she built a business for the wealth channel.
• The early days of building Blackstone’s Private Wealth Solutions business.
• Where, why, and how private markets can fit into a portfolio.
• How model portfolios will evolve.
• Why private markets are no longer an alternative.
• How to build an effective brand in asset management.

Thanks Joan for coming on the show to share your wisdom and expertise on private markets and your work with the wealth channel.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:18 Alt Goes Mainstream Theme Song

02:02 Guest Introduction: Joan Solotar

03:45 Joan's Background 

05:00 Early Days at Blackstone

06:39 Challenges in Private Wealth Business

08:31 Convincing Advisors

10:44 Growth of Private Wealth Business

11:12 Advisor Allocation to Private Markets

13:27 Understanding Liquidity and Risk

14:36 Educating Advisors on Private Markets

15:55 Client Demand for Private Markets

17:08 Portfolio Construction and Alternatives

20:56 Ease of Use in Private Investments

21:23 Model Portfolios and Private Investments

22:32 Advisor Relationships with Blackstone

24:10 Differentiating Blackstone's Experience

25:19 Commitment to Advisors

25:40 Commitment from Blackstone's Leadership

27:27 Complexity of Selling Private Investments

28:54 Blackstone's Growth and Future Goals

29:53 Importance of Brand and Marketing

31:14 Integration of Marketing and Sales

31:38 Educating Blackstone's Team

31:56 Blackstone's Training Programs

34:50 Weekly Global Meetings

36:44 Humanizing Blackstone's Team

39:07 Blackstone's Holiday Video

40:14 Consumer-Facing Investments

41:27 Joan's Favorite Investment Theme: AI

41:59 Blackstone's AI Investment Strategy

43:19 Conclusion of the Podcast

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is with Alex Chaloff, the CIO of a large and sophisticated private wealth management firm that is very active in private markets.

Alex is Chief Investment Officer of Bernstein’s $125B+ private wealth management unit within $725B AUM AllianceBernstein. He was previously the Head of Alternative Asset Strategies. Prior to joining Bernstein in 2005, he was a MD for Wilshire Associates, serving on the firm’s investment committee. Prior to that, he worked in fund accounting operations at a global custodian in Boston.

Alex and I had a fascinating conversation about: 

• How to approach private markets asset allocation.
• Why he’s doing the job that he always wanted to do.
• How to think about portfolio construction.
• The importance of patience.
• The questions about liquidity.
• Why structure matters.

Thanks Alex for coming on the show to share your wisdom and views.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency. 

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products. 

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

01:18 Podcast Theme Song

01:35 Welcome to the Podcast

01:59 Introducing Alex Chaloff

03:01 Alex Chaloff's Career Jurney

03:49 Transition to Bernstein

04:16 Current Role and Responsibilities

05:26 Investment Strategy and Market Insights

06:58 Active vs Passive Investment

11:35 Middle Market Focus

14:26 Evaluating Fund Managers

18:28 Lessons Learned in Fund Management

20:51 Allocating to Private Markets

22:38 Liquidity and Risk Management

27:01 Current Market Opportunities

31:01 The Perception of Infrequent Reporting

31:38 Private Wealth and Market Fluctuations

32:21 Understanding Liquidity Concerns

32:54 The Future of Private Market Investments

33:38 Challenges in Public Market Benchmarks

34:45 GP and LP Dynamics in Private Markets

36:58 Product Innovation in Private Markets

38:30 Evergreen Structures and Asset Allocation

39:20 Vintage Diversification Strategy

42:07 Lessons from the Current Market Cycle

42:30 Next Generation Investors and Impact Investing

46:13 Double Bottom Line Investing

48:24 Concerns in Private Debt Markets

51:33 Opportunities in Venture Capital

54:36 Favorite Alternative Investments and Future Trends

Welcome to the 3rd episode of a collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream.

Here’s the latest episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a live conversation in studio with Lawrence Calcano, the CEO of iCapital, who as the leader of a platform that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

Watch the Monthly Alts Pulse

On this episode, Lawrence and I had a fun and lively discussion. We covered:

• What iCapital is seeing in the market now.
• The importance of developing long-term partnerships in business and life.
• Why there’s a need for advisors to understand how alts fit into overall client portfolios and innovations needed with technology and analytics through innovations like iCapital Architect.
• The path to including alts in model portfolios.
• Why alts are still sold, not bought — and how iCapital’s Marketplace may change that dynamic.
• How GPs needed to be educated on why and how working with the wealth channel made sense for their business.
• How the market has evolved to where many GPs are focused on working with the wealth channel.
• How things go slow and then they go fast, particularly in asset management.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Alt Goes Mainstream was live from $1.2T AUM asset manager Nuveen’s nPowered conference, a two-day event bringing together Nuveen thought leaders and industry experts to explore challenges and opportunities in private markets.

We interviewed some of Nuveen’s senior leadership on site to hear their views and perspectives on private markets, working with the wealth channel, and product innovation.

We talked with Jeff Carlin, Senior Managing Director, Head of Global Wealth Advisory Services at Nuveen, and a member of the Senior Leadership Team. He’s responsible for leading the placement, distribution, and support of all products through the US Wealth distribution channel.

Jeff and I had a fascinating conversation about working with the wealth channel and how Nuveen has created products to serve this growing investor segment.

Thanks Jeff for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and expertise on private markets, private wealth, and distribution. We hope you enjoy.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction to our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:58 Live from Nuveen's nPowered Conference

02:26 Jeff Carlin's Role at Nuveen

02:33 Nuveen's Wealth Business

03:28 Jeff Carlin's Career Background

06:43 Evolution of Wealth Distribution

06:56 Changes in Advisor Discretion

09:52 Consultative Selling in Wealth Management

10:04 Hiring Distribution Professionals

12:10 Building Trust with Advisors

14:03 Indispensable Partnerships

16:41 Public vs. Private Markets

19:14 Global Wealth Management

19:44 Regional Differences in Distribution

20:59 Focus on Specific Channels

23:15 Structural and Non-Structural Advantages in Distribution

27:32 Public and Private Market Strategies

27:43 Portfolio Solutions Group

27:57 Allocating to Private Markets

28:19 Balancing Third-Party and Own Products

28:43 Advisor's Role in Portfolio Construction

29:28 Challenges in Wealth Channel Distribution

29:36 SMA Business vs. Private Markets

30:14 Intricacies of Private Market Investments

30:35 Client Understanding and Implementation

31:09 Drawdown Structures and Client Needs

31:16 Perpetual Vehicles in Private Credit

31:53 Simplifying Private Fund Investments

33:00 Managing Capital Calls and Cash Flows

34:45 Evergreen Structures in Private Markets

35:10 Future of Private Market Investments

36:20 Technology and Structural Innovations

36:52 Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology

37:40 Adoption of New Technologies

38:29 Excitement About Private Markets

39:18 Generational Differences in Investment

40:11 Education and Intergenerational Wealth Transfer

41:23 Gamification and Investment Psychology

47:08 Advisor Education and Private Markets

48:49 Changing Perceptions of Private Markets

52:41 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Welcome to the 9th episode of a collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream. 

Here’s the latest episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a live conversation in studio with Lawrence Calcano, the Chairman & CEO of iCapital, who as the leader of a platform that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

In today’s episode, Lawrence and I welcome a special guest. Arax Investment Partners CEO Haig Ariyan, a wealth management industry veteran, joins us to discuss the evolution of wealth management and the role that alts can and should play in wealth client portfolios. Together with RedBird Capital, an $8.6 billion AUM private equity firm focused on financial services and sports and media, Haig and Arax are partnering with wealth and asset management firms and teams to build a differentiated platform that takes lessons learned and deep experience from Haig's background running wealth management businesses. Following its recent acquisition of $9B AUM U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors, Arax now has over $16.5B in AUM and $13B in regulatory AUM.

On this episode, Lawrence, Haig, and I had a fascinating and lively discussion. We covered a number of topics, including:

• The importance of independent and hybrid platforms in wealth management.
• How to build culture at a wealth management firm.
• How advisors can utilize alternative investments to benefit their clients.
• How the industry can collaborate to enhance client outcomes and ensure informed investment decisions.
• How innovative fund structures could change the landscape of private markets.

Thanks Lawrence and Haig for a great episode … looking forward to next month’s conversation!

Today, we have a unique episode on Alt Goes Mainstream. We have our first episode with a founder and their lead investor from their Series B. 

We have the founder of leading alts fund investment platform, Moonfare, and their Series B lead investor, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, on the podcast to talk about why both of them believe in the future of retail distribution in alts and the anatomy of their deal.

Steffen Pauls, the founder of Moonfare, has had an illustrious career in the private equity world. Prior to founding Moonfare in 2016, Steffen was a MD at KKR where he was responsible for the firm’s coverage of the German market. Prior to joining KKR, he was the CEO of firstfive AG. He also served on the Advisory Board of Versatel, Serbia Broadband, and Hertha BSC.

Alokik Advani, who runs Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, is an expert in the financial market structure. He’s been right in the middle of investing in many of the core technology solutions that have powered market structure evolutions across equities, fixed income, commodities, and now alternative assets. At Fidelity, Alokik invests into category defining FinTech companies. They’ve made a number of FinTech investments that have helped shape the alts space, including DriveWealth, Moonfare, Capdesk, PrimaryBid, and others. Prior to Fidelity, Alokik was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he invested out of the Principal Strategic Investments team into many companies that have shaped market structure evolutions across asset classes.

It was fascinating to have the perspective from both founder and investor on the evolution of the world of alts. We discussed how investor demand has evolved from institutional investor to the retail and private wealth communities. Steffen and Alokik provided fascinating views on how the alts market structure has changed and how Moonfare and Fidelity are helping to shape the market.

Thanks Steffen and Alokik for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today’s show, we welcome a veteran of venture, a champion of portfolio concentration, a master of micro VC. 

Chris Douvos has taken a mosaic of experiences as an allocator at both endowments and funds that worked on behalf of institutional investors to found Ahoy Capital in 2018, an intentionally right-sized firm focused on working with smaller, emerging VC managers. A pioneering investor in the micro VC movement, Chris has been a mainstay in venture capital for decades. At Ahoy, he discovers and partners with smaller VC funds to help drive returns for his LPs, being seen as a “bird dog in the Valley” for many institutional investors who lack the access, network, and knowledge of the early-stage venture landscape to Chris’s degree.

Chris has been embedded in the venture world for years, dating back to the early 2000s. Prior to Ahoy Capital, Chris spearheaded investment efforts at Venture Investment Associates and The Investment Fund for Foundations. He initially learned the craft of private markets investing at Princeton’s University endowment, although he earned his BA and MBA from Yale.

Chris and I had such a fun discussion about venture and the emerging VC landscape. We discussed:

• How the business of venture has changed.
• Why there’s always room for a Bugatti when the market has a lot of Fords and Toyotas.
• What he learned from Doug Leone at Sequoia in his early days as an allocator at Princeton and how it’s informed how he invests today.
• Why it’s tough to be a midsized fund in today’s venture market.
• Why he believes that concentration is key as a LP – and that diversification can lead to “diworseification.”
• Why he believes smaller fund sizes can lead to outperformance.

Thanks Chris for coming on the podcast to share your wisdom and lessons learned from decades in venture.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives into an important and growing part of the private markets ecosystem: how investors can access and invest into alternatives through their retirement funds.

We have Eric Satz, the Founder & CEO of Alto, a self-directed IRA custodian, with us today to discuss how he’s on a mission to provide everyday Americans with the same investment opportunity long favored by institutional investors.

Alto provides custody for a wide array of alternative assets, including private companies, real estate, crypto, loans, and securitized collectibles. 

Alto has streamlined the process for companies, funds, and SEC-registered investment platforms to include IRA investors in their offerings. They’ve partnered with firms across the alts space, including AngelList, Coinbase, EquityZen, Republic, Masterworks, and others, to enable investors to invest into private markets with their IRA.

Eric is a serial entrepreneur and former investment banker. He worked at DLJ / Credit Suisse First Boston before co-founding Currenex (acquired by State Street for $564M), Plumgood Food, and Tennessee Community Ventures. His passion for entrepreneurship led him to serve on the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority from 2015 to 2018 and he teaches an entrepreneurship class to high school students.

On today’s podcast, Eric teaches us all about the merits of a self-directed IRA. We had a fascinating discussion about why and how it makes sense to use an IRA to invest into private markets investments and how he’s taking lessons learned from prior IRA businesses to build Alto.

We discussed:

• Rethinking retirement investing.
• The evolution of the self-directed IRA market.
• Alto’s vision: TurboTax for IRAs.
• Structural challenges with using IRAs for private markets investments.
• The role of technology with streamlining retirement investing.
• The evolution in investor awareness of retirement investing.
• The importance of duration matching.

Thanks Eric for coming on the show to share your knowledge and passion for alternatives.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction: Going Mainstream

00:38 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast

00:52 Introducing Eric Satz and Alto

01:33 Eric's Background and Entrepreneurial Journey

01:57 The Mission of Alto

02:01 The TurboTax for IRAs

02:05 The Importance of Retirement Accounts in Private Markets

02:29 Welcoming Eric to the Podcast

02:37 The Evolution of Private Markets and IRAs

02:51 The Beginnings of Alto

03:13 Challenges in Self-Directed IRAs

03:54 The Vision for Self-Directed IRAs

04:28 Changing Conventional Wisdom on Retirement Investing

05:40 The Demographics of the IRA Industry

06:21 The Growth of IRA Accounts

06:38 The Allocation to Alternative Assets

07:36 Barriers to Private Market Investments in IRAs

07:50 Psychological Barriers to Alternative Investments

08:35 Structural Challenges in Using IRAs for Private Investments

08:53 The Role of Technology in Streamlining Investments

09:02 The Launch of Alto with AngelList

10:05 The User Journey in Private Market Investments

10:43 The Role of Financial Advisors

11:10 Educating Investors on Private Markets

12:25 The Evolution of Investor Knowledge

12:35 The Importance of Tax-Advantaged Investments

13:11 The Financial Advisor's Perspective

14:05 The Benefits of Illiquidity in Private Markets

15:54 The Role of Large Asset Managers

16:17 The Branding of Private Markets

16:45 The Growth of Athene and Financial Advisors

16:57 The Importance of Current Income in Retirement Accounts

17:43 The Younger Generation's Investment Behavior

18:05 The Impact of Evergreen Fund Structures

19:04 The Role of Asset Management Firms

20:02 The Future of Private Market Solutions

20:15 The Role of Alto in Private Market Investments

20:54 The Importance of Infrastructure in Private Markets

21:44 The Evolution of Alto's Business Model

21:50 The Growing Awareness of Private Markets

23:57 The Role of the Alto Marketplace

24:35 The Inclusion of Crypto in IRAs

25:17 The Challenges of Transitioning Assets to IRAs

25:50 The Impact of Friction on Investment Decisions

27:46 The Success of Alto's Technology

28:35 The Role of Funds in Promoting IRAs

29:36 The Future of Private Markets and Wealth Channels

31:11 The Role of Financial Advisors in Private Markets

31:58 Educating Financial Advisors on IRAs

32:13 The Importance of Conferences and Networking

47:13 The Future of Private Markets and Retirement Accounts

47:32 The Role of Regulations in Private Market Investments

50:27 Conclusion: The Potential of Retirement Accounts in Private Markets

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives into an important and growing part of the alts ecosystem: how investors can access and invest into alternatives through their retirement funds.

We have Eric Satz, the CEO of Alto, a self-directed IRA custodian, with us today to discuss how he’s on a mission to provide everyday Americans with the same investment opportunity long favored by institutional investors.

Alto provides custody for a wide array of alternative assets, including private companies, real estate, crypto, loans, and securitized collectibles. Alto has streamlined the process for companies, funds, and SEC registered investment platforms to include IRA investors in their offerings. They’ve partnered with firms across the alts space, including AngelList, Coinbase, EquityZen, Republic, Masterworks, and others, to enable investors to invest into private markets with their IRA.

Eric is a serial entrepreneur and former investment banker. He worked at DLJ / Credit Suisse First Boston before co-founding Currenex (acquired by State Street for $564M), Plumgood Food, and Tennessee Community Ventures. His passion for entrepreneurship led him to serve on the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority from 2015 to 2018 and he teaches an entrepreneurship class to high school students.

On today’s podcast, Eric teaches us all about the merits of a self-directed IRA. He shares why and how it makes sense to use an IRA to invest into private markets investments and how he’s taking lessons learned from prior IRA businesses to build Alto.

Thanks Eric for coming on the show to share your knowledge and passion for alternatives.

Today we have a special guest who is one of the foremost leaders in the alternatives industry.

Bill Kelly is the CEO of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA), the leading global educational and professional credentialing body dedicated to delivering greater knowledge and alignment for investors in the alternative investments space.

Bill and I had a fascinating conversation. His thoughtful and eloquent views on the evolution of the alternatives space led us to talk about:

• How the Retirement Promise has impacted consumers and investors and what it means for alternative investments.
• The importance of being a fiduciary.
• How CAIA consistently evolves their educational program to cover emerging trends like crypto and DeFi.
• How partnerships with leading investment platforms in the alts space like iCapital help to move the industry forward.

Bill brings an operator’s perspective to CAIA. Prior to joining CAIA in 2014, Bill was the CEO of Boston Partners and one of seven founding partners of the predecessor firm, Boston Partners Asset Management, which was sold to $215 billion global asset manager Robeco in 2002. He then led Robeco’s US operations as CEO.

Bill’s illustrious career in institutional asset management spans over 30 years, where he’s been in CEO, COO, and CFO roles across a number of firms. He is also currently the Chairman and Lead Independent Director for the Boston Partners Trust Company, which has over $2 billion in AUM. 

Bill has been an independent board member at Salient Partners, a $16 billion investment advisory firm, and an Independent Trustee at Bank of America’s $50 billion mutual fund complex business. 

He’s also an Advisory Board Member of the Certified Investment Fund Director Institute, which strives to bring the highest levels of professionalism and governance to independent fund directors around the world.

Bill is a lifelong learner and a tireless advocate for shareholder protection and investor education, which led him to his current role at CAIA, which he has helped grow the membership to over 11,000 members and 31 chapters across 95 countries.

CAIA serves a critical role in the alternative investments industry – they educate industry stakeholders and fiduciaries on the most current knowledge and best practices across the evolving landscape of alts. 

They have a sophisticated credentialing and thought leadership program that equips everyone from fund managers to distributors of alternative investment products to individuals who want to learn about alts with the tools they need to understand the industry as CAIA looks to consistently raise the standards across the industry.

Thanks Bill for sharing such important and interesting thoughts on the alts space and for providing critical education to the space through CAIA.

I hope you enjoy.

Today marks the launch of a new show on Alt Goes Mainstream: Going Public with Evercore’s Glenn Schorr.

17 years ago, there wasn’t a single alternative asset manager that was part of the public markets. Today, not only are a number of the industry’s largest firms public, but in 2024, the industry’s largest alternative asset manager, Blackstone, entered the S&P 500.

