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Published by Michael Sidgmore
Alt Goes Mainstream podcast is the place to turn to for interviews with some of the brightest and most experienced minds in the world at the intersection private markets and wealth management. AGM dives into investment strategies like private equity (PE), private credit, venture capital (VC), secondaries, GP stakes, infrastructure, real estate, wealth management, and comprehensively covers tools and frameworks for approaching private markets, such as asset allocation, evergreen funds, model portfolios, and more. For anyone looking to invest into private markets (from experienced wealth managers to family offices to the individual investor looking for a more diversified investment portfolio), you’ll hear inside stories from executives and founders at some of the world’s largest financial institutions, alternative asset managers firms, and wealth management firms. More than a personal finance podcast, Alt Goes Mainstream dives deep into trends, investment strategies, firm building lessons, and innovative technologies that are enabling investors to access private markets.
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Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. One of the best-performing venture investors in history is back in the saddle. And this time, he’s bringing the stampede to invest in some of the most consequential companies of our time. For Chris Sacca , the seeds of investing in energy were sown 23 years ago when he was building data centers for Google. His investing career went into full bloom with Lowercase Capital, the venture firm he founded in 2010 with $8.4M in capital. Thanks to early investments in Uber, Twitter, Stripe, Instagram, Blue Bottle Coffee, Docker, Optimizely, and others, Lowercase’s first fund returned over 204x DPI and around 250x MOIC. For his second act, he is going bigger to solve massive problems that require real solutions across energy, power, water, AI, transmission, and nuclear fusion. He and his wife, Crystal, co-founded Lowercarbon Capital (and are the firm’s largest LPs) to invest in companies that own every part of the electrical stack, from sunlight to socket. Chris and Crystal have built out a stellar team to match the opportunity in front of them by bringing together the requisite ingredients to be an expert and differentiated investor in energy, advanced manufacturing, nuclear fusion, and transmission. General Partner Clay Dumas was previously Chief of Staff in the White House Office of Digital Strategy. The firm’s most recent General Partner to join the ranks is Caie Kelley , who leads the firm’s Growth investing efforts. Caie brings to bear a background in private equity at Permira and investing in climate startups at Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures and output so considerable that the Lowercarbon team calls her “CaieGPT,” despite that output being human-generated. Irrespective of political regime, geopolitical chokepoints, and supply chain reconfiguration, the world was in dire need of better, faster, safer, cheaper, and cleaner energy alternatives. Chris, Clay, Caie and team at Lowercarbon set out to invest in new energy and manufacturing companies that could become the foundation of the new energy economy when Lowercarbon launched in 2021. In that time, national security, energy security, geopolitical tensions, reorienting of supply chains, and a hotter earth have all undergone seismic shifts. Lowercarbon has invested across the energy stack to back companies addressing these challenges and building the foundation of the new economy. There’s a lot to play for here on Earth, as Chris noted in the podcast, saying, “Mars is for quitters. If we are going to Mars, we are giving up on what we have here.” And what we have here is what this fascinating conversation with Chris and Caie focused on. We covered: Why climate may not be the best way to describe Lowercarbon’s investing activities. How big is the energy market? Why Lowercarbon avoids investing in “science projects.” What it takes to underwrite investing in hardware and hard tech companies. How Lowercarbon unearths “fundamentally different technologies that are providing fundamentally different costs,” according to Caie. Lessons learned from Lowercase and how to know when to bet big on an investment. Why the likes of Antora, Crux, Fuse Energy, Base Power, Panthalassa, Cloover, Solar Square, Commonwealth Fusion, Emerald AI, and more could be such consequential companies. Why the Lowercarbon team are “unapologetic capitalists.” Bios Caie Kelley, General Partner Caie is a General Partner at Lowercarbon Capital, where she focuses primarily on growth stage opportunities and provides a quantitative lens to the team’s deep tech and science-backed work. Prior to Lowercarbon, she was at SOUNDWaves, the climate-focused venture arm of Sound Ventures, where she built out the team’s sustainability strategy, helped raise the fund’s first external capital, and backed founders at multiple stages of growth across batteries, alternative materials, circularity, and climate software. Prior to Sound, Caie was at Permira, an $80b private equity fund based in New York, where she focused on technology and industrial services growth-stage businesses. Caie started her career in the technology investment banking group at JP Morgan in both San Francisco and New York, where she advised IPO-ready companies on how to graduate to the “real world” (public markets). Caie holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and where she wrote a very, very long thesis on Southeast Asia and first became painfully aware of the disparate effects of climate change on developing parts of the world. Caie grew up in the Bay Area with two biologists as parents but is now a Southern California loyalist — she currently lives in Los Angeles