Understanding the inner workings, strategic moves, and financial performance of the industry’s largest players can help to explain many of the trends that are making alternatives become mainstream and these firms become mainstays in the financial services ecosystem.

Going Public will make private markets more public with expert analysis.

Glenn Schorr is a Senior MD and Senior Research Analyst at Evercore ISI, where he covers brokers, banks, asset managers, and trust banks as an analyst. 

He has covered financials since 2000 and started coverage of alternative asset managers when the first firms went public.

He’s consistently come up as one of the most thoughtful and well-respected analysts in the space. He balances deep research with a creative flair (just read one of the titles of his research reports and you can see his love of the game). He’s been named to Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team for his coverage, most recently ranking #2 and runner up in 2023, #1 and #2 in 2022. Prior to Evercore, Glenn was a Senior MD at Nomura, serving as the lead financials analyst. 

Listen in as Glenn shares market stories, the evolution of alternative asset managers as businesses, the biggest and most exciting trends in private markets based on what the industry’s largest players are doing, and we go “around the horn” for his analysis on the publicly traded firms. 

Show Notes

00:38 Introduction to the Going Public Series and award-winning Wall Street Analyst, Glenn Schorr

01:54 Glenn's Career Journey

03:08 The Early Days of Alts Managers Going Public

03:26 Skepticism and Challenges in Going Public

04:06 Investor Skepticism and Challenges

07:00 Transformation and Tipping Points

09:03 Structural Tailwinds and Market Trends

10:57 The Decision to Go Public vs. Staying Private

12:39 Ambition and Vision in Asset Management

14:51 The Distribution vs. Manufacturing Debate

17:03 Lessons from Traditional Asset Management

18:55 Discipline and Growth in the Alts Market

20:03 The Future of Public and Private Markets

20:50 The Role of Distribution in Asset Management

21:59 Success Stories and Acquisition Strategies

23:02 Manufacturing Competency vs. Acquisitions

24:40 The Rise of Private Markets

26:07 How Alternative Managers Make Money

27:02 Valuation Factors for Alternative Managers

28:44 Profitability and Margins in Asset Management

29:23 Building a Business: Costs and Competitive Advantages

29:50 The Moat of Success in Business

30:15 Challenges for Traditional Asset Managers

30:56 The Importance of Vision and Technology

31:22 Scaling a Business with Proven Success

31:40 Insurance Asset Management: Strategic Moves and Structural Advantages

32:17 Structural Advantages in Asset Management

33:05 The Rise of Private Credit Managers

34:43 The Impact of Interest Rates on Private Credit Managers

35:32 Navigating Rate Sensitivity in Capital Markets

38:25 Deployment and Monetization in Asset Management

39:08 The Challenge of Dry Powder in Private Equity

41:14 The Role of Deployment in Investment Success

41:46 The Resilience of Publicly Traded Alts Managers

43:26 Spotlight on Blackstone's Growth and Innovation

46:38 KKR's Global Expansion and Innovation

48:41 Apollo's Market Leadership and Challenges

50:11 Blue Owl's Strategic Investments and Challenges

53:56 TPG's Public Transition and Growth

55:11 Carlyle’s Progress and Future Challenges

56:11 Looking Ahead: Key Trends and Expectations

Disclosures

Evercore ISI

Glenn Schorr

Company Coverage and Disclosures

Ticker      Company

APO         Apollo Global Management, Inc.

BAC         Bank of America Corporation

Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Bank of America Corporation.

BK            Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

BLK          BlackRock, Inc.

Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of BlackRock Inc.

BX            Blackstone, Inc.

Blackstone, Inc. is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to Blackstone, Inc. in the last 12 months.

Evercore ISI or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from Blackstone, Inc. within the next three months.

An employee, employee's immediate family member, director or consultant of Evercore ISI or one of its affiliates (but not the covering research analyst or a member of the covering re advisory board member of Blackstone, Inc..

Evercore ISI or an affiliate has received compensation from Blackstone, Inc. for investment banking services in the last 12 months.

Analyst has a financial interest in a private equity fund managed by Blackstone, Inc.

Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Blackstone, Inc.

OWL         Blue Owl Capital, Inc.

Evercore ISI or an affiliate has acted as a manager or co-manager of a public offering of securities by Blue Owl Capital, Inc in the last 12 months.

Blue Owl Capital, Inc is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to Blue Owl Capital, Inc in the last 12 months.

Evercore ISI or an affiliate has received compensation from Blue Owl Capital, Inc for investment banking services in the last 12 months.

BSIG        BrightSphere Investment

C               Citigroup, Inc.

An employee, employee's immediate family member, director or consultant of Evercore ISI or one of its affiliates (but not the covering research analyst or a member of the covering re advisory board member of Citigroup, Inc.

Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Citigroup, Inc.

BEN          Franklin Resources, Inc.

Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Franklin Resources, Inc.

GS            Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

IVZ           Invesco Ltd.

JPM        &nb...

Today we have a guest who is an expert from both the traditional financial services world and the crypto world, which has equipped him with the ability to bridge the two worlds and build onramps into the crypteconomy.

Tom Jessop, who heads Fidelity Digital Assets, is an expert in market structure, capital markets, and crypto.

There are few who have seen as much as him when it comes to the evolution of market structure.

He’s an OG FinTech investor, investing into FinTech before it even had that moniker.

He has a knack for finding trends before they are big. He did it with FinTech – and more recently he’s been on the forefront of another major trend: crypto.

He’s the President of Fidelity Digital Assets, where he’s responsible for helping one of the world’s largest asset managers build out a full-service enterprise-grade platform for digital assets.

Fidelity has long been a pioneer amongst financial institutions in crypto. They started R&D efforts on crypto in 2014, started mining bitcoin in 2015, and tested their first wallet and storage solution with employees in 2016.

With over $11 trillion in client assets under administration and over 2.4 million trades processed per day, Fidelity’s participation in the cryptoeconomy is critical to onramp large financial institutions and wealth managers into the space. Tom leads a team that is in large part responsible for making this happen.

He was previously the Head of Corporate Business Development at Fidelity, where he was responsible for identifying and executing strategic opportunities.

Tom joined Fidelity from Chain, a leading provider of enterprise blockchain solutions to global financial institutions.

Tom previously had an illustrious career at Goldman Sachs, which culminated with a role as Global Head of Technology Business Development, where he was responsible for investing in and partnering with early-stage tech companies across blockchain, AI, and cybersecurity. Tom was also a founding member and senior leader at Goldman’s Principal Strategic Investments team, investing in the likes of Circle Financial, Kensho, Digital Reasoning, and DataFox.

Tom and I had a fascinating conversation about how we can take experiences from the evolution in traditional market structure and apply those learnings to crypto market structure and DeFi.

Tom is such a smart, thoughtful, savvy investor and company builder. And he’s an even better person who treats everyone incredibly well.

Thanks Tom for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s show was recorded live from AltsLA 2023 in partnership with CAIA. CAIA is the leading global professional body dedicated to alternative investment credential programs.

On this episode, we speak with Christopher Ailman, the Chief Investment Officer of one of the world’s largest institutional investors, CalSTRS.

Chris and I had a fascinating conversation about all things private markets. We discussed: 

• How one of the world’s largest institutional investors manages a portfolio with 40% exposure to private markets.
• How many institutional investors are really managing an 80/20 portfolio (80% equity / equity-like, 20% fixed income / fixed income-like), not a 60/40 portfolio.
• The current state of private markets.
• Why alternative investments make sense in an investors’ portfolio.
• The importance of “catching the wave” and investing in megatrends, like decarbonization.
• How the retailization of alts impacts institutional investors like large pensions and endowments.

He leads an investment staff of more than 200 and oversees a portfolio valued at $307 billion as of March 31, 2023.

He has more than 37 years of institutional investment experience, including tenures as CIO of the Washington State Investment Board and the Sacramento County Employees Retirement System.

He represents institutional investors on the MSCI Index Editorial Advisory Board, the PRI Asset Owners Advisory Committee, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Investor Advisory Group and the Toigo Foundation.

He is the chair of the 300 Club and co-chair of the Milken Global Capital Markets Committee. Ailman is recognized as one of the top CIOs both in the U.S. and globally. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Institute for Fiduciary Education’s CIO of the Year in 2000.

Thanks Christopher for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your views and knowledge.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s show features a guest who brings a wealth of common sense to wealth management and asset allocation.

We talk with Ben Carlson, the Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritholtz Wealth Management, a $5B AUM wealth management firm. He’s managed institutional portfolios for his entire career. He started out with an institutional investment consulting firm, where he deployed portfolio strategies and created investment plans for foundations, endowments, pensions, hospitals, insurance companies, and HNW individuals. More recently, he was part of the portfolio management team for an investment office that managed a large endowment fund for a charitable organization.

Ben is a student of markets and asset allocation, which is clear from the knowledge he shares daily and weekly with his blog, A Wealth of Common Sense, and his podcast Animal Spirits with Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson. He’s also authored four books about saving, investing, and money. He was named to the Investment News 40 Under 40 list of top financial advisors in 2017.

Ben and I had a fascinating conversation about the adoption of alternatives in the wealth channel and the whys and hows of asset allocation. We discussed:

• Why asset allocation is the most important aspect of an investment plan.
• The question of whether or not investors now have too much choice?
• Why Ben documents every investment decision he makes.
• The benefits of private markets and the pitfalls of private markets.
• His biggest lesson learned in investing.
• Why crypto has helped younger investors become more comfortable with volatility (for better or worse).
• The future of wealth management and what won’t change about the advisor / client relationship.
• The power of content creation and how it helps him approach investing.

Thanks Ben for coming on the show to share your wisdom and experience in investing and asset allocation. We hope you enjoy.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Sponsor: Introduction to Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:56 Meet Ben Carlson: Wealth Management Expert

02:17 Ben Carlson's Career Journey

02:55 Insights on Asset Allocation

03:11 The Importance of Documenting Investment Decisions

03:14 Private Markets: Benefits and Pitfalls

04:34 Early Career Lessons

04:58 Asset Allocation Strategies

06:06 Navigating Investment Choices

07:10 The Complexity of Investment Strategies

09:46 Institutional vs. Wealth Management

10:19 Communication in Institutional Investing

12:35 The 60/40 Portfolio Debate

23:20 Advisors and Alternatives

27:17 Thresholds for Investing

27:48 Differentiating Through Culture

28:41 Defining and Evaluating Culture

29:20 Transparency and Client Relationships

29:57 Partnering with the Right Clients

30:19 Qualitative Manager Selection

31:53 Content Creation and Transparency

34:22 Building a Brand from Scratch

37:49 Advice for Young Advisors

39:31 Compounding in Private Markets

40:06 Behavioral Benefits of Private Markets

41:17 Excitement in Private Markets

41:56 Evolving Fund Structures

42:28 Defining Alternatives

43:48 Younger Investors and Volatility

46:55 Future of Wealth Management

47:53 Private Equity in Wealth Management

48:58 Favorite Alternative Investments

51:44 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode with an internet legend provides an illuminating window into how the past can help inform us about the future.

Steve Case is a pioneer and a visionary. He built one of the foundational companies of the internet, AOL, that brought America and the world online. As one of America’s best-known and most accomplished entrepreneurs, Steve has spent the past 39 years building, investing in, and shaping business policy for many industry-defining companies.

His entrepreneurial career began in 1985 when he co-founded America Online. Under Steve’s leadership, AOL became the world’s largest and most valuable internet company. AOL was the first internet company to go public, and one of the best performing stocks of 1990s, delivering 11,616% return to shareholders. At its peak, nearly half of internet users in the U.S. used AOL.

Steve has since built another successful company, Revolution, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm that backs entrepreneurs at every stage of their development. Revolution Growth has invested nearly $1 billion in growth-stage companies including Sweetgreen, Tempus, Tala, DraftKings, and CLEAR. Revolution Ventures has invested in almost 30 companies, including Framebridge and SRS Acquiom. Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund has invested in over 200 startups in 100 US cities, building critical ecosystem development for entrepreneurship across the country.

Steve’s passion for helping entrepreneurs has extended to the policy world. He was the founding chair of the Startup America Partnership, an effort launched at the White House in 2011 to accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship around the country. He was also the founding co-chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, where he chaired the subcommittee on entrepreneurship. He was also instrumental in passing the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act and the Investing in Opportunities Act. He’s also the Chairman of the Case Foundation, which he established with his wife, Jean, in 1997 and together in 2010 they joined The Giving Pledge.

Steve is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book, “The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future and The Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places are Building the American Dream,” which has ended up serving as a fantastic blueprint for the next wave of the internet.

Steve and I had a fascinating and illuminating conversation, full of lessons learned from building the first wave of the internet that can be applied to building and investing in companies today.

We discussed:

• How Steve and his team built AOL into the world’s largest and most valuable internet company at a time when 3% of people were using the internet for 1 hour a day.
• How revolutions happen in evolutionary ways.
• The three waves of the internet and why Steve believes that the third wave is much more complex and will require the ability to navigate policy and partnerships.
• Lessons he learned as a founder to build a successful and diversified investment firm in Revolution.
• How emerging technology ecosystems can build thriving startup communities, starting with “tentpole companies.”
• How the things that happen to you shape how you live your life and on “living a life that’s full with passion and urgency.”

Thanks Steve for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom, lessons learned, and visionary views of the future. It was an honor and a pleasure to have you on the show.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we have the first podcast in a special three part series with some of the titans in the alts world on how they’ve built and run some of the world’s largest asset managers.

We have partnered with CAIA, the leading global professional body in alternative investment credentialing programs, for a very special episode that dovetails with the release of their latest report on Renewed Professionalism and creating client-centered outcomes for the Portfolio of the Future.

We are lucky enough to have Luke Ellis, the CEO of Man Group, one of the largest active investment firms in the world. Man Group manages $142B (as of June 30, 2022) across a range of liquid and private markets strategies and has the central objective to deliver alpha for clients.

Speaking of alpha, Luke and I had a fascinating discussion about what it means to create alpha. Luke believes that alts are all about the return the client gets and he and Man are focused on doing important work to ensure that the end client, the saver, is generating returns over time for the risk they are taking.

Luke’s background has a consistent them of helping to make certain investment strategies and asset classes go mainstream. He was part of the early days of the development of the derivatives world at JP Morgan and was a pioneer in the hedge fund space, helping hedge fund of funds FRM enable hedge funds to become a mainstream part of investors’ portfolios.

He’s since taken over the helm at Man Group for the past 12 years and has helped steer them become one of the most important investment management firms in the world.

Please enjoy this wide ranging discussion where we talk about everything from the importance of active management to fee compression to the importance of technology in investment management to the impact of human behavior on financial markets to focusing on the end client to how Ted Lasso’s management style has informed how Luke thinks about building Man Group to enable clients to achieve alpha.

Thanks to Luke and CAIA for collaborating on this important topic. We hope you enjoy.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we have the second podcast in a special three part series with some of the titans in the alts world.

We are partnering with CAIA, the leading global professional body in alternative investment credentialing programs, for a very special episode that dovetails with the release of their latest report on Renewed Professionalism and creating client centered outcomes for the Portfolio of the Future.

We are lucky enough to have Michelle Seitz, a stalwart and veteran of the asset management industry who is the Founder and CEO of MeydenVest Partners, LLC, a private investment firm, and was most recently the CEO of Russell Investments, one of the largest investment firms in the world with $300B in AUM and $1.2T in assets under advisement.

During Michelle’s five year tenure as Chair and CEO, she helped to modernize client offerings by adding leading edge capabilities around private markets and ESG investing and elevated diversity and inclusion programs.

Michelle’s illustrious career includes a number of accolades such as Barron’s Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance and American Banker’s Most Powerful Women in Finance.

Prior to joining Russell, Michelle spent 22 years at William Blair, where she was CEO of William Blair Investment Management and on William Blair’s corporate board of directors for 16 years. She took the helm as CEO at the ripe old age of 35, where she led William Blair’s institutional, mutual fund, and private wealth management businesses. She drove 5 fold growth at WBIM and transformed an $11B business into a $74B global asset management firm and a five-time winner of the “Best Places to Work in Money Management.”

Michelle and I had a fascinating conversation starting with how her career started with the crash of 1987 and what it meant for how she viewed the asset management world and how to focus on the client’s outcomes, the importance of portfolio construction, how and why alts may not be a fit for every investor depending on the risk, portfolio construction, fee questions, and the importance of understanding risk.

Thanks Michelle for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom. It was a pleasure to have you on the show.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today’s episode, we are joined by Mercer Investments’ US Financial Intermediaries Leader Gregg Sommer and CAIS’ MD and Head of Investments Neil Blundell.

Gregg and Neil bring deep experience and backgrounds in private markets to discuss how alternatives can be further adopted by the wealth channel.

Gregg is Mercer’s US Financial Intermediaries Leader, serving US wealth management and family office clients. He is a member of Mercer’s Wealth Leadership Team, Wealth Management Strategic Research and Investment Committees, and the Investment Policy Committee. He joined Mercer’s Investments business in 2009 and is based in Denver. Gregg began his career at U.S. Trust and over the last 35 years has held several executive positions in the investment industry. He has a comprehensive investment, business, and risk management background and has managed many successful investment teams focused on risk assessment, asset allocation, due diligence, portfolio management, organizational evaluation, and financial analysis across both private and public investment strategies. Gregg served as Chief Financial and Operating Officer of a firm that managed real estate and private equity and debt portfolios and has been a Principal and Portfolio Risk Officer for RCM, a Commodity Trading Advisor. Additionally, he was a founding Partner at Global Trading Partners, a trading firm focused on global market relationships.

Neil brings over 20 years of experience in private markets to CAIS. He recently worked at Invesco as the Global Head of Client Solutions and Alternatives for the Investment Solutions team. He was responsible for developing and managing over $90B in customized multi-asset investment strategies spanning both traditional and alternative solutions and was a member of the team’s executive committee, investment committee, and chair of the alternative investment committee. Prior to Invesco, Neil was at BlackRock for 10+ years, where he was most recently Managing Director and Alternatives Platform Head within the Institutional Client Business.

Gregg, Neil, and I had a fascinating discussion about how the wealth channel can approach alternatives and how they can think about both diligence and customization. We covered:

• The case for alternatives.
• How advisors currently approach alternatives and how they can think about it differently going forward.
• How to think about portfolio construction that includes alternatives.
• How alts can help advisors differentiate their practice and attract clients.
• Following the fast river in a career and why alternatives are “the fast river.”
• The meaning of “structure over strategy.”
• The rise in popularity of evergreen funds.

Thanks Gregg and Neil for coming on the show to share your views and experience in private markets. We hope you enjoy.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency. 

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products. 