where she spends her free time consuming reality television and staying up to date with pop culture discourse, and going on flat walks in the sun with friends. Chris Sacca, Founder & Managing Partner Chris is the co-founder of Lowercarbon Capital, backing the world’s most ambitious and scalable decarbonization solutions across energy, industrial materials, transportation, carbon removal, and advanced manufacturing. The portfolio spans countless companies, each proving to the world that hard-tech climate solutions are just good business. Alongside his wife, Crystal, Chris also co-founded Lowercase Capital, best known for its very early investments in Uber, Twitter, Instagram, Twilio, Docker, Optimizely, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Stripe, making it one of the most successful venture funds in history. The performance of the Lowercase funds vaulted Chris to the number-two spot on the Forbes Midas List and landed him a place on Vanity Fair’s New Establishment list before he shifted in 2017 from broad-based venture capital to focus on climate innovation, philanthropy, and creative pursuits. Before becoming an investor, Chris served as Head of Special Initiatives at Google, where he founded and co-led the Access division. His projects included Google’s multi-billion-dollar initiatives for the 700MHz and TV white-spaces spectrum, culminating in Google’s $4.7 billion bid in the FCC spectrum auction. Chris oversaw billions of dollars of global energy projects and co-led the siting and acquisition of groundbreaking data centers in Oregon, Georgia, and the Netherlands. Chris helped expand the company’s global fiber-optic and undersea cable footprint, drove many of Google’s business development and M&A transactions, and was a founding team member of the company’s New Business Development division. In recognition of his accomplishments, Chris was among the first Google employees ever to receive the Google Founders’ Award, the company’s highest internal honor. Earlier in his career, Chris practiced law at Fenwick & West, representing startups, venture firms, and multinational corporations in financings, M&A, and licensing deals, and later held executive roles, including General Counsel and Head of Corporate Development, at one of the world’s largest streaming and digital media companies, Speedera Networks, later acquired by Akamai. For almost 20 years, Chris has been a fixture on television, radio, podcasts, in ...
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. What happens when you bring Tokyo-Neapolitan style pizza to New York? You get one of the hottest new reservations in a city full of top restaurants and pizza spots. Are there similarities between pizza and asset management? Different styles of pizza appeal to different people. Same in asset management. But there is one constant: the way the pizza is made matters. At Pizza Studio Tamaki , the Tokyo-Neapolitan pizza is made with acclaimed pizzaiolo’s Subasa Tamaki’s dough flown in directly from Japan. Every detail matters. Every flavor is unique. And it all blends together into a unique pizza experience. That’s something Nomura Asset Management International is aiming to do in the U.S. with both public and private markets. We recently sat down at Pizza Studio Tamaki for a live podcast with Nomura Asset Management International CEO Shawn Lytle , with the wealth channel in the audience, to discuss pizza, patterns in asset management, and private markets. Shawn’s deep experience working for a number of the industry’s largest asset managers and understanding of what the wealth channel needs across public and private markets set the table for a great discussion on the evolution of asset management, how culture impacts how firms work with the wealth channel, and how to bring an international brand into the U.S. market. We ate the pizza while we podcasted, and we even did a pizza rating. Spoiler alert, PST was really good. So was the podcast. Bio Shawn is Chief Executive Officer of Nomura Asset Management International, where he is responsible for overseeing the business, investment teams, and strategies for clients. He joined Nomura Asset Management as part of Nomura’s acquisition of Macquarie Asset Management’s US and European public investments business in 2025. He also serves as the President of Nomura Funds (formerly, Macquarie Funds) and oversees registered vehicle governance in the US and Europe. Shawn is a member of the Nomura Asset Management International Executive Committee. He has more than 30 years of asset management experience. Before joining Macquarie in 2015, he held several management and equity investment roles at UBS Asset Management and various roles at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Shawn is a member of the Investment Company Institute (ICI) Executive Committee. He is also a board member of OppNet and Philadelphia Financial Scholars, in addition to being the former Chairman of the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP). He earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing from The McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Thanks, Shawn, for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion about asset management and private markets. Show Notes 00:00 Tokyo Pizza Meets NYC 01:07 Ultimus Fund Solutions Sponsor Message 02:05 Meet Shawn Lytle 02:18 Why Japanese Pizza Studio Tamaki 05:09 Four Firms Four Cultures 06:10 Craftsmanship And Consistency 06:52 Bringing Nomura To US 07:21 What Great Managers Share 09:00 Choosing The Right Partner 10:29 Curated Menus Fewer Managers 12:50 Beta Is Free Alpha Matters 13:48 Nomura Platform Advantages 15:39 Winning In Japan ETFs 17:11 Sports Marketing Lessons 22:29 Private Markets Next Wave 27:59 Pizza Rating And Wrap Up A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com . We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant .
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Today’s podcast dives into the world of data and decision-making in private markets. We were in the studio with private markets polymath Jeb Altonaga . Jeb is SVP, Head of Business Development in Private Markets at Arcesium , where they have built a financial management data platform aimed at solving the data normalization problem across public and private markets. Jeb’s multihyphenate background puts him in a position to see the data challenges for GPs and LPs alike from all different angles as Arcesium works to take unstructured data and turn it into structured data and insights to help asset managers run their businesses more efficiently and serve LPs better. Jeb’s background spans Citadel, where he was Head of Relationship Management & Operations in Asia-Pacific, to being an LP as the COO at Blue Pool, a large family office based in Asia, to running capital formation and as COO at Australian activist investment firm Sandon Capital. He joined Arcesium in August 2025 to spearhead the execution of business strategy and the product roadmap for Arcesium’s software solutions in private markets. We had such a fascinating discussion given the various vantage points that Jeb has had in private markets. We covered: How to think about data normalization and why it matters. Where and when transparency makes sense. Which asset classes may benefit from less transparency. What secondary markets might do to transparency in private markets. What a tradable market in private markets could look like. The evolution of private credit’s market structure. What Jeb would make more efficient about private markets. Why it’s important to be a lifelong learner. Bio Jeb Altonaga leads business development for Arcesium’s Private Markets segment, drawing on over 25 years in alternative investments, capital formation and funds management. He founded Clearglass Capital Partners, a private capital advisory firm, and previously served as COO at Sandon Capital in Sydney and Partner & COO at Blue Pool Capital (& Pinyin) in Hong Kong and began his buy-side career at Citadel Investment Group in Chicago. Jeb holds an MBA from NYU Stern and has served on the board of Hedge Funds Care Asia. Thanks, Jeb, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about public and private markets. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream 01:25 A Message from Ultimus Fund Solutions 02:22 Jeb’s Career Path and Lessons 04:05 Why Jeb Joined Arcesium 04:40 From Loan Tapes to AI 06:33 Building in Private Markets 07:26 The Missing Middle Layer 08:55 Do GPs and LPs Want Standards 10:38 LPs Must Drive Change 11:33 Family Office Perspective 14:23 AI Adoption for Different Generations 18:11 Private Markets Need a Desktop 21:02 APIs versus SFTP plumbing 23:25 Evergreens and Secondaries Push Transparency 28:49 Secondaries as Portfolio Tool 29:11 Transparency vs Information Edge 29:48 Private Equity Transparency Limits 30:10 Why Private Credit Opens Up 31:48 Market Structure Highway Analogy 33:08 Tech Stitching Private Data 34:14 Golden Source Data Layer 35:19 Arcesium Intelligence Agents 35:39 Front to Back Platform Buildout 36:50 Why Firms Differ on Same Stack 39:27 Tech First Culture as Edge 41:04 Private Credit Marketplace Debate 43:41 Liquidity Mismatch and Gates 46:24 Secondary Trading Tech Readiness 47:37 Security Master Fix and Wrap A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com . We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant .
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Today’s podcast dives into the world of real estate with one of the industry’s largest managers and investors in industrial real estate. We sat down in Franklin Templeton’s New York City office with real estate veteran Josh Pristaw , Managing Director, President of Clarion Partners , a $73.3B AUM real estate investment firm within Franklin Templeton’s alternatives platform. Josh discussed data and durable demographics, which are drivers of the deeply researched investment process that his team at Clarion employs to invest in industrial real estate. Josh’s background, which spans developing shopping centers to investing in real estate in Brazil to running one of the industry’s leading single-family rental investing platforms at Pretium, has helped him lead Clarion, one of the industry’s largest industrial real estate investment platforms. Josh and I had a fascinating conversation, connecting data and demographics to actionable insights in real estate investing. We covered: The durable demographic and secular trends driving Clarion’s investment strategy in healthcare real estate. How 10,000 people turning 80 years old in the US daily is creating an “aging in place” dynamic that is impacting housing supply and self-storage demand. Why industrial demand is tied to e-commerce growth. How Clarion takes a quantitative approach to real estate investing, evaluating sub-markets using recursive factor analysis. How diversification and liquidity drive Clarion’s open-ended fund strategy, with 95% of the firm’s $73.3B in AUM residing in open-ended funds. Why data centers pose liquidity, capex, valuation, and concentration challenges for open-ended fund vehicles. Bio Josh Pristaw, equity owner and Managing Director, is President of Clarion Partners. He is a member of the Firm’s Executive Board, Investment Committee, and the Board of Directors for Clarion Partners Holdings, LLC. He joins Clarion from Pretium, where he served as Senior Managing Director and Head of Pretium’s real estate platform. Prior to Pretium, Josh co-founded GTIS Partners. He has more than two decades of real estate experience across property sectors and functions, including acquisitions, asset management, portfolio development, and capital markets. He joined Clarion Partners in 2025 and has been working in the industry since 1997. Josh graduated from Dartmouth College, B.A. (1997). Thanks, Josh, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about real estate investing and your data-driven approach to the asset class. Show Notes 00:00 Introduction 01:14 Message from Ultimus Fund Solutions, Our Sponsor 02:44 Josh Career Origins 03:55 Real Estate Scale Shifts 04:51 Understand Demographics and Mega Trends 05:35 Senior Housing Supply Gap 07:12 Housing Turnover and Storage 08:24 Data Models Across Sectors 09:21 Data Driven Allocation Lens 09:57 Four Drivers of Returns 12:16 Timing Bets and Liquidity 15:17 Lessons Learned From Building In Brazil 18:06 Invitation Homes Data Ops 19:44 Clarion Data Science Edge 21:06 Quant Meets Relationships 22:11 Asset Class Specialists 23:16 Industrial Demand Megatrends 23:32 Ecommerce Trillion Wave 24:16 Efficiency And Taller Warehouses 4:58 Robotics Power Premium 26:54 Infrastructure Constraints 29:44 Why Not Data Centers 34:27 Supply Glut More Sellers 33:10 Liquidity Supply Imbalance 36:12 Evergreen Fund Playbook 39:26 Portfolio Rotation Discipline 41:16 Career Advice and Wrap Up A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com . We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant .
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Today’s podcast takes us to Oslo, Norway, for a very special conversation with Christian Sinding , the former CEO of one of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers, EQT . Christian’s hometown of Oslo provided an ideal setting to showcase both the Nordic heritage that represents EQT’s DNA and the global ambitions of the firm (and one of its portfolio companies, 1X ) that is looking to fund Europe’s first €1T company. Christian has been one of the leaders in the alternative asset management industry. He was most recently the CEO of EQT, where he steered the firm on an impressive growth path as a public company and helped scale the firm to almost €300B AUM. He’s now focused on another ambitious project: the Scaleup Europe Fund , a fund that EQT is managing and has support from the European Commission to invest in Europe’s most promising technology companies. With 1X Tech’s NEO humanoid robot joining us for part of the discussion, Christian and I had a