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction to Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:17 Podcast Opening and Guest Introduction

01:58 Guest Backgrounds and Career Highlights

03:43 Discussion on Wealth Channel and Alternatives

03:51 The Case for Alternatives

07:47 The Evolution of Private Debt

08:23 The Moment It Clicked for Alts

12:08 Institutional vs. Wealth Channel Approaches

13:54 Educating the Wealth Channel

15:47 Evergreen Funds and Wealth Channel

19:29 Generational Wealth Transfer

20:04 Current Market Trends and Private Markets

25:29 Importance of Due Diligence in Alternatives

26:33 Advisor Allocation Trends

26:53 Expected Allocations in the Next Year

27:07 Private Equity and Credit Insights

27:17 Real Estate and Hedge Funds Outlook

27:27 Emerging Infrastructure Strategies

27:47 CAIS Platform Overview

28:17 Transactional Volume Trends

28:36 Registered Funds Growth

29:30 Institutional vs. Wealth Channel Behavior

30:25 Customization in Private Markets

31:22 Technology's Role in Wealth Management

35:52 The Importance of Brand in Investments

39:26 Strategic Partnerships in Wealth Management

39:56 Concerns About Private Markets Growth

43:36 Evaluating Manager's Edge

45:54 Future of Alternative Investments

Disclosure

This content is for institutional investors and for information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial situation. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser. Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of the recording, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today’s show, we bring the institutional family office perspective to private markets. We talk with Jamie Rhode, a Principal at Verdis Investment Management. Verdis is a single family office based in Philadelphia that was built on the rich legacy of the family, a major business family, that has spanned over three centuries.

At Verdis, Jamie is focused on venture capital, private equity, and hedge fund investment sourcing and due diligence. She joined Verdis from Bloomberg, where she held roles in both equity research and credit analysis. Verdis is an active investor in the venture capital ecosystem, leveraging a data-driven investment approach that Jamie spearheads to allocate to mainly smaller and emerging managers. They’ve taken a very thoughtful approach to asset allocation, particularly venture, and have had a number of valuable insights on asset allocation come out of that process.

Jamie and I had a fascinating discussion about the allocator’s perspective on venture capital and smaller fund managers.

We discussed:

• Why Jamie believes that 90% of investment returns come from asset allocation strategy.
• Why smaller funds often drive the best returns.
• Why illiquidity and duration are so critical to producing outsized returns, with Verdis finding that the last 20% of the hold period of a fund producing 46% of the returns.
• Why Verdis believes in the strength of the YC network.
• The perfect fund size and portfolio construction.
• Why former operators may not make the best fund managers in Jamie’s view.

Thanks Jamie for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and data-driven perspectives.

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments.

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios.

Over the next few days, we will bring you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference.

There were 10 great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we will release these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (9/10) in this CAIA mini-series is with Alicia McElhaney, Senior Reporter at Institutional Investor. Alicia and I discuss what the institutional investor’s portfolio of the future will look like.

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments. 

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios. 

Over the next few days, we will bring you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference. 

There were a number of great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we will release these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (2/10) in this CAIA mini-series is with Ariel Babcock, Managing Director and Head of Research at FCLTGlobal. Ariel and I talk about how to help investors adopt a long-term perspective and rewire capital markets to be more supportive of longer-term businesses and investments.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is with a founder who is building mission-critical valuation and portfolio monitoring software for alternative asset managers.

We are joined by Yann Magnan, the Co-Founder and CEO of 73 Strings, to discuss how valuation work and portfolio monitoring is moving from manual to automated and why that’s so important for the industry. 73 Strings has leveraged AI and automation to more seamlessly and cost-effectively extract data, monitor portfolios, and streamline middle-office processes for valuations. 73 Strings works with a number of the industry’s top alternative asset managers and has received investment from Blackstone, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, and Broadhaven Ventures, amongst others.

Yann has brought his experience as a senior member of the Duff & Phelps team, where he was EMEA Market Leader and member of the Global Operating Committee and as a Partner at EY’s Transaction Advisory Services to help bring valuation and portfolio monitoring solutions into the mainstream.

Yann and I had a fascinating conversation about how technology innovation is impacting private markets. We discussed:

• The challenges with manual valuation services businesses.
• How to create uniformity and standardization with private markets fund performance data.
• How AI is changing private markets post-investment reporting processes.
• Does automation in private markets help big funds or small funds more?
• The evolution of post-investment private markets market structure.
• The biggest technology innovation still missing from private markets.
• Why the growth of the wealth channel and evergreen funds increases the need for more streamlined reporting and valuation solutions.

Thanks Yann for coming on the show to share your views and wisdom on private markets.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

01:56 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream

02:05 Introducing Yann Magnan and 73 Strings

03:56 Yann's Background in Valuation Services

04:33 The Inefficiencies of Manual Valuation

05:20 The Genesis of 73 Strings

06:11 The Importance of Experience in Private Markets

06:24 Automating Valuation Processes

08:32 Challenges in Standardizing Valuation

09:13 The Role of Human Judgment in Valuation

10:24 AI's Potential in Valuation

11:10 Accountability in Automated Valuation

12:47 73 Strings' Data Handling and Partnerships

14:07 Standardizing Data Across Portfolios

15:44 Impact of Automation on Human Processes

17:02 Growth of the Wealth Channel and Evergreen Funds

17:59 Accelerating Need for Better Valuation Software

19:37 Challenges of High-Frequency Reporting

19:59 Technological Implications of Daily Valuation

20:31 Private Assets and Technology Infrastructure

20:44 Industry Resilience and Smart People

20:59 Forefront Firms and Blackstone Partnership

21:48 Valuation Process and Data Control

23:11 Extensibility to Other Asset Classes

24:12 73 Strings' Versatile Platform

25:13 Howard Marks on Asset Allocation

25:52 Atomic Unit of Value in Valuations

27:31 Data Sharing Across Business Units

30:24 Automation Benefits for Large and Small Firms

31:33 Building Technology for Large Firms

34:16 Trust and Experience in Client Relationships

35:09 Strategic Investors and Their Value

37:37 Industry Participation and Standardization

39:13 Maturity and Cost of Technology

40:22 Future of Data in Private Markets

41:39 Convergence of Private and Public Markets

42:11 Volatility and Transparency in Private Markets

43:14 Attracting Retail Investors

44:41 Conclusion and Final Thought

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a special guest on an important topic that is core to why alts are going mainstream – community.

We have community builder extraordinaire Max Rothery, the VP Community at Finimize. Max is responsible for engaging and serving Finimize’s 1 million global audience. Finimize is building the world’s largest finance community of investors globally – and building community are they doing.

In 4 years, they reached over 1 million subscribers, 60 thousand per year attend member organized events, and Finimize was recently acquired by 197 year old Abrdn plc, formerly Standard Life Aberdeen, a FTSE 100 investment firm with over 464B pounds AUM that’s the UK’s largest active asset manager.

Max brings a wealth of experience in community building and digital transformation to the table as he builds community. He previously led innovation and digital transformation for Societe Generale’s private bank. He also brings a unique perspective from the creative industry to bear as a founder of an independent production, publishing, and recording company.

Max and I had an absolutely fascinating conversation on the underpinnings of community and how to build an engaged community in financial services businesses. His thoughtful views on how to build community serve as a playbook for how to successfully build a thriving and engaged community. We talk about everything from how community gives companies a way to scale trust and relationships to how to enable the community to self-regulate itself to taking me back to my days studying international relations as we discuss the parallels between nation-building and community building.

Thanks Max for such a rich conversation that we can all learn from on how to build community.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is with a founder who is building mission-critical software for private equity firms.

I sat down in Citywire’s London studio with Venkat Subramaniam, the Co-Founder of DealsPlus, to discuss why he has built a digital solution to streamline, digitize, and automate the management of complex holding and capital structures for private equity firms.

Historically, private equity firms have relied on humans and manual processes to manage and track cap tables, transactions, and entities. This process has required significant human intervention and has often been rife with errors, making deals harder to consummate and transactions. Venkat has taken his 15 years of experience advising private equity managers on cross-border transactions, most recently as an Associate Partner at EY UK, to build DealsPlus to create a single source of truth for capital structures for private equity firms. DealsPlus works with a number of industry-leading private equity firms and is backed by a private equity firm with $38B in AUM.

Venkat and I had a fascinating conversation about the challenges private equity firms face with managing and tracking transactions and portfolio companies. We discussed:

• Why it’s been so hard to create a cap table management solution for private equity.
• Why it's much harder to build software for private equity firms than venture capital firms.
• How private markets can move from the Excel Age to the Digital Age.
• How to build software that provides a single source of truth.
• The atomic unit of value in private markets.
• Building an end-to-end platform versus building a point solution.
• What’s next in post-investment ops tech innovation?

Thanks Venkat for coming on the show to share your thoughts and wisdom on private markets tech.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and message from Ultimus

01:59 Introducing Venkat Subramaniam and DealsPlus

03:57 Venkat's Career Journey

05:07 The Genesis of DealsPlus

05:09 Challenges in Transaction Management

06:25 The Lack of Uniformity in Private Equity Processes

06:54 The Impact of Technology on Private Equity

07:33 The Role of Cloud Computing

08:24 The Consumerization of Enterprise Software

09:04 Excel vs. Specialized Software

09:34 The Importance of Cap Table Management

10:04 Connecting Front Office and Back Office

10:30 Building Effective Software Solutions

13:24 Recurring Pain Points in Private Equity

14:47 The Complexity of Private Equity Cap Tables

15:44 Building a Platform for Private Equity

16:43 Stakeholder Management in Private Equity

18:50 Impact of Technology on Fund Operations

20:25 Integrating DealsPlus into Workflows

21:06 Best-in-Class Applications and Data Integration

23:33 The Impact of Fund Size on Complexity

25:42 Technology Adoption in Private Equity

27:09 Network Effects in Private Equity Technology

37:41 The Future of Private Markets Technology

39:14 Conclusion and Closing Remarks

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments. 

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios. 

Over the next few days, we will bring you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference. 

There were a number of great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we will release these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (1/10) in this CAIA mini-series is with James Keenan, BlackRock, CIO and Global Co-Head of Credit at BlackRock Alternative Investors. James and I discuss the evolution of private credit fitting into investors’ portfolios and the retailization of alts. 

Welcome to the 12th episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream.

This month’s episode features one of iCapital’s senior executives, Eileen Duff, Managing Partner & Chief Client Success Officer, and a private markets veteran who was Head of Alternative Investments, North America for Credit Suisse for a number of years. At iCapital, she oversees Investor Relations, Enterprise Integration, and Client Operations teams to optimize the client experience. Eileen has had a number of senior and instrumental roles at iCapital. She's also a member of iCapital's Operating Committee. She was previously Head of Fund Management & Research for iCapital, where she was responsible for origination and development of new investment products and lifecycle management of existing offerings. She also led Distribution for iCapital, leading the sales and relationship management function after joining from Credit Suisse.

iCapital, as the leading platform that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, has its finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

Eileen and I had a fascinating and lively discussion about how technology innovation, and AI and automation in particular, are revolutionizing alternative investments and how technology can drive growth and operational efficiency. 

We covered:

• How and why alternatives distribution has evolved. 
• The importance of meeting clients where they are.
• The evolution of wealth channel strategies.
• How much does structure matter?
• When and why Eileen saw registered funds as a major driver of the future growth of private markets well before they became mainstream.
• The impact of registered and evergreen funds on operations and fund administration.
• Where will the biggest efficiencies come from in the automation of post-investment processes?
• How AI and automation will enhance operational efficiency?

Thanks Eileen for a great episode … looking forward to next month’s Monthly Alts Pulse conversation!

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast and hello from AltsLA.

Today’s show was recorded live from AltsLA 2023 in partnership with CAIA. CAIA is the leading global professional body dedicated to alternative investment credential programs.

On this episode, we speak with the 44th Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle, the Chairman of Cerberus Global Investments. 

We discussed the intersection of politics, private equity, people, and patience: 

• The current state of private markets.
• How geopolitics plays an important role in investing.
• The impact of social media on financial markets.
• How Cerberus grew into the firm it is today.
• The power of patience in investing.

Vice President Quayle is Chairman of Cerberus Global Investments and a member of the Firm’s senior leadership team, joining when the firm was $14B in AUM and playing a role in overseeing its growth to over $60B AUM.

Prior to joining Cerberus in 1999, he served as the 44th Vice President of the United States of America to President George H. W. Bush from 1989 through 1993. In 1976, Vice President Quayle was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and re-elected in 1978.

In 1980, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and was the youngest Senator from Indiana. He was re-elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986.

Following his vice presidency, Vice President Quayle authored three books, including Standing Firm: A Vice-Presidential Memoir, which was on The New York Times’ Best Seller List.

He was a distinguished visiting professor at Arizona State University ’s Thunderbird School of Global Management for two years. He was also active for many years on the lecture circuit in the United States and internationally.

Thanks Vice President Quayle for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your views and knowledge.

Welcome to the 11th episode of a collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream. 

We changed up this month’s episode, welcoming iCapital Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Head of Investment Solutions Dan Vene to the show to discuss the evolution of private markets and the launch of iCapital’s Marketplace.

iCapital, as the leading platform that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, has its finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

Dan and I had a fascinating and lively discussion about the evolution of the industry through the lens of iCapital’s growth and maturation, which has most recently included the creation of iCapital Marketplace. We discussed:

• Can alternative investments help you sleep at night?
• Public markets vs. private markets?
• What are the benefits of private markets?
• Are there evolving perspectives on liquidity?
• What potential market catalysts could further shift investments from public to private investments?
• How and why have fund managers had success on Marketplace?
• What’s the new world order for investing?

Thanks Dan for a great episode … looking forward to next month’s Monthly Alts Pulse conversation!

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have Web3’s wizard with words. Jarrod Dicker, Partner at TCG, where he focuses on crypto investments that are enabling the consumerization of crypto.

Jarrod is an expert at the intersection of crypto / NFTs and the media world. He was both an entrepreneur and investor in the media world prior to joining TCG.

We had a fascinating discussion about the transition to the Web3 world.

We covered:

• Whether or not everyone is now an investor and everything is now investable.
• How social credentialism and the idea of time as an investment – is key to Web3.
• We ended the podcast with some of Jarrod’s famed Web2 // Web3 tweets because he truly is a wizard with words and is a translator for the world of Web3.

There are few people in the crypto space whose content I enjoy reading than Jarrod's. His Tweets and writing (on Mirror.xyz, where he's an investor) are incredibly prescient and speaks to his knowledge of the crypto space.

He joined TCG, the famed consumer investor (Twitter, Barstool, Crunchyroll, Hodinkee, Headspace, Dapper Labs), to invest into companies and protocols that create the onramps for consumers to the cryptoeconomy.

They've invested in the likes of Zed Run and Dapper and Jarrod's thought leadership and experience in the media and content worlds should help them continue to access the best.

Prior to TCG Crypto, he was the CEO of Po.et, a decentralized media tech company, where he was a pioneer in bringing blockchain to the media and advertising space. He formerly led innovation at The Washington Post, where he was responsible for building out their research, experimentation, and development team and running all of their innovation / commercialization efforts as VP of Commercial.

He also held similar roles at RebelMouse, Time, and HuffPo. Jarrod is one of the most thoughtful thinkers on how Web3 will change content, content creation, and creators relationships with their community.

I’m excited to see how he builds out TCG and the types of investments they make into the infrastructure building out Web3 so that crypto truly goes mainstream.

Thanks Jarrod for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. 

I’m thrilled to kick off the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast with a special guest - one of the leaders in the alts industry, Lawrence Calcano of iCapital Network.

Lawrence has built iCapital into one of the category defining companies in the alts space. They have democratized access to high quality alternative investment products for the wealth management industry.

Lawrence and the iCapital team have built the de facto operating system for the wealth management community to invest in and access leading institutional quality alternative investment fund managers. 

They’ve grown to almost $70 billion of AUM across 740 funds and 125,000 underlying accounts in less than 7 years.

In the past year alone, iCapital grew their platform assets by over $20 billion and raised $162 million from top growth and strategic investors including Ping An, BlackRock, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Hamilton Lane, and WestCap.

Lawrence has had an an illustrious career as a banker and operator. Prior to iCapital, he was a Partner and Co-Head of the Global Tech Banking Group at Goldman Sachs, where he spent over 17 years advising tech companies on many landmark M&A deals and IPOs. He was named to the Forbes Midas List of influential people in venture capital for 5 out of 6 years from 2001-2006.

And now his second act as an entrepreneur at iCapital may top his first act as a Partner at Goldman.

I hope you enjoy.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is one of evergreen importance. We talk with one of the pioneers in the evergreen fund space.

Rob Collins, a Partner, Co-Head of Private Wealth, and Head of the New York office and a member of the Global Executive Board at Partners Group, a $147B+ AUM alternative asset manager, joins the podcast to discuss how Partners Group started the evergreen fund space in the early 2000s.

Rob has deeply evolved perspectives on both evergreen funds and working with the wealth channel. He leads Partners Group’s US private wealth and defined contribution practice and is President, Portfolio Manager, and Member of the Board of Managers of Partners Group Private Equity (Master Fund), LLC. He also chairs Partners Group USA’s Investment Committee. He joined the firm in 2005, only 4 years after Partners Group was the first firm to launch an evergreen private equity structure.

Rob and I had a fascinating conversation about what evergreen funds are, the mechanics of how they work, and why they can make sense for investors – both individual and institutions. We discussed:

• What Partners Group saw in the early 2000s that made them decide to create the evergreen private equity fund structure.
• Why it’s taken the industry time to adopt evergreen funds.
• How to think about returns with evergreen funds.
• Why institutions — in addition to wealth advisors — have used evergreen funds.
• Why the time, money, and liability questions of private equity fund investments make evergreens a fit for many advisors.
• The importance of compounding and how it relates to evergreen funds.
• The challenges and nuances with managing evergreen funds.
• Why “life is too short for capital calls.”
• How does private equity go from being sold to being bought?
• What can the industry  do to continue to remove pain points for the wealth channel?

Thanks Rob for coming on the show to share your thoughts and wisdom on private markets and the importance of one of the biggest trends in private markets, evergreen funds. We hope you enjoy.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction to Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:18 Podcast Opening and Theme Song

01:52 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream

01:59 Introducing Rob Collins and Evergreen Funds

02:24 Rob Collins' Background and Role at Partners Group

04:18 Growth and Innovation at Partners Group

05:46 Evergreen Solutions for Clients

07:02 The Importance of Flexibility in Evergreen Funds

09:56 Evergreen Funds vs. Traditional Structures

11:38 The Rise of Evergreen Funds

29:48 Challenges and Risks of Evergreen Structures

30:01 Balancing Growth and Performance in Evergreen Funds

34:57 Challenges for General Partners

35:40 Expanding with New Products

36:23 Trends in Private Markets

36:56 Evergreen Funds and Private Companies

37:27 Life is Too Short for Capital Calls

38:52 Shift from Public to Private Markets

40:24 Liquidity in Evergreen Funds

41:50 Building a Resilient Diversified Portfolio

43:05 Managing Investor Expectations

44:26 Control in Portfolio Construction

46:48 Positioning Evergreen Funds

52:13 Evergreen vs. Closed-End Funds

54:43 Innovating Asset Allocation Frameworks

57:12 Educating Distribution Professionals

01:00:26 Consultative Sales Approach for Evergreen Sales Professionals

01:02:03 Future Growth in Private Markets

01:03:47 Rob’s Favorite Alternative Investment

01:04:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency. 

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products. 

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a guest who has seen the alts and crypto worlds from multiple angles.

Don Stalter is a Partner at Global Founders Capital (GFC) where he focuses primarily on the US early stage venture market. He has a deep operating background as a founder and operator at some of tech’s leading marketplaces.

He co-founded CityDeal, which was acquired by Groupon. He then built Groupon’s international offices in Europe and Asia.

He subsequently led BD at Airbnb globally and launched multiple offices organically and through M&A.

At GFC, he’s been an early investor in fintech titans Brex, Checkr, Deel, Slope, and more. He’s also invested in a number of crypto funds.
 

We had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of technology and venture capital. We also discuss how companies can think about integrating crypto – namely the likes of Airbnb and Brex – into their payments flow and how VC funds can approach investing into crypto funds and companies.

This was a fascinating conversation with a really thoughtful VC. Thanks Don for coming on the AGM podcast.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Recently, I had the pleasure of hosting a live podcast at the Allocate Beyond Summit, where I interviewed Avy Stein and Jordan Stein from Cresset.

Allocate’s founders Samir Kaji and Hana Yang brought together a fascinating and thoughtful group of allocators, family offices, and VCs for an engaging two days of discussion about private markets.

At the event, I interviewed father and son duo from Cresset. Avy Stein, the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Cresset, and Jordan Stein, Director of Private Capital at Cresset Partners, joined me on stage to discuss how their firm has achieved astronomical growth over the past few years, largely due to their business building acumen and in part powered by their focus on private markets.

Cresset is a client and family-owned award-winning multi-family office with over $40 billion in AUM that was built by founders and private equity professionals.

We had a fascinating discussion that covered everything from how and why Avy and Jordan built Cresset to the evolution of the wealth management space and how private markets is playing a large role in that.

Thanks Avy and Jordan for sharing your wisdom and thanks Samir and Hana for hosting such a fantastic event.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we have two guests who have built alts behemoths: the CEOs of iCapital, Lawrence Calcano, and SIMON, Jason Broder. 

iCapital and Simon recently completed a landmark transaction in the alts space, with the joining together of two of the largest digital platforms that enable advisors and individuals to invest into private markets through iCapital’s acquisition of SIMON. 

iCapital has built the leading platform to drive efficiency and alternative investing for the asset and wealth management industries. They had grown to over $138B in platform assets before acquiring SIMON, which focuses on helping financial advisors understand and manage structured investments, annuities, and other risk managed products. SIMON adds a track record of $48B of issuances in 2021 to iCapital’s platform.

Lawrence and Jason both come from Goldman Sachs roots before building their building their respective businesses.

Lawrence spent 17 years at Goldman and was a Partner, where he was Co-Head of the Global Technology Banking Group in the Investment Banking Division. He was a perennial winner of the Forbes Midas List award for the most influential people in venture capital in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Jason also spent almost 17 years at Goldman, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Private Investor Products Group in the Americas, which focused on the creation and distribution of structured investments to Goldman’s private wealth management management clients and third party distributors.

Lawrence and Jason are both experts on product distribution of alts to the wealth community so it was a treat to have them on to discuss the anatomy of this landmark SIMON acquisition and how this revolutionizes distribution of alts products.

We had a fascinating conversation. We discussed:

• Why this acquisition is so important for the alts space.
• The importance of building a one-stop shop alts investment platform for financial advisors.
• How important it is to comprehensively serve financial advisors.
• Why the platform who figures out distribution will be the winner in the alts space.
• How data and analytics will play a key role in educating advisors.
• How alts will no longer be alts, but will be mainstream, as investors think about the reconstruction of the 60/40 portfolio.

Thanks Lawrence and Jason for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. It was a pleasure to have you share your views on the continued development of the alts space.

Welcome to the 6th episode of a collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream.

Here’s the latest episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a live conversation in studio with Lawrence Calcano, the Chairman & CEO of iCapital, who as the leader of a platform that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

On this episode, Lawrence and I had a fun and lively discussion. We covered:

• Will private equity save the day?
• Why the “educated consumer is the best customer.”
• Is liquidity the threshold issue of getting more investors to participate in private markets?
• How 80% of the flows into alts from the wealth channel are currently driven by 20% of the advisor population … and how the next wave of advisors can understand and allocate to alts.
• How the industry moves from education on alts to education of how alts fit into broader portfolio construction strategies.
• How do we go from “talk to action” in the allocation of alts.
• What’s the interplay of technology innovation and product innovation in alts?
• What is the “technology chassis” for alts?
• What’s the missing piece from a technology perspective to take alts to the next level?
• What’s the role that tokenization can play in helping alts go mainstream?
• Does private markets have its connective tissue?
• The current status of Michael’s Monthly Bracelet Pulse, featuring Eintracht Frankfurt and Angel City FC bracelets.

Thanks Lawrence for a great episode … looking forward to next month’s conversation!

Today, we have our first LatAm guest on the AGM podcast. And it was a special one.

Bitso, LatAm’s leading crypto exchange, is fresh off of raising a $250M round led by Tiger Global months after raising a $62M round led by QED and Kaszek - and has been minted as one of LatAm’s newest unicorns.

We had Bitso’s co-founder and CEO Daniel Vogel on to talk about what it has been like to build a leading FinTech company in the region and provide access to investments and financial services.

This was such a fun conversation. We could have gone on for hours. Daniel is such a compelling and fascinating storyteller. We discussed a number of things including:

• How Daniel has dedicated his life to unlocking monetary freedom for people through crypto.
• How a talk with his friend, a janitor at his company in Silicon Valley, opened his eyes to the need for real applications of crypto to help people send money cross-border.
• The origins of Bitso and how Bitso was a pioneer of an online brokerage account in Mexico.
• How Bitso has become the on-ramp for financial services for many consumers across LatAm.
• The meaning behind Bitso’s slogan #makecryptouseful.
• The power of stablecoins and how it’s enabling people in countries with inflation and currency fluctuations to save money.
• How Bitso balances being a centralized company in a decentralized world.
• How religion and community play a unique role in crypto.

Daniel is an early crypto pioneer and a thought leader in the space. He became intrigued by the idea of bitcoin well before many other people had heard of it and really thought of crypto as a way to unlock monetary freedom and access to financial services for the underserved.

After founding the Bitcoin Club at Harvard in 2013 while he was doing his MBA, Daniel founded Bitso with co-founders Pablo Gonzalez and Ben Peters soon after he left Harvard Square. 

In Bitso, Daniel and his co-founders Pablo and Ben have created the on-ramp for financial services to many consumers in Mexico and across LatAm.

As Daniel said in a recent TechCrunch interview, the growth of the crypto ecosystem in LatAm has been nothing short of remarkable. It took Bitso six years to get their first 1 million clients. And over the course of 2020, Bitso has surpassed the 2 million client mark. They have also doubled their assets on the platform. And their transaction volume during the first quarter of 2021 exceeded transaction volume for all of 2020.

It is clear that Daniel has a passion for building out the cryptoeconomy and for making a difference in people’s lives, so much so that Bitso has made their tagline #makecryptouseful.

Thanks Daniel for coming on the AGM podcast. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today’s show, we have a private equity expert who is as thoughtful and sharp as they come.

Graham Elton is the Chairman of Bain & Company’s EMEA Private Equity practice, where he’s helped many of the largest PE and alts firms navigate a growing market and build successful businesses.

Graham has also spearheaded the industry standard in reports — the Bain PE Practice Report — which is read by many across the industry.

Many of the world’s largest GPs often turn to Graham for advice on their business due to his background as an operator, investor, and strategic consultant. He previously ran multiple media businesses – he was the CEO at Miller Freeman UK, was a MD at The Financial Times  Business, a strategy director at Pearson, and a Partner at Evolution Global Partners.

He serves on a number of boards, including Lane Clark & Peacock, Pageant Media, Capital Economics, SLR Consulting, and Now Teach and National Youth Centre.

He was awarded a MBE for his services to the economy in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours List.

Graham and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of private equity - and what the growth of the industry has meant for GPs and LPs alike. We discussed:

• How the $3.7 trillion in dry powder in private equity will get put to work.
• The business of private equity and how funds have evolved into platforms.
• How the growing size of PE has paved way for the opening up of the retail channel for fundraising.
• What the future of private equity looks like.
• The narrowing differences between public and private markets.

Thanks Graham for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom.

Welcome to the 2nd episode of a collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream.

Here’s the latest episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a live conversation in studio with Lawrence Calcano, the CEO of iCapital, who as the leader of a platform that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

On this episode, Lawrence and I had a fun and lively discussion. We covered:

• What iCapital is seeing in the market now.
• How allocators are balancing strategies that make sense right now versus strategies, like venture, that may pay off in the future.
• How the alts space has evolved over the past 10 years.
• How the change in wealth management market structure and the rise of the breakaway broker has driven alts innovation forward.
• Some of the biggest challenges that iCapital has encountered over the past 10 years of growth.
• How Lawrence & iCapital have built a platform to serve different clients on the GP and LP sides.
• How iCapital took inspiration from prior market structure evolutions and innovations, like ETFs and mutual funds.
• What companies did iCapital look to for inspiration?
• The importance of UI/UX in B2B financial services — and how does this change with Millennials and Gen Z’s becoming customers or users?
• Building the desktop real estate for alts.
• What does a quote from a Dirty Harry movie have to do with the growth of iCapital?

Welcome to the 10th episode of a collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream. 

Here’s the latest episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a live conversation in studio with Lawrence Calcano, the Chairman & CEO of iCapital, who as the leader of a platform that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

In today’s episode, Lawrence and I welcome a special guest. Hightower Advisors Managing Director, Head of Alternative Investments Robert Picard joins us to discuss the operational challenges and solutions in private markets.

Robert has spearheaded the creation of the Alternative Investment Platform offering at Hightower, where he and the team curates investment opportunities in private markets for their advisor teams through research and due diligence. Hightower has 140 advisor teams that collectively manage over $150B AUM. Robert has a wealth of experience in private markets. He was instrumental in building four multi-billion dollar alternative investment platforms at The Carlyle Group / Rock Creek, Optima Fund Management, RBC Capital markets, and State Street / InfraHedge. Most recently, Robert served as Head of Alternative Investments at First Republic Wealth Management.

On this episode, Lawrence, Robert, and I had a fascinating and lively discussion. We covered a number of topics, including:

• How wealth platforms like Hightower and infrastructure operating systems like iCapital are creating straight-through-processing solutions across the lifecycle of a private markets investment for the wealth channel.
• The importance of bringing alts directly to the advisor’s desktop.
• Why improving the experience for advisors in private markets is critical to increasing adoption.
• Why it’s important to build across the continuum of needs for different types of high-net-worth investors.
• The importance of customization and differentiation with private markets solutions for advisors.
• What is the biggest unlock to enabling greater flows of capital into private markets?
• What are the implications of opening up the alts superhighway?

Thanks Lawrence and Robert for a great episode … looking forward to next month’s conversation!

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments. 

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios. 

Over the next few days, we will bring you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference. 

There were a number of great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we will release these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (3/10) in this CAIA mini-series is with Dominic Garcia, Chief Pension Investment Strategist at CBRE. Dominic and I discuss how the lines between public and private assets have become blurred and how investors need to think about finding truly idiosyncratic alpha. 

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is a special show with Ben Harrison, the Co-Founder of DealCloud, which is now part of Intapp, where he is President, Industries.

Ben is a former banker and private equity professional at Falfurrias Capital Partners who went on to co-found DealCloud to make the process of managing deals and relationships for alternative asset managers and related industry service providers more streamlined and seamless.

Ben and team have done just that at Intapp DealCloud. They’ve built a unified deal and relationship management software business that is more than just a CRM. They’ve integrated a CRM function with business development, marketing, pipeline, deal management, fundraising, and investor relations features into a single platforms to enable firms in private markets to better run their day to day processes. They have a roster of over 2,500 customers, which includes many of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers.

Ben and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of enterprise software that serves private markets and why it’s such a large and growing opportunity, which was shared through the lens of an experienced and successful operator in this space who has grown his business to hundreds of millions in ARR that both alternative asset managers and founders and operators in private markets software will find interesting.

We discussed:

• Why scale matters in enterprise software just like it does in alternative asset management.
• The strategic question of building a comprehensive end-to-end software solution versus building a point solution.
• What are alternative asset managers looking for when building or buying software solutions for their business?
• How are alternative asset managers thinking about data and tech differently?
• Why and how the TAM for software solutions for private markets is growing in lockstep with AUM industry growth.
• How data helps investors make better decisions.
• Where AI can help automate processes for alternative asset managers.
• Is AI over- or under-hyped?

Thanks Ben for sharing your thoughts and wisdom of building an industry-leading software company for private markets and for Intapp and DealCloud’s partnership with Alt Goes Mainstream. We hope you enjoy.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:54 Building Industry-Specific Software Solutions
08:02 Strategic Approach: Point Solutions vs. End-to-End Solutions
13:11 Evolution of Alternative Asset Management and its Impact on Software Solutions
16:24 Benefits of Technology for Large and Small Firms
19:11 Building Software for Large Managers vs. Small Managers
23:10 Technology's Impact on Firms' Efficiency and Productivity
25:49 The Role of Technology in Professional Development
28:24 Key Features and Benefits of DealCloud's Software Platform
32:00 The Future of Technology in the Alternative Asset Management Industry
35:49 Unlocking the Potential of Technology
38:46 The Shift Towards a User-Friendly and Automated User Experience
45:18 The Importance of Data-Driven Decision-Making
52:21 Growth Opportunities in the Private Markets Industry
01:04:16 The Role of AI in Enhancing Software Capabilities

“What I’ve come to realize is that investing literally shapes the world that we have. It is effectively at the highest of levels, allocating resources, whether financial or human capital, to things and teams that build the future that we all live in. Investing builds the world.” - Ian Lee, Syndicate.

Today we discuss the topic of a revolutionary new construct – DAOs – and how it can change investing for the better.

Today’s guest is Ian Lee, the Co-Founder of Syndicate.

Ian combines a background in financial services with a prescient view on the future with what he's building at Syndicate.

We discuss: 

• How Syndicate is doing to investing what YouTube did to film and media.
• How Web3 enables community ownership where Web2 didn’t and how investing will become more community driven.
• How DAOs are a social financial technology coordinating social and financial capital seamlessly and natively on the internet.
• How DAOs are unlocking participation from all sorts of communities who historically haven’t had access to investing.
• Why Crypto Covens is one of his favorite NFT projects because it’s changing the face of investing. 
• And how we are in the middle of a multi generational shift of decentralizing and democratizing - and how Syndicate’s Web3 Investment Clubs enable that to happen.

Ian has been a serial founder, he's worked in the Office of the Global Chief Innovation Officer at Deloitte, he's run the Lab Network and Acceleration Fund at Citi Ventures and was Head of Bitcoin & Blockchain at Citi before co-founding IDEO's CoLab Venture fund, where he led their crypto efforts and made over 80 investments in the crypto space.

Most recently, he's founded a ground-breaking company, Syndicate, which is a decentralized investing protocol and social network that is creating the infrastructure for DAOs to run efficiently and effectively. Syndicate is creating the infrastructure and mechanisms for much more efficient, digitally native human coordination.

DAOs have similar properties as corporations, but they are significantly faster and cheaper to set up and run because code governs the decisions and actions taken.

It's hard to put into a short paragraph how profound the creation of Syndicate could be for the formation and governance of organizations and Ian's background lends itself incredibly well to both understanding how things worked in a Web2 (and financial services) world and how they can work better in a Web3 world.

Ian and I had a fascinating conversation about his desire to make investing more inclusive and impactful – and how DAO structures can enable that.

Thanks Ian for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. It was a pleasure to have you help us peer into the future of investing. 

Today, we have a guest who's democratizing access to private investing. Ken Nguyen is the co-founder and CEO of Republic, a multi-asset investment platform for private markets.

Ken is a pioneer in the private markets investing world and a serial operator who knows how to build businesses. He's helped grow Republic to hundreds of millions of dollars in gross transaction volume over the past three years after Republic spun out of AngelList. 

After Ken was an instrumental part of building the investment and regulatory infrastructure at AngelList, as their General Counsel, Ken founded Republic to create a leading equity crowdfunding platform for both nonaccredited and accredited investors. 

While their incredible progress on the retail crowdfunding side is remarkable, Republic's platform and vision is so much more than simply a retail crowdfunding platform. They also have an accredited investor platform and they enable investors to invest into everything from real estate to e-sports and gaming financing to small businesses. 

Republic has done the hard things first. They built the investment infrastructure for private markets. And they combine that with a Robinhood-like investing experience for private markets, for both retail and high net worth investors alike. They've also been innovative in how they engage consumers by creating a Republic Note, a security token that has created network effects on their platform for users.

It's been really fun to watch this team execute at a blistering pace from the time that they started out with the idea of enabling investors to invest in startups at twenty dollar minimums, to building out a comprehensive private markets investment platform. Ken has been instrumental in that success with his infectious energy tireless work ethic and drive to create democratized access to investing for people around the world.

This was such a fascinating conversation. We talked about Ken’s drive for starting an investment platform that could enable everyone to participate in wealth creation in private markets, how investing and owning equity is part of the American Dream, how Republic has unlocked access to private markets for all investors, “Lean back vs lean forward” framework applied to investing (h/t Rishi Garg of Mayfield Fund for the “lean back vs lean forward” framework), and how community is such a big driver of Republic’s growth and success as a business.

I hope you enjoy.

Transcript

Note: This Transcript was created by an AI software package. It is not an exact translation of every word in the podcast.

Michael: [00:02:30] Ken, welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. 

Ken: Michael, thank you so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here. 

Michael: Oh, it's great to see you. I love that background of New York. 

Ken: I am in New York. So, art mimics real life or the other way around. 

THE FOUNDERS STORY

Michael: [00:02:46] Well, you've had a busy year, so congrats on everything. But before getting into Republic and all the things that you're doing, I'd love to hear your story. I mean, you've had such an incredible story of how you've gotten to Republic. So what is that story? 

Ken: [00:03:01] Yeah. Thank you, Michael. I definitely have a bit of an unusual founder story.

My family immigrated from Vietnam to the Bay Area in California. And so growing up in the late nineties, early 2000’s, you hear these stories of companies going IPO and tech and Google and Facebook. But just because you were smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, it doesn't mean that I or my family had anything to do with it.

We definitely weren't accredited, but that fascination early on, I think, ended up, staying with me. I ended up going to law school. Started out as a litigation attorney in New York and went into finance. And along the way, I think the story, the headline news that caught my attention the most was always tech companies. You know, you hear more and more of Facebook and then Airbnb. 