fascinating conversation about the past, present, and future of alternative asset management and Europe’s technology ecosystem. Christian and I discussed: The evolution of EQT and alternative asset management. What Europe needs in order to fund the future. How Europe can harmonize its capital markets infrastructure. What it will take to create the €1T company. What it means for companies to have global ambition. The what, why, and how behind EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund. Why EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund invested in ICEYE and Lovable. Why EQT invested in 1X. How Christian’s “why not” attitude can take Europe’s technology ecosystem to the next level. Come for the conversation with Christian, stay until the end to meet NEO. Bio Christian Sinding is an Institutional Partner at EQT with nearly 30 years of experience at the firm. He served as CEO and Managing Partner from 2019 to May 2025, during which EQT quadrupled in size, becoming the fourth-largest company listed on the Swedish stock exchange. As CEO, Christian oversaw EQT’s public listing on Nasdaq Stockholm in 2019 and guided the firm’s development as a publicly listed organization, with a strong focus on governance, transparency and long-term, responsible ownership. Prior to becoming CEO, Christian served as Head of EQT Equity from 2011, where he played a central role in building EQT’s core investment franchise and expanding the firm’s international footprint. Under his leadership, EQT scaled from a market value of approximately €6 billion at listing to around €40 billion in 2025, further strengthening its position as a global leader in private markets. Christian chairs the EQT Council and the Global Investment Forum, serves as Chair of the Investment Committee for the Scaleup Europe fund, and serves on the Investment Committees for EQT Equity and EQT Future. He is also a board member of the EQT Foundation, supporting EQT’s long-term societal engagement. Christian brings deep experience in leadership, governance, public markets and long-term value creation, with a focus on resilience and partnering with founders and management teams to build durable, globally competitive businesses. Thanks, Christian, for sharing your passion, expertise, and wisdom about private markets and building companies and for such a fascinating conversation. Show Notes 00:00 Meet NEO, the 1X Robot 00:06 Europe’s $10B Gap 00:18 The “Why Not” Mindset 00:29 Lovable and The Trillion Euro Ambition 01:37 A Message From Our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions 02:35 Welcome Christian Sinding 02:40 Nordic Edge on Innovation 05:38 EQT Origins and DNA 08:01 Inspiring Change Not Control 08:36 Full Potential Planning 10:46 Troika Model Explained 13:42 Winning After the IPO 16:14 Capital Markets Playbook 20:56 Why Venture and Growth 28:44 Europe’s Innovation Gap 28:56 Politics Push Reform 29:37 Why Europe Can Win 30:47 Building Bigger Markets 31:18 A European Nasdaq Dream 32:28 From Local To Global 33:36 Founder Ambition Shifts 34:40 Lovable Trillion Dollar Vision 35:32 EU Inc And Capital Reforms 36:56 Private Longer Needs Capital 37:52 Scaleup Europe Fund Explained 39:53 What Makes It Different 43:02 Defining Success And Flywheel 46:47 The “Why Not” Mentality 48:58 Some Time With NEO, The 1X Robot A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com . We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant .
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Today’s podcast unpacks the importance of ownership and equity, and how the world’s largest private equity firm ( source: PEI 300 ) has helped create a culture of ownership within its portfolio companies and more broadly across the industry. With the backdrop of KKR’s studio in New York and the firm fresh off the heels of celebrating its 50th Anniversary, we sat down with KKR ’s Co-Head of Global Private Equity Pete Stavros for a live conversation during AGM’s RIA Field Trip to discuss how culture can be a competitive advantage and how it defines much of what KKR does both internally and with its portfolio companies. Pete has not only been a leading private equity investor at one of the industry’s largest firms, but he’s also been a pioneer in one of the industry’s most important initiatives: enabling employees of private equity-backed companies to share in ownership of the companies where they work. The firm’s Broad-Based Employee Ownership has delivered on its promise in many ways, with KKR’s recent 14x (and $4.75B) exit on CoolIT providing all 650 CoolIT employees with cash payouts that ranged from