I had the opportunity to go back to the Bay Area and academia. I spent two years as a Teaching Fellow at Stanford and studying corporate governance. But Stanford happens to be also a tech hub. And so more and more, the different stages in my life just inserted me more and closer into the tech ecosystem and then I had an opportunity to join AngelList when they first launched their first syndication product. So I joined. I think the first non-engineer hired as the General Counsel back in 2013, 2014. 

Part of that work led to a change in the law, which is regulation crowdfunding in 2016. And I'm sure we're going to go into it. But in short, between the Great Depression in the 1930s, all the way to 2016, you had to be a millionaire to invest privately. In 2016, all of that changed. It's like opening up the flood gates. And that's when the team and I set out to found and launch Republic. 

DEMOCRATIZING ACCESS TO INVESTING

Michael: [00:05:04] That's fascinating. And it seems like you really have a variety of experiences. Everything from the kind of legal and regulatory side to working in startups, to working in private companies. Was there really a specific moment in your life that has driven you to make it your mission to democratize access to investing? 

Ken: [00:05:25] I think there were three moments. Thinking back, probably the first moment was when my oldest brother who was 15 years older than I am and was already very established by the time I graduated college and he was an accredited investor – the first one in the family to be accredited.

And he was like, Hey Ken, do you know how I can invest in this company called Facebook. And I was probably one of the earlier users, one of the earliest users of Facebook. And I'm like, great question. I'm an Associate at a law firm and I have no idea how you can do that. I asked around - no one knew how. Right in the middle of New York City, every law firm partner is a multi-millionaire and they're like, yeah, this is Silicon Valley stuff.

So I think that piqued my curiosity, but also I had a desire to be like, Hey, I want to be in. I use this product. I really like it. And wanting me as a stakeholder to be a shareholder. So, I would say that that was the first moment.

The second one was when, after two years of spending my time at AngelList, I realized that the accredited only model could only go so far. AngelList did open up the venture ecosystem to a lot more people, but you still have to be in the know, have to be accredited. And, I think that moment when AngelList shifted their attention to focus more on upstream institutional family offices, that's when I was like, wait, there is this law that's going to be effective very soon. And this is exactly what I, as a teenager growing up in Silicon Valley, wish that it was the case that I could get in. So, I think those two moments, rather than three in combination, probably culminated in the idea and the passion for retail investing. 

Michael: [00:07:31] Well, you're bringing up a really interesting point, right. And it's been during a time where value creation in private markets has far outpaced value creation in public markets. And yet, so many people really up until the...

Welcome to the launch of the collaboration between iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream.

Here’s the first episode of the Monthly Alts Pulse, a live conversation in studio with Lawrence Calcano, Chairman & CEO of iCapital, who as the leader of a platform that is responsible for the majority of individual and advisor-led investment flows into the alts space, has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in private markets.

Come for education, stay for Succession.

Watch the Monthly Alts Pulse

On this episode, we covered a lot of ground. Lawrence and I discussed:

• Making sense of the current market environment.
• What advisors are saying about private markets and how they are investing in private markets right now.
• How the interest and knowledge of private markets have evolved over the past 10 years since iCapital started.
• The value of patience in private markets.
• Liquidity vs illiquidity.
• The arc of innovation in private markets.
• Why now is the time for private credit and secondaries.
• How technology will automate access for institutions and HNW investors.
• Lessons from Succession and the Wall Street Journal test.

Thanks Lawrence for a great first episode … looking forward to next month’s conversation!  

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode features an enabler of the micro VC movement who has now scaled his business into one of the industry’s larger fund administrators. Braughm Ricke is the Founder and CEO of Aduro Advisors, a leading fund administrator that has carved out a sterling reputation in the VC world.

He's grown the business to over $114B+ AUA and over 450+ customers, that counts many of the leading VC funds, including Lowercarbon, Cowboy Ventures, Ahoy Capital, Craft, Haystack, Boost VC, and others, as customers. They've also managed to combine a high-quality service with innovative technology and a partnership strategy that has enabled them to differentiate from other fund admins.

Prior to founding Aduro, Braughm was the founding CFO of True Ventures, a leading Silicon Valley VC fund. Braughm is incredibly knowledgeable about the private markets space more generally and is also an active investor in the private markets startup ecosystem, investing early in the likes of Carta, Allocate, Passthrough, Arch, and others.

Braughm and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of fund administration. We discussed:

• Why Braughm started with emerging managers and the unmet need he saw to serve them.
• Why he believed the emerging manager landscape would grow.
• How he’s moved upstream beyond venture capital clients.
• How fund admin can integrate technology.
• Will AI change fund administration?
• Advice Braughm would give to founders building in private markets.

Thanks Braughm for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom on building a core infrastructure provider for private markets.

Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream!

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today we peer into one of the most fascinating companies in private markets, AngelList, and talk with AngelList’s CEO Avlok Kohli.

AngelList is building the operating system for modern startups and tech innovation, and as such, they see themselves as building a company of companies. AngelList has had almost 19,000 startups raise capital from syndicates and funds on their platform, they support over $15B in assets, and 40% of all US unicorns have had a GP invest in them through AngelList.

To date, AngelList's GP business has largely been known for its marketplace and fund admin product. That changes this week when they begin to release a series of software products available to any venture firm, even if they don't run a fund on AngelList, which automates and adds intelligence to the most onerous and ambiguous parts of running a fund. It all starts with the most comprehensive and tailored banking product, built specifically for venture funds.

Avlok has an impressive background as a tech founder and operator and gives us an insight into how AngelList is building their business.

Avlok is the CEO at AngelList and the Founder and CEO of LegalReach. He is also the former Founder and CEO at Fairy. He created Fastbite, a food delivery service, which was acquired by Square a few months after launch and was integrated into Square’s delivery product as Fastbite by Caviar.

Avlok and I had a fascinating discussion about how AngelList’s product driven culture has enabled them to evolve with customer needs and build all sorts of products and services for GPs, startups, and LPs. We discuss: 

• What makes AngelList a n-of-1 company.
• How his experience at Square has informed his company building strategy at AngelList.
• How AngelList's data can track relative health of companies and what will make a “sustainable unicorn.”
• Why it’s almost impossible to compare them to a single traditional financial services company given the breadth and depth of their product offerings.

Thanks Avlok for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and experiences and for all the work you're doing to power private markets.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives into a groundbreaking partnership that could change the trajectory of how the wealth channel invests into private markets.

We are joined by BlackRock’s Senior Managing Director, Head of the Americas Client Business, Co-Head of U.S. Wealth Advisory (USWA), and a member of the Global Executive Committee for BlackRock Joe DeVico and Head of Product for US Wealth & Head of Alts to Wealth Jon Diorio and Partners Group’s Partner, Co-Head of Private Wealth, Head of the New York Office, Member of the Global Executive Board, Partners Group Rob Collins to discuss their partnership on a private markets model portfolio purpose-built for the wealth channel.

Joe, Jon, and Rob discuss what Rob calls in the podcast the industry’s “iPhone moment.” This model portfolio partnership that brings together BlackRock’s private markets and technology capabilities and Partners Group's history as a pioneer in the evergreen funds space is a big moment for private markets. The partnership enables the wealth channel to seamlessly access private markets solutions, understand how it fits into a broader asset allocation model, and handles rebalancing in a turnkey fashion.

We had a fascinating discussion about this partnership and why the wealth channel needs turnkey solutions such as model portfolios. We discussed:

• Why model portfolios could be the “iPhone moment” for private markets.
• The anatomy of the partnership between BlackRock and Partners Group to create private markets model portfolios.
• How to balance personalization and customization with standardization of delivery to the wealth channel.
• How to create differentiation with private markets product offerings with different product structures.
• The mechanics of a private markets model portfolio.
• How education plays a role in advisor adoption of private markets products and model portfolios.

Thanks Joe, Jon, and Rob for sharing your wisdom and experience on public and private markets as you help bring private markets into the mainstream.

Subscribe to Alt Goes Mainstream to receive the weekly newsletter every Sunday and all of AGM’s podcasts.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction to our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:18 Alt Goes Mainstream Theme Song

01:56 Introduction to Today's Episode

01:58 Groundbreaking Partnership Announcement

03:32 Welcome to the BlackRock Studio

04:05 Backgrounds of Joe and Jon from BlackRock

05:48 Rob's Background and Perspective

07:13 Why this is an iPhone Moment for Private Markets

07:55 Challenges in Private Markets Adoption

12:48 Why Now is the Right Time

16:11 The Importance of Partnership

21:51 Building a Brand in Private Markets

26:48 Evolution of Fixed Income Markets

27:10 Electronification of Private Markets

27:21 Educating the Wealth Channel

28:13 Importance of Excellent Execution

28:44 Proving Performance in Private Markets

29:27 Building the Right Solution

29:48 Client Demand for Private Market Access

30:34 Customizing Asset Allocation

31:41 Transparency in Model SMAs

32:21 Blurring Lines Between Public and Private Markets

33:12 Foundational Equity in Private Markets

34:15 Combining Public and Private Solutions

35:25 Democratization of Private Markets

36:19 Active vs. Passive in Private Markets

37:58 Challenges in Market Adoption

38:28 Scalability and Diversification

39:27 Evergreen Funds and Capital Deployment

42:03 Seismic Shift in Private Markets

42:47 Future of Private Market Solutions

49:59 Personalization in Portfolio Building

50:53 Patience and Private Markets

51:00 Final Thoughts on Private Market Innovation

54:41 Conclusion and Podcast Outro

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Alt Goes Mainstream was live from $1.2T AUM asset manager Nuveen’s nPowered conference, a two-day event bringing together Nuveen thought leaders and industry experts to explore challenges and opportunities in private markets.

We interviewed some of Nuveen’s senior leadership on site to hear their views and perspectives on private markets, working with the wealth channel, and product innovation.

We sat down with Keith Jones, the Global Head of Alternative Investments Product for Nuveen, and a member of the Extended Leadership Team. He’s responsible for the development and ongoing management of alternative investment products distributed through Nuveen’s institutional, wealth management, and retirement channels globally.

Keith and I had a fascinating conversation about product innovation in the wealth channel, how to educate and market products specifically designed for the wealth channel, and why it’s not a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction to Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:55 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream

01:58 Live from Nuveen's nPowered Conference

02:19 Conversation with Keith Jones

03:25 Keith Jones' Background

04:04 Nuveen and TIAA Collaboration

04:47 Keith's Role at Nuveen

05:01 Product Innovation in Wealth Channel

05:15 Structuring Products for Wealth Channel

05:37 Client-Centric Approach at Nuveen

06:59 Challenges in Structuring Products

07:39 Credibility and Brand Importance

09:36 Client Experience and Reporting

09:46 Brand and Credibility in Product Creation

10:40 Nuveen's Real Estate Focus

11:38 Feedback from Distribution Teams

12:33 Product Governance at Nuveen

13:19 Institutional vs. Wealth Channel

16:35 Evergreen Structures

18:08 Operational Considerations

18:51 FinTech Solutions in Structuring

31:48 Future of Product Innovation

32:20 Real Assets and Farmland

33:25 Fee Compression in Alternatives

36:13 Balancing Competing Forces

36:51 Importance of Diversification

38:34 Industry Collaboration for Change

39:12 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

39:58 Closing Remarks

Today marks the launch of a new show on Alt Goes Mainstream: What’s Your Edge?

Every person, every company, every fund has something that makes them special.

Makes them stand out from the crowd.

Gives them an unfair advantage.

Tips the scales in favor of success.

In this episode,  I ask our special guest, Bob Long, “What’s Your Edge?”

Bob Long is CEO of StepStone Group’s Stepstone Private Wealth. He has three decades of experience in the private markets and has led investment teams for global firms in both the general partner and the limited partner role. He has served as the CEO of two publicly-traded companies focused on expanding private market access for high net worth investors.

Prior to StepStone Private Wealth, Bob was the CEO of OHA Investment Corporation, a publicly-traded specialty finance company. Previously, he co-founded Conversus Capital, the largest publicly traded fund of third-party private equity funds with $3 billion of AUM and served as its CEO. Previously, he led Bank of America’s $7 billion strategic capital division. Early in his career, Bob served as the lead in-house counsel for a large portion of Bank of America’s Investment Banking Division and worked as a securities lawyer for a major law firm.

A recognized industry leader, Bob was named one of 50 “GameChangers” by Private Equity International, has been profiled in the WSJ, and hosted CNBC Squawk Box Europe on numerous occasions.

On today’s podcast, Bob and I discuss the nuances of evergreen funds and the unique features and offerings of StepStone Private Wealth’s evergreen strategies.

Thanks Bob for coming on the show to share your wisdom, experience, and your edge.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction

00:38 Welcome to What's Your Edge?

01:01 Meet StepStone Private Wealth CEO Bob Long: A Leader in Private Markets

03:09 Lessons from Public Markets

04:34 Evergreen Fund Structure

05:27 Benefits of Evergreen Funds

06:25 Immediate Investment Advantage

07:20 Evergreen Funds and Financial Advisors

07:35 Evergreen Fund Liquidity

08:04 StepStone's Approach to Evergreen Funds

09:09 StepStone's Strategy and Structure

09:32 Balancing Inflows and Outflows

10:34 Importance of Deal Flow

11:04 Balancing Liquidity and Returns

11:56 StepStone's Competitive Advantage

13:52 Portfolio Construction

14:57 Diversification in Private Markets

16:06 Evergreen Fund Structures

19:44 Liquidity in Private Markets

27:57 Key Takeaways for Investors

29:53 Operational Due Diligence Essentials

30:13 Key Questions for Evergreen Fund Structures

30:36 Understanding Fee Structures

30:42 Management Fees and Leverage

31:33 Incentive Fees Explained

32:19 Administrative Costs and Transparency

32:34 Fee Compression in Evergreen Funds

34:11 Portfolio Construction Strategies

34:24 Investing in Secondaries

37:10 Psychology of Allocators

38:04 Accessibility and Minimum Investments

38:43 Investor Profiles and Strategies

40:36 Transparency and Performance

41:40 Rebalancing and Evergreen Funds

43:10 Model Portfolios and Private Markets

45:19 StepStone's Investor-Centric Approach

46:15 StepStone's Competitive Edge

48:31 Growth of Secondaries and Private Markets

51:37 Future Trends in Private Markets

55:30 Philanthropy and Purposeful Stewardship

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s show was recorded live from AltsLA 2023 in partnership with CAIA. CAIA is the leading global professional body dedicated to alternative investment credential programs.

On this episode, we speak with Mark Anson, the CEO and CIO of Commonfund ($28B AUM). 

Mark and I had a fascinating discussion on private markets. We discussed:

• Why size discipline and sector focus defeat the explosion of capital in private markets.
• Why multi-manager strategies or commingled vehicles make sense for wealth managers (particularly in VC).
• How allocators can invest in the next Sequoia. 
• Why the concept of lagged beta matters for allocators.
• How ESG and impact investing can be integrated into an investor’s portfolio.

Mark Anson is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the Commonfund and Chairman of the Board of Commonfund Capital Inc. and Commonfund Asset Management Company.

Previously, he was the President and Chief Investment Officer for the Bass Family Office. He was the President and Global Head of Investment Management at Nuveen Investments, a full-service asset management company with over $900 billion in assets under management.

Prior to Nuveen, Mark served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer for the British Telecom Pension Scheme (BTPS), the largest institutional investor in the UK with assets of £55 billion.

In addition, Mark was the CEO of Hermes Pensions Management in London, a £60 billion asset management company that is wholly owned by the BTPS. Prior to joining BTPS, he served as the Chief Investment Officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

Thanks Mark for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your views and knowledge.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s podcast is a special show with 3i Members co-founder Mark Gerson.

Alt Goes Mainstream’s first sponsor is 3i Members, an investing network built on community, collaboration and capital that was co-founded by Mark Gerson, Billy Libby, and Teddy Gold. 3i Members is a global deal network for accomplished private investors. Members uncover, share, and diligence high-quality investment opportunities in private markets. The network offers more than just investment opportunities, providing access to expert databases, legal services, international events and retreats, masterclasses, asset allocation workshops, and other resources.

Mark is a serial entrepreneur who has built a number of communities that have revolved around some form of crowdsourcing.

In addition to founding 3i Members, Mark founded Gerson Lehman Group, a knowledge brokerage and primary research firm, that figured out how to use the power of community to serve its customers. He also founded United Hatzalah, a crowd-sourced system of volunteer first response that enables Israelis to be treated within the moments separating life from death following any medical trauma. He also co-founded and is the Chairman of African Mission Healthcare, which enables Christian medical missionaries to provide clinical care, training, and medical infrastructure for people throughout Africa.

From co-founding United Hatzalah of Israel to building a unique community in the private markets space with 3i Members, Mark shares his experiences and the profound impact of community and crowdsourcing in both philanthropy and private markets. The episode dives into the intricacies of building capable, engaged communities, the conceptual differences between a network and a community, and the unique approach of 3i Members in creating a collaborative investing landscape. We discussed:

• Mark’s journey and the significance of pro-social behaviors and intellectual curiosity among investors. 
• How 3i Members facilitates a space for private investors to share, scrutinize, and engage with high-quality investment opportunities. 
• The importance of asking the right questions in investment. 
• ROI-based philanthropy
• The value of non-transactional relationships within communities.

Thanks Mark for coming on the show to share your stories and wisdom.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to the Mainstream: The Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast Intro

00:42 Introducing 3i Members: A New Era of Investing

01:11 Mark Gerson's Journey: Building Communities and Crowdsourcing Success

02:59 The Power of Community in Crowdsourced First Response

07:59 3i Members: Crowdsourcing in the Investment World

09:44 The Art of Building and Maintaining Quality Networks

12:02 The Philosophy of No-Selling in Building Trust and Community

14:59 Engineering Serendipity: Fostering Organic Growth and Engagement

19:59 Investment Strategies and Learning from the 3i Community

24:40 The Future of Investing with 3i Members

34:51 ROI in Philanthropy: A New Approach to Giving

40:09 Closing Thoughts

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s show was recorded live from AltsLA 2023 in partnership with CAIA. CAIA is the leading global professional body dedicated to alternative investment credential programs.

On this episode, we speak with Daniel Joye, where he oversees Infrastructure investing at LACERA, the $58 billion AUM Los County Employees Retirement Association.

Daniel and I had a fascinating conversation about how an institutional investor like LACERA approaches investing in infrastructure, the benefits of infrastructure investing, particularly in the current market environment, how to think about risk / return of infrastructure assets in a portfolio, and why investing in infrastructure is so critical to the development of cities and nations.

Prior to moving back to Los Angeles and joining LACERA (he is an LA native), Daniel worked in London for Morgan Stanley, Vitol and BP with a focus on energy trading and investing.

He started his career in the French Navy as a gunnery officer where he navigated the 7 seas and participated in Operation Enduring Freedom.

He holds a Masters in Engineering from l'Ecole Navale (the French Naval Academy) and an MBA (with honors) from Wharton.

Thanks Daniel for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your views and knowledge.

Hi from Mexico City. Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast we travel to one of the most exciting regions in the startup world – Latin America, which has seen venture backed funding dollars of $14.8B flowing into the region in 2021 come in higher than the prior 6 years combined.

Brian Requarth comes onto the podcast to talk about building the company that he wish he had when he was an entrepreneur in Latin America.

He’s the co-founder of Latitud, the a16z and NFX backed infrastructure and accelerator for startups. With Latitud, he’s building the operating system for venture backed companies in the region.

We had a fascinating conversation about why founders and investors should be #LongLatAm. We discuss:

• Why LatAm is such an exciting region to invest into right now.
• How community is the new lean startup and the equivalent of Stanford of the internet.
• How the confluence of talent, capital, size of the market, and opportunity make LatAm a region of focus for VCs.
• Why Latitud will play a critical role in developing the startup ecosystem in LatAm.

When he sold Brazilian online RE marketplace Viva Real for $550M several years ago, he had to pay over $100M in capital gains taxes due to incorporation errors made early on. It was quite the expensive mistake and one that he hopes to help fix with Latitud for the next generation of founders.

Brian is a serial entrepreneur who also worked with ZAP Imoveis, which was owned by Grupo Globo, Latin America’s largest media company.

As an angel investor, Brian has invested in over 150 tech startups in Latin America, so he’s quite familiar with the inner workings of starting a company in the region.

Thanks Brian for coming on the show to talk about such an exciting region in the startup world. 

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

His career started when someone said to him, “well, have you thought about venture capital? We don’t think that you’d be any good at it.”

The rest is history.

Today’s episode features one of the legends of the venture capital industry.

Peter Barris joined New Enterprise Associates in 1992 after a storied operating career as President and COO at Legent Corporation and an executive at GE Information Services. He served as Managing General Partner and Chairman of NEA from 1999 to March 2024. Under Peter’s leadership, NEA saw tremendous success, growing into one of the world’s largest venture capital firms and raising the largest-ever venture capital fund a number of times. Today, NEA’s AUM stands over $25B.

Peter was responsible for investing in a number of foundational and industry-transforming technology companies, including Salesforce.com, UUNET, Groupon, WebMD, Workday, CareerBuilder, Tempus, and more.

It was an honor to talk with Peter, who has such rich perspectives as both an operator and investor.

We had a fascinating discussion about the early days of venture capital and how the industry has evolved. We covered:

• The inside story of how almost every other Partner said no but Peter's investment turned out to be a 75x return.
• What's the “best characteristic and the death characteristic” of an entrepreneur?
• In today's hypercompetitive market, do VCs have enough time to make good decisions?
• Why the world of venture capital is about influence.
• What does it mean to earn an entrepreneur’s trust as a VC?
• Why VCs with operating backgrounds can bring unique value to startups.
• How NEA came up with the term "Venture Growth Equity."
• How can a VC tell that a founder is good at experimentation and that they have the good judgment?
• Why specialization and domain expertise are prerequisites in today’s venture industry.
• The importance of relying on instinct to make great investments.
• Why the business plan that is bet on is not always the business plan that ultimately succeeds.

Thanks Peter for coming on the show. It was an honor and a pleasure to hear your views on the evolution of an industry and for you to share your wisdom and experiences.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message from Ultimus

01:55 Guest Introduction: Peter Barris

01:59 Peter Barris' Career Beginnings as an Operator

03:43 How Peter decided to join NEA

04:31 Early Days at NEA

12:30 First Investment Experience – The world of venture capital is about influence

15:07 How to Influence a Company when You Don’t Control the Company

21:48 Scaling Businesses: When Scale Can be a Moat - The Groupon Example

26:41 The Art of Experimentation

29:16 The Most Important Characteristic of Successful Entrepreneurs and the Death Characteristic

30:40 The Groupon Investment: A Case Study

33:08 The Evolution of Venture Capital Decision Making

33:58 Specialization and Competition in Modern Venture Capital

38:10 How NEA Came Up with the Term: Venture Growth Equity

46:04 The Impact of Scale in Venture Capital

50:49 The Future of Venture Capital and Industry Evolution

59:16 Lessons Learned in Venture Capital

01:02:08 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency. 

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products. 

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s podcast provided us with an in-depth tour of financial markets with a student of both finance and history. And what a tour guide we had. Marc Rubinstein, an investment professional with 25 years of experience researching and investing in financial services joined us on the show.

Marc started his career as an equity research analyst, where he ultimately became a MD at Credit Suisse, leading the European banking sector equity research group before joining Lansdowne Partners. Lansdowne was one of Europe’s largest hedge funds, where he was a Partner and managed the award-winning $4B global long/short financials equity fund.

He retired from Lansdowne in 2016 and, after going back to school to obtain his MBA from LBS, he launched Net Interest, a wildly popular and incredibly thoughtful newsletter on financial sector themes. I find Marc’s thoughts and views on Net Interest equal parts insightful and digestible. Marc is also an active value investor and early-stage fintech investor, where he was an early investor in Revolut. He’s also a contributor to Bloomberg Opinion.

Marc and I had a fascinating conversation about a number of themes that are defining private markets. We discussed:

• Why most businesses are marketplaces and what that means for how one should evaluate a business.
• Whether or not private credit is a systemic risk.
• Why the Silicon Valley Bank crisis occurred and why private credit firms are filling the void.
• Where to look for new asset classes and how they become institutionalized.
• The nuts and bolts of alternative asset managers as businesses.
• Why pod shops have featured in the hedge fund world and why PE and VC will have different versions of pod shops.
• Why content is key for financial services businesses.
• How financial media has evolved and why the narrative arc of companies is a perspective that Marc enjoys covering

Thanks Marc for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom on financial services and financial markets.

Chapters

Introduction and Background

Getting into the World of Finance

Banks Today and the Rise of Alternative Asset Managers

Regulatory Concerns and Private Credit

Systemic Risk and Excessive Growth

Identifying Risks in Private Credit

Scale and Returns in Asset Management

The Growth of Large Platforms in Private Markets

The Equilibrium of Scale and Returns

The Convergence of Traditional and Alternative Asset Management

The Trend of Evergreen Funds in Private Markets

The Acquisition of GIP by BlackRock

The Competition Between BlackRock and Blackstone

The Merging of Traditional and Alternative Asset Management

The Future of Active Management

Lessons from the Financial Crisis

The Impact of Media on Financial Services

The Trend of Permanent Capital in Private Markets

The Evolution of Media in Financial Services

The Role of Content in Financial Services

The Importance of Understanding Financial Services History

The Relevance of Deep Analysis in Financial Services

Value Creation through Content

Different Paths for Content Businesses

Purity of Content in Financial Services

The Future of Content in Financial Services

The Impact of AI on Investment Recommendations

The Value of Artisanal Work and Intelligence

Pod Shops in Private Markets

GP Stakes as an Analogy to Pod Shops

The Psychology of Discounting Private Markets

The Growth and Sustainability of Private Markets

Infrastructure as an Interesting Alternative Investment

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments.

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios.

Over the next few days, we will bring you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference.

There were 10 great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we will release these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (8/10) in this CAIA mini-series is with Jane Buchan, CEO of Martlet Asset Management. Jane and I go back to the beginning of the private equity and hedge fund industries to discuss the different market cycles and why diversification is critical.

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments.

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios.

Over the next few days, we will bring you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference.

There were 10 great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we will release these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (6/10) in this CAIA mini-series is with Ashby Monk, Head of Research at Addepar. Ashby and I talk about how he’s helping the world’s biggest investors make smarter investment decisions and create a positive impact at the same time.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today's show, we have a fascinating episode that combines the macro and the micro.

Nimble Partners Founder John Burbank and Partner Ken Wallace come on the show to share their unique perspectives and discuss both the nuances and intricacies of investing in private markets and early-stage venture.

Nimble Partners is a technology investment platform that invests into early-stage fund managers through their manager selection program and as well as direct and co-investments into breakout performers from their fund manager relationships.

John and Ken have had illustrious careers in both public markets and private markets, investing in many of the biggest technology trends and many top early-stage managers over the past 15 years.

John was a top macro investor from founding Passport Capital in 2000, where he was amongst the best hedge fund managers of his time. He’s been investing into early-stage fund managers for the past decade. As a long-time macro investor, he has consistently focused on sectors and investments where technology can be disruptive and accelerate change. He’s also an investor in the Golden State Warriors, the championship winning NBA team.

Ken joined John to build Nimble after a stellar career at Industry Ventures, backing a number of emerging managers, most notably Chris Sacca’s first-time Lowercase Capital fund, which at over 200x+ returns, was amongst the best performing venture funds in history. At Industry Ventures, he specialized in hybrid fund of funds strategy, originating, valuing, and managing primary fund commitments, early secondary LP investments, and direct co-investments.

We had a fascinating conversation that spanned a number of topics: 

• Why this is not the end of venture capital — and why the winners are still to going to win and win big.
• How global macro impacts venture capital.
• The framework that John and Ken use to evaluate technology trends and emerging managers.
• How the “portfolio manager” model can be applied to venture capital.
• How information is a huge edge.
• Why duration is the most important thing an investor can have.

Thanks John and Ken for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom.

Today we have a guest who is building the infrastructure for a new asset class – sports cards.

Leore Avidar is a visionary founder who is building a ground-breaking company, Alt, which is backed by Alexis Ohanian and Seven Seven Six, as well as First Round Capital, Addition, SV Angel, Box Group, and Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures.

Alt is on its way to changing how we think about investing. 

This was such a fun conversation. We talked about:

• How Leore’s experience and excitement for building infrastructure has dovetailed with his passion and love for sports and collecting cards.
• How he’s building the future of the sports card market with Alt by creating the tools and infrastructure enable people to value, trade, and store their investments
• How cards can be a tool to connect different generations through financial literacy.
• How culture can become a financial asset. 

Alt is the culmination of his experiences working on Wall Street as a trader to working on the API economy at Amazon Web Services to making direct mail programmable at Lob. 

He's building the infrastructure - much like Coinbase has done in crypto - for the world of alternative investments and specifically trading cards. 

As we've seen the development of market structure in other asset classes like public equities, fixed income, crypto, etc, it will only be a matter of time before we have a similar evolution in the alternatives and collectibles spaces and Leore is right at the forefront of this curve. 

Card collecting and investing is on a tear - 2020 and early into 2021 saw sales of sports cards at public auction reach all-time highs. 

Leore has built out an incredible team and vision to build the platform at the epicenter of this market - and he's also built out a fund, Alt Fund, to invest into top cards.

He's leveraging his deep background in the space, having invested in sports cards for 5 years and generated returns that best many hedge fund and VC managers over the same time period. 

And most of all, he's a company builder who combines the best of a visionary founder who sees markets before they develop with the ability to execute and ship product. 

He's also the founder and CEO of Lob, a highly successful Y Combinator-backed company.

Today’s podcast felt like we were peering into the future of what financial markets will look like. Thanks Leore for giving a glimpse of what’s to come.

I hope you enjoy.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we have the third podcast in a special three part series with some of the titans in the alts world.

We are partnering with CAIA, the leading global professional body in alternative investment credentialing programs, for a very special episode that dovetails with the release of their latest report on Renewed Professionalism and creating client centered outcomes for the Portfolio of the Future.

We are lucky enough to have Jenny Johnson, the CEO of Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s largest asset managers with over $1.5T AUM spread across a number of specialist managers.

Jenny and I had a fascinating conversation: 

• About the evolution of the asset management industry.
• How companies can be considered nation-states.
• How to distribute alternatives to all investors in a responsible way, which is a particularly interesting perspective given that Franklin Templeton has over 25% of its $1.5T AUM in alternative assets.
• Why net of fees is the most important question in the fee question debate.
• Why now is a great time to be building in the crypto space (note: this episode was recorded prior to the recent crypto news).

Jenny is the President and CEO of Franklin Templeton. She joined the firm in 1988 and held leadership roles in all major divisions of the business before becoming CEO in February 2020. She led the historic $6.5 billion acquisition of Legg Mason in 2020 and has been named to Barron’s list of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance.

Jenny has been instrumental in building Franklin Templeton into a firm that serves clients across asset classes and has over 25% of its $1.5T AUM in alternative assets. Jenny spearheaded Franklin Templeton’s acquisitions in the alts space, including the $1.75B acquisition of secondaries PE firm Lexington Partners and private credit firm Alcentra.

Jenny has managed to bring the past, present, and future together at Franklin Templeton, balancing being the third generation in the family to lead the business, helping the firm to maintain its culture through numerous acquisitions, while also looking to highly innovative corners of the investment world, like crypto and blockchain to keep Franklin Templeton ahead of the pack.

Thanks Jenny for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast to share your wisdom. It was a pleasure to have you on the show.

Today we have one of the pioneers of the European tech ecosystem on to discuss how the European early-stage VC landscape has changed since its early days – and how their fund, Passion Capital, has unlocked access to investors with their latest fundraise.

Eileen Burbidge, a Founding Partner of Passion Capital, and I had a fascinating conversation about all things VC, opening up access to the asset class to individual investors, what it means for the future of venture capital, and Eileen’s love of Arsenal and why she’s not a fan of the European Super League.

Eileen has built a reputation as the go-to VC for seed stage companies in the UK and Europe – and for good reason.

Her aptly named fund, Passion Capital, has built a name for itself as one of the top early-stage funds in the UK because of her passion for rolling up her sleeves, much like she did in her days as an operator at Skype, Apple, Yahoo!, and Sun Microsystems.

I won’t forget when we met last year at her office – she had just stepped out of non-stop meetings with one of her growth-stage companies, where she was helping them figure out team and talent questions.

Not every seed stage VC has the ability to stay involved as their companies grow nor does this type of work, but that’s what separates Passion from the pack.

Eileen is just as much at home in her office, which doubles as a co-working space for Passion portfolio companies, as she is in 10 Downing Street, where she has been named the UK Treasury’s Special Envoy for FinTech, has been appointed by the Chancellor as the Chair of Tech Nation, and was awarded an MBE in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honors for her services to businesses.

So maybe it’s no surprise why she’s been described as “The Queen of British VCs” by Fortune Magazine.

She’s certainly backed many of the British startup royalty at early-stage, being a Seed investor in Monzo Bank, where she still serves on the board, Tide Bank, GoCardless, Digital Shadows, Marshmallow, Butternut Box, and a number of others.

Eileen has also had an illustrious career as an operator, working for Apple, Yahoo, and Sun Microsystems in the early days of the internet before moving to London in 2004 to become one of Skype’s earliest employees and Head of Product. 

She then founded Passion in 2011 as one of the first Seed funds in London, serving a critical market need for the entrepreneurial ecosystem in London. 

She’s now trailblazing once again by being one of the first funds to open up their LP base to the crowd, where they have partnered with Seedrs to allow individuals to invest into Passion’s latest fund.

She’s also an independent non-executive board director at Dixons Carphone, a 10B pound revenue electrical and telecoms retailer and on the Transformation & Innovation Advisory Board at UniCredit.

Thanks Eileen for being a pioneer in the European VC ecosystem and bringing innovative structures in venture capital to LPs.

I hope you enjoy.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode takes us inside the world of wealth from the perspective of one of the industry’s largest alternative asset managers.

We are joined by Sean Connor, President & CEO, Global Private Wealth at Blue Owl Capital, a firm with over $160B in AUM. 

Sean highlighted a number of key insights for navigating and working with the wealth channel as he shared lessons learned from building a successful private wealth business at a large alternative asset manager.

Sean is responsible for bringing the breadth of the Blue Owl investment platform to the global private wealth market. He’s at the forefront of Blue Owl’s private wealth initiatives globally and oversees fund formation, product structure innovation, capital raising, and client servicing. He also oversees business development, marketing, and operations for Private Wealth at the firm. Prior to his current role, Sean was one of the first employees at Owl Rock (now the Direct Lending division of Blue Owl) and was responsible for building out the private wealth business.

Prior to joining Blue Owl and Owl Rock, Sean served as a Managing Director of CION Investment Management for over 10 years. Sean was a member of CION’s Investment Committee and was responsible for all aspects of CION’s business including originating, underwriting, negotiating, and corporate finance transactions globally. In 2020, Sean was recognized by Private Debt Investor as one of the industry’s Rising Stars.

Sean and I had a fascinating conversation about what it’s like to work with the wealth channel. We discussed:

• How and why it’s so difficult to work with the wealth channel.
• Why the wealth channel is not a new phenomenon, yet why it’s still relatively untapped in terms of alternative asset managers understanding how to work with the wealth channel.
• How Blue Owl’s wealth business works across its three different investment platforms.
• Why scale matters in certain areas of private markets.
• Why the wealth channel is not one channel, but rather an agglomeration of different customer types and geographies.
• How the market is evolving where a one-stop-shop type firm may be how much of the wealth channel interacts with private markets.
• What it means for distribution professionals to understand their client and the daily demands of a wealth manager's business when educating the wealth channel on alternatives products.
• Why education of the wealth channel should focus more on holistic education and less on selling product.
• Why the wealth channel matters when it comes to alternative asset managers acquiring other alternative asset managers.

Thanks Sean for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share such actionable and thoughtful insights on how firms can work with wealth.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode features a masterclass in private markets from a guest who has seen it all.

Jim Strang is a deeply experienced private equity professional who has been part of the industry as a GP, LP, investor, consultant, and now a teacher, board member, and advisor to a number of firms.

I’d probably have to spend a good few pages going through everything that Jim has done and is currently doing in private markets. He’s a practitioner and a teacher, an expert and an operator. After an illustrious career that was punctuated as Chairman EMEA of Hamilton Lane, one of the largest LPs in private markets globally, he now serves in a number of board and advisor roles, which include Chairman of the Board at HgCapital Trust plc, Senior Advisor to CVC Capital Partners, Advisor at Bain & Company, and Director at Pictet Alternative Advisors.

Jim and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of private markets and what the future holds for large and small funds alike, as well as LPs. We discussed:

• The step function changes that take private markets from $15T to $30T of AUM.
• Why traditional asset managers may struggle to replicate the capabilities of alternative asset managers in private markets.
• The importance of partnerships having a clear ambition and alignment if they want to build a scaled platform.
• The challenges that managers in the middle face as large platforms and specialist managers are the differentiated firms in the eyes of LPs.
• Why GPs need to find innovative solutions to address the needs of different types of investors.
• Why building a strong brand is crucial to success in the wealth channel.

Thanks Jim for coming on the show to share your wisdom and experience on private markets.

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency. 

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products. 