approximately one year to more than eight years of annual pay, which, as Pete noted in our conversation, was “life-changing for many employees.” Pete and I had a fascinating conversation about the culture of ownership at KKR, the evolution of the firm’s private equity platform, why it’s so important to make employees owners, and how it’s created a ripple effect in the industry. We covered: KKR’s “we not I” culture. Why the most important trend in private equity going forward will be a shift from “balance sheet and income statement arbitrage to total cultural transformation.” Why and how culture is an advantage — and how KKR sustains its competitive advantage. The power of a scaled platform and why the division of labor is important as firms grow. What Pete means by “persistence in process.” How can companies encourage people to act like owners, and why is it so important for employee retention and productivity? How can sharing equity ownership be used as a tool to change culture? The impact the private equity industry can have through its ability to cascade change. Bio Pete Stavros (NewYork) joined KKR in 2005 and is Co-Head of Global Private Equity. This includes oversight of assets across Europe, Asia and the Americas and traditional large and mid-cap private equity, core and growth equity. Prior to this role, Pete served as Co-Head of the Americas Private Equity platform. He is a member of several investment committees at KKR. As an investor, Pete has helped lead a number of successful investments across sectors and sizes, including HCA Healthcare, Nielsen, Gardner Denver / Ingersoll Rand, Capsugel, Capital Safety, Hyperion, Flow Control Group, Charter Next Generation, Minnesota Rubber and Plastics, Geostabilization International, Crosby Group and CHI Overhead Doors. Prior to becoming Co-Head of Americas Private Equity, Pete led the Industrials industry team where he pioneered an innovative employee engagement and ownership model. This approach has been successfully implemented at more than 90 KKR companies and has positively impacted more than 200,000 workers. Pete is the Founder and Chairman of Ownership Works, a non-profit focused on building a worker ownership movement globally and enhancing the financial resiliency of the workforce. The goal of Ownership Works is to create more than $20 billion of wealth for working families over the next decade. Pete is also the Founder and Chairman of Expanding ESOPs, an organization focused on dramatically expanding the number of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) in corporate America. Prior to joining KKR, Pete was an investor with GTCR Golder Rauner, where he was an investor in the healthcare sector. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry, magna cum laude, from Duke University and an M.B.A. with high distinction, Baker Scholar, from Harvard Business School. Thanks, Pete, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion on private equity and making everyone an owner. Show Notes 00:00 Live From AGM Field Trip at KKR Studio In NYC 00:29 A Message From Ultimus Fund Solutions 02:00 Meet Pete Stavros 02:09 The Story of Joining KKR 02:33 From Interviews To NYC 03:08 All About Collaboration 03:02 A No Star Culture 04:03 How Culture Is Sustained 04:43 Ritz-Carlton Analogy 05:23 No Star Culture 05:29 Culture Shapes Investing 05:54 Platform Resources Edge 06:24 Capital Markets Bench 06:41 Macro And Ops Experts 06:52 Making Resources Work 07:52 Consistency And Process 08:40 Evolving Value Creation 08:46 Gardner Denver / Ingersoll Rand Case 09:25 Value Engineering Method 10:09 Warehouse Teardown 10:54 Customer Feedback Loop 11:25 Sixty Million In Savings 11:50 Culture As The Next Frontier 12:16 Defining Transformation 12:27 Workforce Crisis Stats 13:08 Problems Are Global 14:28 Underwriting Culture Risk 15:12 Leadership Makes It Work 16:00 Ownership Done Right 17:06 BBEO Origins 19:10 Early Mistakes Learned 19:30 Scaling To 85 Companies 19:59 CoolIT Exit Results 20:48 Closing The Wealth Loop 21:12 Financial Literacy Journey 21:45 Truck Loan Lesson 23:39 Building Resilience Stack 24:15 Exit Support Package 24:37 Industry Adoption 25:40 Ownership Works Launch 27:04 Street Loan Cautionary Tale 28:00 Why Share The Playbook 30:02 Taking Ownership Global 30:56 International Rollout 31:31 Local Culture Differences 32:15 State Of Private Equity 32:40 Is Software Dead 33:09 KKR Software Approach 34:26 AI At Portfolio Scale 34:55 One Hundred Thirty Tests 35:35 Buying The Fear Trade 35:49 Accounting Is Not Dead 37:08 Closing Thoughts A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions....