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

02:06 Podcast Theme Song

02:44 Guest Introduction: Jim Strang

02:52 Jim Strang's Career Overview

05:35 State of Private Markets: Challenges and Opportunities

08:04 Fundraising Dynamics in Private Equity

11:25 European Private Equity: Evolution and Insights

15:01 Scaling Challenges and Ambitions in Private Equity

25:41 Technology and Innovation in Private Equity

32:47 Challenges in Organizational Analysis

33:56 Psychological Assessments in Investment Decisions

35:48 Effective Questioning Techniques for LPs

36:29 Transparency and Culture in Investment Firms

37:34 Evolution of Asset Management

38:41 Public vs. Private Asset Managers

40:27 Generational Shifts in Private Equity Firms

44:12 Growth and Democratization of Private Markets

48:40 Liquidity Challenges in Private Markets

54:45 Quick Fire Round: Insights on Private Markets

01:00:10 Entertainment Investments: Music Royalties and Sports

01:04:02 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Today, we have a guest on Alt Goes Mainstream who lives at the intersection of culture and finance as sports is increasingly becoming an investable asset class.

Angel City FC Co-Founder & President Julie Uhrman and I had a fascinating conversation about how sports and investing are merging together – and how that’s informed how she’s building Angel City FC.

Julie and team have been innovative in the way that they’ve engaged fans, players, and investors.
 

We discuss: 

• How ACFC has used entertainment to have an impact.
• How athletes are building their own platforms on and off the field - and what that means for player, fans, and teams.
• How new types of investors — both professional funds and celebrities — are leveraging their platforms for impact to help sports teams build a differentiated brand and business.
• How ACFC is taking lessons learned from innovations in technology, community-building, and Web3 to engage fans and create new revenues for sports clubs.
• How mission and capital can co-exist together as sports becomes a compelling alternative investment.

Julie is a serial entrepreneur and force of nature who is bringing her deep expertise in gaming, media, and entertainment to build our her most ambitious project yet – Angel City FC, the expansion professional women’s soccer team in her native Los Angeles.

And build is what she and the team have done.

In a mere two years, Julie and team have built one of the most recognizable and successful brands in women’s football — without yet having a team on the field.

They’ve done an incredible job of creating purpose driven content and engaging fans across various social media channels.

They’ve secured a top tier front of kit sponsor in DoorDash and have achieved record season ticket sales in the NWSL.

They’ve built a true fan community to the point where ACFC has passed the "tattoo test" – some fans have gotten inked!

And they’ve brought on a diverse, talented group of investors whose life and work aligns with Angel City’s mission as the club looks to make a positive impact in the community and on women’s soccer.

It’s no surprise that Julie has been able to build up ACFC in such a short time.

She was most recently the President of Media for PEI, where she oversaw the company’s media offerings across all verticals. Prior to PEI, she served as the EVP & GM of Over-The-Top Ventures for Lionsgate, building and managing the company’s multiple streaming franchises. She also founded and was CEO of OUYA, a pioneering Android-based game console for the living room which raised a record-breaking $8.6M in crowdfunded capital on Kickstarter and VC funding from Kleiner Perkins and Alibaba before selling to Razer in 2015.

She’s deservedly been given a number of awards for her work, including being named to the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company and one of the most Creative 50 by Ad Age.

Thanks Julie for coming on the AGM podcast to share the story of your pioneering work at Angel City FC. We look forward to watching ACFC continue to grow on and off the pitch.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today’s podcast, we have an expert in alternative assets and fund accounting. We welcome Gareth Hewitt, a fund accounting veteran and co-founder of LemonEdge, to the show.

Gareth is the CEO and Co-Founder of LemonEdge, where they are building a better, more efficient fund accounting software platform.

With backing from Blackstone, Lauren Iaslovits, the founder of pioneering fund accounting software Investran (acq by SunGard), Sidekick Partners, and others deep in the PE and alts world, Gareth has been building a next generation fund accounting solution for GPs, fund admins, and investment platforms.

LemonEdge’s solution has a modern core infrastructure, full multi-currency partnership accounting, system-aware fund structures and integrated waterfall technology. They've built a platform that is already used by a number of the industry's largest GPs and asset managers.

Gareth is an expert in alternative assets — he was Head of UK Product Development & Sales for eFront, a unicorn focused on software for alternative investment funds, which sold to BlackRock and he then founded and ran a fund solutions business.

Gareth and I had a fascinating conversation about private markets. We discussed: 

• Why innovation in fund accounting is so critical to the evolution of private markets
• How LemonEdge is on the cutting edge of the transformation in fund accounting.
• How to take a problem that’s historically been solved by spreadsheets to a low code / no code platform.
• How the fund accounting space can be digitized and customized.
• When and how strategic investors can be valuable in the alts space.

Thanks Gareth for coming on the show to share your wisdom and experience in private markets and let everyone know about the exciting business you’re building at LemonEdge. 

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s podcast dives into the continued innovation in the GP stakes space with someone who has advised some of the industry’s largest firms on their businesses and going public.

We are joined by Todd Owens, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Cantilever Group. 

Cantilever is an independent firm focused on providing capital solutions to middle market asset managers. Their capital can be used to accelerate growth, support acquisitions or liftouts, fund GP commitments, seed new strategies, facilitate generational ownership transfer, and provide liquidity to founders. They focus on businesses that have enterprise values between $50mm and $500mm. The team has executed on over $500M of GP stake, financing, and seeding transactions as both investors and principals. Their advisory experience working with stakes funds includes over 15 GP stakes transactions, multiple GP stakes portfolio financings, numerous GP and BDC IPOs, and dozens of asset management financing and control transactions.

Cantilever is working with two strategic partners as they build their firm: BTG Pactual, the near $30B market cap Brazilian bank and wealth and asset manager has committed 9 figures into Cantilever’s fund, and Broadhaven Ventures, the venture capital arm of Broadhaven Capital Partners.

Todd has over 30 years of experience as an advisor covering financial institutions and as a senior financial services executive. Prior to founding Cantilever, Todd has been a partner at Broadhaven Capital Partners, an independent financial services focused investment bank that’s completed over $90B in announced M&A transaction volume, as well as the former CEO of Fifth Street Finance. Todd began his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co, spending 24 years including as a Managing Director and Partner in the Investment Banking Division. 

Todd and I had a fascinating discussion about how funds are becoming firms and why there’s an investment opportunity around that transformation. We discussed:

• The evolution of alternative asset managers from Todd’s perspective as a banker to many alternative asset managers.
• Why GP stakes has become a solution for alternative asset managers.
• Why and how alternative asset managers are businesses and why it can make sense for them to take investment to grow.
• The benefits of GP stakes for investors and why the growing AUM of private markets means investors could benefit from exposure to GP ownership.
• The risks and challenges with GP stakes as an investment strategy.
• Why the middle market is an underserved and attractive segment in alternative asset management.
• What the currency of consolidation will look like in alternative asset management.
• What it means to grow and evolve a business as an alternative asset manager.

Thanks Todd for coming on the show to share your wisdom and experience on the evolution of asset management from your 30 years in the industry. We hope you enjoy.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

01:18 Podcast Opening and Theme

01:59 Introduction to Todd Owens and Cantilever Group

03:10 Todd Owens' Career Background

04:39 Early Days of Alternative Asset Management

08:28 Challenges and Opportunities in Alternative Asset Management

10:00 Cantilever's Focus on the Middle Market

11:35 Investment Opportunities in the Middle Market

13:50 Identifying and Investing in Promising Managers

16:24 Insights from Working with Founders

18:42 Sizing Up the Middle Market Opportunity

19:49 Sourcing and Structuring Investments

21:16 Offering Diverse Financial Solutions

23:15 Evaluating and Picking the Right Managers

25:54 Identifying Investment Opportunities

26:16 Winning Deals: Strategies and Insights

26:51 Providing Strategic Capital and Advisory

27:58 Focusing on Growth and Diversification

29:18 Underwriting and Growth Expectations

31:15 Exit Strategies and Market Dynamics

33:13 Diversification and Portfolio Construction

34:29 Revenue Streams and Valuation

35:54 Cantilever's Market Edge

37:33 Strategic Partnerships and Support

39:01 Founders' Perspective and Industry Insights

41:01 Cantilever's Unique Value Proposition

42:40 Leadership and Influences

43:34 Concerns and Challenges

46:05 Reflections and Future Outlook

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives into one of the most topical trends in the evolution of wealth management platforms and their adoption of private markets.

We are joined by Tom Cohn and Amita Schultes of Cerity Partners, where they discuss the recent combination of their two respective businesses, Cerity Partners, the $100B+ national wealth management firm, and Agility, a leading OCIO business.

Tom and Amita discuss their merger, why there was a need to create customization for wealth investors in private markets, and how bringing on a leading OCIO business takes Cerity Partners’ capabilities to a new level as a solutions provider in private markets.

Tom is the Chief Solutions Officer and a Partner in Cerity Partners’ New York office. He’s a member of the firm’s Leadership Team. He has over ten years of experience in various investment management roles, previously serving as an Investment Analyst at Spero-Smith Investment Advisors, where he was responsible for due diligence and analysis of third-party managers and assisted in global market and asset allocation research.

Amita is a Partner in Cerity Partners’ New York office, managing Cerity Partners’ OCIO client portfolios. She’s a member of the OCIO Investment Committee. Amita brings over 20 years of experience as an investment consultant to bear to the firm. Before joining Cerity Partners, Amita was a Partner and Client Portfolio Manager at Agility, where she served as a voting member of Agility’s Investment Committee. Prior to Agility, she was a Partner, Managing Director, and Senior Consultant at Colonial Consulting, serving as an investment consultant for endowments, foundations, and pension plans. She also served as a Senior Consultant at Ibbotson Associates.

Tom, Amita, and I had a fascinating discussion. We covered:

• The why and the how behind Cerity Partners’ merger with Agility.
• How wealth management platforms can balance customization and scalability.
• Why scale matters in wealth management.
• How alternative asset managers can differentiate when engaging with the wealth channel.

Thanks Tom and Amita for coming on the show to share your views and wisdom on wealth management and private markets.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Introduction to our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

02:05 Guest Introduction: Tom Cohn and Amita Schultes

07:32 Merger Benefits and Synergies

08:19 Client Services and Customization

09:32 OCIO and Wealth Management Integration

10:45 Why Partner Now?

11:40 Cultural Alignment and Expertise

12:38 Amita's Perspective on the Partnership

13:16 Wealth Management as Institutional LPs

14:23 Cerity Partners' Institutional Approach

14:54 Private Markets Evolution

16:25 Operational Excellence in Private Markets

17:35 Research and Manager Selection

20:56 Investment Objectives and Customization

22:27 Institutional and Wealth Client Synergies

28:16 Access and Long-term Relationships

30:06 Customization and Scalability

32:20 Educational Component in Client Investments

32:36 Framework for Custom Portfolios

33:10 Resource Allocation for Customization

33:47 Importance of OCIO Business

34:16 Next Innovation in Investment Solutions

34:38 Turnkey Solutions for Operational Complexities

35:39 Model Solutions and Manager Selection

36:34 Combining OCIO and Wealth Management Practices

37:32 Evolving Structures in Private Markets

37:54 Workflows and Technology in Private Markets

38:39 Client Experience and Operational Expertise

39:37 Defining Private Markets

41:13 Importance of Clear Definitions

41:54 Role and Goals of Private Market Investments

44:15 Partnerships and Mergers at Cerity Partners

47:05 Evaluating Investment Managers

49:06 Trust in General Partner Relationships

51:16 Identifying Manager's Edge

53:24 Training and Methodology in Manager Selection

55:51 Challenges for Managers with Wealth Channel Capital

56:47 Operational Challenges for Smaller Managers

58:06 Future Trends in Alternative Investments

01:01:00 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a domain expert in the world of VC – and someone who has been a visionary when it has come to one of the biggest movements in VC over the past 8 years: emerging managers.

Samir Kaji, the Founder & CEO of Allocate, is a well-respected industry leader in the VC world. He has spent over 20 years partnering with VCs at First Republic Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, where he led the Venture Capital and Private Equity banking efforts. At First Republic, he built out the infrastructure and client base that served the VC and PE community. He’s evaluated over 800 VC fund managers and worked with thousands of LPs at First Republic.

Samir and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of venture capital and what's to come for the industry. He’s seen a lot in his career in Silicon Valley that has spanned multiple market cycles. He shared his perspective on:

• The challenges that GPs and LPs face during fundraising.
• Why the structural inefficiencies of allocating to funds - and perceived risks with emerging managers - led so many LPs to miss out on the Fund I’s of now legendary emerging managers Lowercase Capital, K9, and Initialized Capital.
• The case for emerging managers in a venture portfolio and why emerging managers are the future of venture capital.
• The trend of non-institutional capital coming into the venture world.
• How LPs will be able to better discover and allocate to fund managers in the future.

In his time in Silicon Valley, he’s become an unquestioned thought leader in the world of VC, particularly in the emerging manager space. 

He has consistently written seminal thought pieces and instructional guides on the topic – and now talks about the space with his podcast, Venture Unlocked.

His experiences working with many of the top VC funds and LPs globally has culminated in a journey that he’s now starting by founding Allocate.

He has observed a number of inefficiencies with emerging managers when it comes to firm building and capital raising. 

He’s seen many emerging managers struggle with fundraising due to the difficulties finding the right LPs. 

He’s seen the challenges that LPs have with being able to locate and allocate to new emerging managers, many of whom have gone on to outperform benchmarks and become the next generation of brand name firms.

He believes that the ecosystem is ready for a decentralized, democratized, and diverse ecosystem of fund managers. And Allocate is the connective tissue that will solve these challenges for both GPs and LPs alike. 

Thanks Samir for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom about the world of venture. 

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s podcast illustrates just how far private markets have come. We dive into the world of GP stakes with Sean Ward, Senior Managing Director from Blue Owl’s GP Strategic Capital Platform, where he was a founding partner and is responsible for helping to oversee the firm that has done the lion’s share of GP stakes investing.

Blue Owl’s GP Strategic Capital business, which started out as Dyal Capital Partners, has accounted for over 61% of the total capital raised in the GP stakes space, closing on over $33.3B across their 7 funds and managing $57.8B AUM. They’ve taken minority ownership stakes in many of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers, accounting for 85%+ of all GP stakes deals $600M or greater in size.

Sean is a Senior Managing Director of Blue Owl Capital, Inc. and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. He also serves as a member of the GP Strategic Capital Investment Team. Prior to joining Dyal Capital Partners, the predecessor firm to Blue Owl’s GP Strategic Capital platform, Sean was a Vice President at Lehman Brothers and held several roles at Neuberger Berman after it became an independent firm, including Senior Counsel for Neuberger’s alternatives business. Sean was also a lawyer at Covington & Burling LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

Sean and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of private markets through the parallel evolution of the GP stakes space.  We discussed:

• The early days of the GP stakes industry.
• What it was like to convince GPs and LPs why stakes made sense.
• How the $1B GP commitment by Bain Capital in their fund post-GFC really opened everyone’s eyes to the need to tap into financing as firms grew their fund size and their business.
• A “cash in” rather than a “cash out.” Why GP stakes investing is mainly about positive selection since managers are choosing to sell a stake in their business.
• How alternative asset management has evolved as a business.
• How GP stakes investments have elements of bond-like coupons from cashflows due to management fees and option value from the upside of carry.
• Why GP stakes investments are “the most diversified single line item investment one can make in private markets.”
• Where allocators bucket GP stakes investments.
• What makes a great GP stakes investor.
• The power of permanent capital.
• The different paths to liquidity in GP stakes investments.

Thanks Sean for coming on the show to share your views and wisdom on private markets. We hope you enjoy.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

01:17 Podcast Opening and Theme

02:00 Guest Introduction: Sean Ward from Blue Owl GP Strategic Capital

04:21 Sean Ward's Career Journey

05:14 The Evolution of GP Stakes Investing

06:23 The Start of GP Stakes at Blue Owl

06:57 Raising the First Fund

07:09 The Growth of Blue Owl's GP Stakes

07:31 The Importance of Legal Background in GP Stakes

09:48 Convincing LPs and GPs

11:14 The Importance of GP Commitments

15:23 Strategic Value Beyond Capital

24:45 Succession Planning in Private Equity

26:02 Impact of Market Conditions on GP Stakes

29:26 Underwriting and Returns in GP Stakes

36:33 Cash Flow and Diversification in GP Stakes Investments

37:48 Understanding the Trade-offs in GP Stakes Investing

38:35 Narrow Distribution of Potential Outcomes

40:09 The Importance of Diverse Professional Backgrounds

40:45 Collaborative Partnerships in GP Stakes

41:34 Traits of a Great Alternative Asset Manager

43:49 The Next Frontier: Private Wealth

45:13 Middle Market Strategy and Partnerships

49:34 The Evolution and Future of Private Markets

53:19 Liquidity in GP Stakes Investments

58:26 The Power of Permanent Capital

01:00:28 Is GP Stakes Better Than SaaS?

01:02:43 Exemplary Models for Growth in Asset Management

01:05:47 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Today we have a special episode of Alt Goes Mainstream – the co-founders of Rally on to discuss how people can now invest into defining cultural moments and assets that are aligned with their passions.

Chris Bruno and Rob Petrozzo grew up together – and they have combined their respective talents to form what has become one of the symbols for the financialization of all sorts of assets.

Rally, which started as a platform to enable investors to invest into shares of classic cars that would be unattainable to many investors, has become a multi-asset investment platform that allows individual investors to invest into all sorts of exotic, rare assets at low minimums.

Chris, Rob, and I had a fascinating conversation about how Rally built and evolved their concept from classic cars to all sorts of rare, grail assets. We discuss:

• How they got into collectibles themselves.
• How they’ve waded through complex regulatory structures to figure out how to offer these assets to the masses.
• How they grew up together and have now built a company that aligns with their passions.
• And how on earth they were able to IPO a triceratops skull and IPO a rookie card of the United States (hint: the Declaration of Independence).

Chris, Rob, and team have created a leading fractional investing platform for the alternatives space. They recently raised a $30 million round led by Accel, who invested in GOAT, to help propel their marketplace further.

Rally has already achieved an active, engaged, and passionate userbase of over 200,000 investors who have invested in everything from Pele rookie cards to classic cars to dinosaur heads to, soon, the Declaration of Independence, or a rookie card of the United States of America as Rally investor and Upfront Ventures Partner Greg Bettinelli has called it.

Chris, the Co-Founder and President, comes from the VC and startup worlds. 

He was an Associate at Village Ventures before co-founding two companies, Health Guru Media and Spotter. He’s a classic car enthusiast, which ignited his interest in unlocking the asset class to individual investors.

Rob, the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, has been the creative inspiration behind Rally.

He has brought his background as the in-house lead designer and creative consultant for Sony BMG, where he worked on the likes of Kanye West’s GOOD music imprint, and as the creative director for a few startups to bring Rally’s brand to life in person and in the digital world. 

Rally has also done some really interesting things with their brand, opening up a showroom to their investors, creating and offering stock certificates to their investors, and creating exclusive merch drops (including the limited edition Michael Jordan rookie card sweatshirt that I wore for today’s podcast). 

Thanks Chris and Rob for coming on the AGM podcast. We hope you enjoy today’s episode.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Recently, AGM partnered with Pangea to bring together a group of executives in private markets and wealth management in London for a live AGM podcast featuring Cheri Belski of T. Rowe Price, one of the largest asset managers in the world with over $1.59T AUM. 

Cheri is the Global Head of Product at T. Rowe Price, where she's responsible for setting the vision for T. Rowe Price's product development and their strategy in private markets. 

Cheri also chairs the Product Strategy Committee and is a member of the Investment Management Steering Committee. She is also a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Cheri has been with T. Rowe Price since 1997.

Cheri and I had a wide-ranging conversation on private markets. We discussed:

• Why did T. Rowe Price look to add alternatives offerings?
• How traditional asset managers have approached adding private markets capabilities.
• Why T. Rowe Price acquired Oak Hill Advisors.
• Build, buy, or partner to add alternatives?
• Who will win the distribution battle in the wealth channel — traditional asset managers or alternative asset managers?
• Opportunities and challenges with product construction and innovation for the wealth channel.
• What the future holds for private markets.

Please enjoy this fascinating conversation with Cheri. Thanks Cheri for sharing your wisdom and experience. We hope you enjoy.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction: Going Mainstream

00:40 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast

00:43 Live Podcast in London with Cheri Belski

00:54 Cheri Belski's Role at T. Rowe Price

01:19 Discussion on Private Markets and Traditional Asset Managers

01:37 Podcast Begins: Marylanders in London

01:59 Host Introduction: Michael Sidgmore

02:31 T. Rowe Price's Venture into Alternatives

04:35 Why T. Rowe Price is Entering Alts

05:46 Building, Buying, or Partnering in Alts

07:09 Acquisition of Oak Hill Advisors

07:13 Integration Challenges and Successes

12:06 Brand Strategy in Alternatives

14:36 Distribution Strategies for Alts

16:20 Traditional vs. Alternative Asset Managers

19:36 Challenges and Opportunities in Private Markets

19:41 Advisor Relationships and Education

22:29 Product Construction and Client Needs

24:36 Challenges in Private Markets

25:44 Future of Alternative Investments

26:20 Conclusion and Farewell

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s show dives into the collision of culture, sports, and finance. We talk with Chase Griffin, a student-athlete and QB at UCLA, who has become a pioneer in the college athletics Name Image Likeness (NIL) movement and is the 2x winner of the NIL Male Athlete of the Year awards from the NIL Summit and Opendorse.

Chase has excelled on and off the field, so he’s no stranger to success. In high school, he was the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year, and he turned down Ivy League offers to commit to UCLA. At UCLA, he’s played behind NFL draft pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson and put up strong performances on the field. Off the field, he’s been a leader in the NIL movement and an exemplary scholar-athlete, to the point where his coach at UCLA, Chip Kelly, has said, “if you could buy stock in a human, buy stock in Chase Griffin.”

Chase has deftly navigated the rapidly changing landscape of the NIL to secure over 30 NIL brand deals and launched the community / charity giving platform #NILforGood. He recently joined Range Media Partners as Athlete/Creator in Residence and contributes to Range business operations across Sports, NIL, Film, TV, Music, and Social Impact.

Chase and I had a fascinating discussion about how the NIL could change college sports as we know it and how it will coincide with more investment into college athletics. At a time when private equity firms are investing into companies that are part of the developing NIL ecosystem and possibly even investing into collegiate athletics conferences, Chase shares his views on the impact that the NIL and financialization of sports has on athletes, colleges, pro sports, and broader student bodies.

Congrats on all the accomplishments in your young career thus far, Chase. Thanks for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your experiences and wisdom on the NIL.

A few weeks ago, Alt Goes Mainstream went to the capitol of capital for alts, AltsLA by CAIA, the largest alternative investments conference on the West Coast, to speak with industry leaders about how they are allocating capital.

Alt Goes Mainstream partnered with CAIA, the premier educational organization for the alts space, to have topical conversations on the world of alternative investments.

With the backdrop of an uncertain macro environment and changing investor preferences that have resulted in a 60/40 portfolio no longer, top allocators in the industry discussed how alts are becoming an increasingly important part of investors’ portfolios.

Over the next few days, we will bring you CAIA shorts: live interviews with the people who are making the decisions for many of the world’s largest investment institutions. Apologies in advance if there is background noise on the podcasts, but it’s because we recorded live and unfiltered from the AltsLA conference.

There were 10 great podcasts with such rich conversations from some of the world’s smartest investors, so we will release these episodes in 4 parts.

Today's episode (7/10) in this CAIA mini-series is with Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Management. Matt comes on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast one year after his first appearance to talk about how much things have changed in crypto, particularly around regulation and institutionalization. But one thing stayed the same - his favorite alternative investment (Ethereum).

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

On today’s episode, we talk with Seyonne Kang, a Partner at StepStone, which acquired her former firm, Greenspring Associates. StepStone is a global private markets firm that provides customized investment and advisory solutions to some of the world’s most sophisticated investors. 

StepStone has a total capital responsibility of $602B of assets and has $134B of assets under management across the spectrum of private markets investments, giving them incredible purview into the current private markets landscape.

At StepStone, Seyonne is a member of the private equity team, where she focuses on venture capital fund and growth equity investments.

Prior to StepStone, Seyonne was a Partner at Greenspring Associates, a venture capital and growth equity firm that merged with StepStone in 2021. She spent the 7 years prior in investment management, with a focus on private capital, working at Jasper Ridge Partners and Commonfund. She also spent a decade on Wall Street in institutional equities.

Seyonne and I had a fascinating conversation about the current state of venture capital and what it means for LPs and GPs. We discussed: 

• How GPs can weather the storm.
• How LPs can navigate the current venture environment.
• Advice for emerging managers.
• Why secondaries might be an interesting investment opportunity right now.
• How newer allocators to private markets can approach investing into venture and growth.
• Why subject matter expertise matters for fund managers.
• Why Seyonne is excited about innovation and venture in the US in the current market.

Thanks Seyonne for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and experiences.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast and Welcome to Wrexham.

On today’s show, we go to Wrexham, the town in North Wales that has become a football (soccer) mecca due to a blend of its rich history as home to the 3rd oldest club in the world and a recent injection of Hollywood with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying the club.

We talk with Shaun Harvey, the Advisor to the Board at Wrexham AFC, and a highly experienced football club and league CEO to discuss how teams can have success on and off the pitch.

Shaun is the CEO of Wantaway Limited, where he advises football clubs, organizing bodies, and companies on all things related to the business of football. His current clients include Wrexham AFC, FIFA, Inner Circle Sports, and Macron.

He’s taken his experiences as the MD at Bradford City FC, which he led to Premier League promotion, the CEO at Leeds United, and the CEO of the English Football League to Wrexham AFC, where he and the team are working to secure promotion back into the Football League and bringing a successful club back to the town of Wrexham.

And they are well on their way to building a global brand in a number of respects – they are performing well on the pitch, they have created a show, Welcome to Wrexham, that has been a hit on Hulu, and their recent FA Cup home match vs Sheffield United was the most followed soccer game across ESPN’s website and digital platforms in the US.

Shaun and I had a fascinating discussion. We talked about:

• How clubs balance on the field performance and off the field business success in a world where the evolution of entertainment and social media have turbocharged the concept of monetizing engagement.
• How important it is to think about the community when investing in a sports team
• Why Shaun believes “the Wrexham effect” has been a huge driver of success for their club.
• How lifting up a club financially and on the pitch can create tremendous economic and social benefits for the town that they play in.

Thanks Shaun for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to welcome us to Wrexham - and share why this is such an exciting and impactful project that we can all learn from.

It’s always sunny in Wrexham.

Thanks Steve Horowitz at Inner Circle Sports for the kind introduction to Shaun to make this episode possible.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s guest is an expert in financial services and capital markets who has experience as both a strategic investor and a VC.

We welcome Rana Yared, a General Partner at Balderton, where she co-leads their Growth Fund. She came to Balderton in 2020 from across the pond, where she was a Partner at Goldman Sachs, first in the Principal Strategic Investments Group, a balance sheet investing team, and later in GS Growth, when the group became part of the GS Growth efforts that began to take in outside LP capital. At Goldman, Rana oversaw investments in Financial Technology and Enterprise Technology as well as the commercialization of Goldman’s technology assets in both NYC and London. She represented Goldman on the boards of Tradeweb, NAV, Vestwell, New York Shipping Exchange, and Swapclear @ LCH. She currently serves on the board of Tradeweb in an independent capacity.

Coming off of a fundraise of $1.3B in new capital across early and growth stage funds at Balderton, Rana and I discussed what LPs were interested in and why Europe is a compelling investment ecosystem. We had a fascinating discussion about:

• Revolutionary and evolutionary innovations in financial services and private markets, including the likes of iCapital, Tradeweb, Revolut.
• Why global tech companies can be built in Europe, with Revolut, a Balderton portfolio company, as an example.
• Why London and Europe are compelling fintech and financial services ecosystems.
• How LPs should look at the European investment opportunity.
• Differences and benefits / drawbacks of being a strategic / permanent capital investor versus being an independent VC fund.
• The importance of being a risk manager in venture.

Thanks Rana for coming on the show to share your wisdom and views on Europe, venture, and private markets. We hope you enjoy.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction and Ultimus Sponsor Message

01:59 Introducing Balderton Capital Partner, Rana Yared

04:16 Rana's Journey from Goldman Sachs to Balderton

04:25 Transition from Investment Banking to VC

06:26 Insights on Financial Services and Market Structure

06:37 Investing in Market Structure

09:05 Disruptive vs. Evolutionary Innovations in Fintech

12:53 Partnering with Incumbents

14:31 The Importance of Durability and Product Velocity

18:11 Strategic Investing vs. Venture Capital

21:21 Investing in the European Ecosystem

27:06 The Exciting Potential of Revolut and European FinTech

27:21 FinTech Giants in Germany

27:54 European Companies' International Advantage

28:55 Investor's Perspective on European Expansion

29:48 The Role of Venture Capital in Europe

29:22 Challenges and Strategies for European Investors

30:20 The Importance of Local Presence

30:55 The Future of European Ecosystems

31:28 US VCs Entering Europe

32:15 Bridging the Talent Gap

34:02 Mentorship and Expertise

35:52 The Role of LPs and European Investment Opportunities

37:23 Challenges for European Pensions and Endowments

38:49 Innovations in Fund Structures

41:27 The Impact of Governmental Participation in Venture

42:22 Exciting Opportunities in European Venture

43:10 FinTech's Massive Potential

43:59 Europe's Unique Financial Services Advantages

44:53 Geopolitical Concerns for Investors

45:51 Lessons from War Studies Applied to Investing

47:11 The Future of Retirement Investments in Europe

49:13 The Importance of Patience in Investing

Welcome back to Going Public with Evercore’s Glenn Schorr.

On the latest episode of Going Public, we drop the beat on F.R.E.A.M. 

Paying homage to Wu-Tang Clan’s song “C.R.E.A.M.” (“Cash rules everything around me”), Glenn discusses why “Fees rule everything around me” in asset management. 

We cover some of last quarter's most pressing topics in alternative asset management, including:

• How alternative asset managers balance fee generation with returns.
• Does major growth still lie ahead for alternative asset managers?
• Why “fees rule everything around me,” but so does alpha generation.
• Why does distribution (almost always) win in asset management?
• What’s the most valuable aspect of a publicly traded alts manager having a public currency?
• What is Glenn keeping his eye on for next quarter?

Making private markets more public — with expert analysis

Alt Goes Mainstream has partnered with an expert who has seen the evolution of alternative asset managers from their early days.

Glenn Schorr is a Senior MD and Senior Research Analyst at Evercore ISI, where he covers brokers, banks, asset managers, and trust banks as an analyst. 

He has covered financials since 2000 and started coverage of alternative asset managers when the first firms went public.

He’s consistently come up as one of the most thoughtful and well-respected analysts in the space. He balances deep research with a creative flair (just read one of the titles of his research reports and you can see his love of the game). He’s been named to Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team for his coverage, most recently ranking #2 and runner up in 2023, #1 and #2 in 2022. Prior to Evercore, Glenn was a Senior MD at Nomura, serving as the lead financials analyst. 

Listen in as Glenn shares market stories, the evolution of alternative asset managers as businesses, the biggest and most exciting trends in private markets based on what the industry’s largest players are doing, and we go “around the horn” for his analysis on the publicly traded firms.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction

00:38 Meet Glenn Schorr

01:52 Wu-Tang Clan and Asset Management

02:40 F.R.E.A.M.: Fees Rule Everything Around Me

02:49 Public Investors and Revenue Streams

03:47 Balancing Fee Growth and Investment Returns

05:50 Talent Migration and Fee Justification

06:38 Migration to Private Markets

07:07 Deregulation and Its Impact

09:31 Structural Challenges for Banks

09:58 Growth in Alternative Asset Management

12:19 Wealth Channel and Private Markets

13:13 Private Equity Performance

15:37 Education Process for Investors

16:27 Perpetual Private Equity Products

17:35 Model Portfolios: The Next Frontier

21:00 Distribution and Asset Management

24:24 Corporate Strategy and Partnerships in Asset Management

27:10 Public vs. Private Firms

29:56 Acquisitions and Growth Strategies

31:09 Specialty Managers and Market Trends

33:12 Big TAMs and Investment Opportunities

36:15 Consolidation in the Industry

38:16 Surprises and Trends in the Quarter

39:44 Deployment and Investment Grade Private Credit

40:03 Credit Cycles and Market Concerns

41:15 Data Centers and AI Investments

41:54 Size and Scale in Asset Management

45:19 Bank and Asset Manager Partnerships

46:15 Looking Ahead: Thoughts on the Next Quarter

47:10 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Company Coverage and Disclosures

Evercore ISI

Glenn Schorr

| Ticker | Company
| APO | Apollo Global Management, Inc.
| BAC | Bank of America Corporation
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Bank of America Corporation.
| BK | Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
| BLK | BlackRock, Inc.
| BlackRock, Inc. is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to BlackRock, Inc. in the last 12 months.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from BlackRock, Inc. within the next three months.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Blackrock Inc.
| BX | Blackstone, Inc.
| Blackstone, Inc. is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to Blackstone, Inc. in the last 12 months.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from Blackstone, Inc. within the next three months.
| An employee, employee's immediate family member, director or consultant of Evercore ISI or one of its affiliates (but not the covering research analyst or a member of the covering research analyst's household) is an officer, director or advisory board member of Blackstone, Inc.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate has received compensation from Blackstone, Inc. for investment banking services in the last 12 months.
| Analyst has a financial interest in a private equity fund managed by Blackstone, Inc.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Blackstone, Inc.
| OWL | Blue Owl Capital, Inc
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate has acted as a manager or co-manager of a public offering of securities by Blue Owl Capital, Inc in the last 12 months.
| Blue Owl Capital, Inc is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to Blue Owl Capital, Inc in the last 12 months.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate has received compensation from Blue Owl Capital, Inc for investment banking services in the last 12 months.
| BSIG | BrightSphere Investment
| C | Citigroup, Inc.
| An employee, employee's immediate family member, director or consultant of Evercore ISI or one of its affiliates (but not the covering research analyst or a member of the covering research analyst's household) is an officer, director or advisory board member of Citigroup, Inc.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Citigroup, Inc.
| BEN | Franklin Resources, Inc.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of Franklin Resources, Inc.
| GS | Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
| IVZ | Invesco Ltd.
| JPM | JPMorgan Chase & Co.
| Glenn Schorr holds a long position in equity securities of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
| KKR | KKR & Co. Inc.
| KKR & Co. Inc. is a client of Evercore LLC, and Evercore LLC has provided investment banking services to KKR & Co. Inc. in the last 12 months.
| Evercore ISI or an affiliate has received comp...

“Our aim is to create the biggest entertainment brand in the world, starting with sports … we are building a cult brand around NFT collectibles and we are bringing usage value for them in the fantasy game and the physical world.” - Nicolas Julia, Sorare.

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a fascinating discussion about the intersection of culture and finance with Nicolas Julia, the Co-Founder & CEO of Sorare.

Nicolas founded Sorare to build the next entertainment giant. His NFT platform, Sorare, is enabling people to own their game and live at the intersection of work and play – they can play fantasy soccer and trade digital collectibles – and, at times, earn money while doing so.

We covered a number of topics, including:

• The merging of culture and finance.
• How Sorare is building a next generation entertainment brand across multiple sports and geographies.
• How NFTs are integral in on-ramping the next 100M-1B users to crypto.
• What it means for investors / users to own their in-game assets — and how it changes how they make decisions playing games and investing into NFTs.
• How Sorare is building the critical market infrastructure across the lifecycle of a trade for NFTs.
• How sports leagues view NFTs as a new revenue stream and fan engagement tool.
• The game within the game — who players are playing games within the game of football.
• How the beautiful game — soccer cards — and NFTs are a sleeping giant in the US.
• How women’s sports can benefit from the world of NFTs and how bringing on an Advisor like world-class tennis star Serena Williams can help achieve that.

Nicolas has built Sorare into an astronomical success in a short period of time. He grew a team smaller than a starting 11 on a football pitch to hundreds of millions in sales and a record-breaking $680M Series B led by SoftBank in September 2021 that followed a $50M Series A led by Benchmark in January 2021 as NFTs boomed last year.

Sorare was an integral part of the NFT market growth as they enabled people to play fantasy soccer and collect / trade NFTs of professional soccer players. 

They are building a critical piece of market infrastructure for the NFT and sports world by leveraging crypto rails to enable an incredible consumer experience revolving around sports and collectibles.

Thanks Nicolas for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. It was a pleasure to have you help us understand the future of entertainment, NFTs, and sports and how everyone can own their game.

We had a special live episode of Alt Goes Mainstream this past Wednesday on $COIN Day to celebrate a landmark moment in the crypto industry that has, in many respects, signified the mainstreaming of crypto - the Coinbase IPO.

Adam Draper, the Co-Founder & MD at Boost VC, was one of the first investors in Coinbase’s Seed round in 2012. 

He joined the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to discuss what he saw in Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s Co-Founder, when he decided to invest in their Seed round, what excites him about the future of crypto, and why he looks for founders who are rational people doing very irrational things.

Adam is also learning how to play the guitar, so we were lucky enough to hear the exclusive release of a special new song that he created just for this podcast. Adam’s attempt to play the guitar and sing was quite admirable, but I think I can safely say that he should stick to investing as his career choice.

Adam is one of the most thoughtful, energetic, and vibrant people you’ll meet. This episode was signature Adam - unfiltered and unedited - which is much of what makes him so unique, interesting, and able to “see the ball” (as Adam calls it) with generational founders and ideas. It was a lot of fun to talk about Coinbase, crypto, and life with Adam on such a special day for him and the crypto industry.

If you want to see the live video (you won’t want to miss seeing Adam play guitar!) of the podcast, you can view it here on this Twitter link or here on this YouTube link.

I hope you enjoy.