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We went to Miami to sit down with the professor of infrastructure investing and Founder, Chairman, and Managing Partner of I Squared , Dr. Sadek Wahba . Sadek has blended academic knowledge and a practical approach to infrastructure investing to build I Squared into a $60B infrastructure investment firm in 14 years, some of which he has adroitly distilled into the 2024 book that he authored, Build: Investing in America’s Infrastructure . We had such a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion that I’ve decided to break down our conversation into chapters. “We are enormously boring by design”: From the World Bank to building a $60B infrastructure investing behemoth [00:00:00–00:16:19] Sadek has been investing in a category, infrastructure, that he calls “invsible until it’s missing.” He’s brought experience as an economist at The World Bank and running Morgan Stanley Infrastructure as CEO to bear as he has built out I Squared into a leading infrastructure investment firm. Some notable quotes from this chapter: “You open your tap water, you never think where the water comes from … So you take a lot of that for granted.” “For better or worse, it may say something about us being enormously boring, but the only thing we do is infrastructure.” “With the boom in AI, and the need for power and data centers … add another five-plus trillion dollars that will need to be invested in transmission lines, power generation, data centers, fiber optics and all sorts of infrastructure.” No free lunch: ownership, regulation, and the ghost of Flint [00:16:19–00:32:40] U.S. infrastructure has shifted from private ownership to overleveraged municipalities. Sadek breaks down what has gone wrong with different infrastructure investment models around the world by dissecting who owns an asset, who manages it, who regulates it, and why collapsing those three roles into one is exactly what happened in Flint, Michigan. Some notable quotes from this chapter: “I’m sorry to say, but there’s no free lunch. Whether it’s a public good or not, that public good requires inputs, produces an output, and someone has to pay for it.” “There are three things that matter when you think about infrastructure: the ownership of the asset, who manages it, and who regulates it. If the entity that owns, manages, and regulates it are the same, you have a problem.” “They managed it, they regulated it, and they owned it. So if I wanted to complain to the regulator … the manager is the regulator. But the real owner is the manager who’s also the regulator.” (Sadek on what happened in the Flint, Michigan water crisis). If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is [00:32:40–00:51:06] Sadek takes us inside I Squared’s investing playbook. He discusses why they walked away from a Norwegian gas deal promising 14-15% returns, and why regulatory risk is the hardest thing to underwrite. Sadek also shares where he believes value is created in the next decade. If it’s too good to be true, then it’s probably not true. And that, for me, is rule number one.” “How can you make a return of 14%, 15% on something which is a hundred percent regulated and where you take very little risk? That, to me, doesn’t exist.” “The adoption of AI technology is probably the single biggest opportunity we see in infrastructure over the coming years.” Fishing in a different pond: the mid-market and the democratization of infrastructure [00:51:06–01:07:19] Sadek explains how a firm that has a $15B fund to deploy still focuses on the “mid-market,” why banks have abandoned the $50-100M loan, and why individual investors can play a role in financing assets that they use every day. “Our funds could be $15B in size … people say, “You’re joking, right? That’s not mid-market” And the answer is, well, no, it is … because we invest globally.” “I hope the day comes where most airports in the US are not owned by funds, but they’re publicly listed. Instead of being owned by a municipality, you and I can buy the shares of that company.” “If regulators are not paid, they’re not incentivized to do a good job.” Onshoring, national security, and what drives Sadek [01:07:19–01:17:15] Sadek shares why private capital can help fill the gap for funding infrastructure needs as growing government debt makes it harder for governments to keep footing the bill. He also discusses the case for onshoring beyond politics and what motivates him. “Private capital will per force play a critical role if you want to maintain sustainable economic growth rates. If you want lower per capita income, if you want higher unemployment … then don’t have the private sector invest in it.” “I can think of two reasons [for onshoring] that have nothing to do with politics: national security, and supply chain issues." “What drives me is to be able to produce something that people find useful, that people use to better their lives. And if you can do that in any small way, I think that’s enormously rewarding.” Bio Dr. Sadek Wahba is Chairman and Managing Partner of I Square Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager based in Miami, Florida, with $60 billion in assets under management. He has worked at Morgan Stanley where he was the CEO of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, a global platform for infrastructure investment and as an economist at The World Bank. Sadek is an advocate for transformative approaches to infrastructure investment and a frequent commentator about the need for more investment in infrastructure to promote sustainable economic growth. He was a presidential appointment to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which advises the White House on reducing the physical and cyber risks and improving the security and resilience of critical infrastructure in the U.S. He was part of the expert committee on the World Economic Forum’s first report on global infrastructure investments and was named Global Infrastructure Personality of the Year twice, as well as Global Infrastructure Personality of the Decade, by Private Equity International (PEI). He frequently appears on Bloomberg, CNBC, Nasdaq, and other networks, including Op-eds in the Financial Times and other leading journals. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University, an M.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a B.A. in economics from the American University in Cairo. He is a published author on economic research and one of his publications was selected by MIT as one of their 50 most influential papers in the last 50 years His book Build: Investing in America’s Infrastructure published by Georgetown University Press published in 2024 is in its second printing. Sadek is a Senior Fellow at the Development Res...
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We went to Golub Capital ’s New York office to sit down with Co-CEO David Golub . David Golub and his brother Lawrence both started their careers in private equity. It was their experiences in private equity in the 1990s that turned them into private credit pioneers. Lawrence and David have built Golub Capital into a $95B private credit behemoth, largely due to their pioneering decision to create the “one-stop” unitranche loan solution for sponsor-backed companies after spotting a gap in the sponsor finance market. Fast forward over 30 years, and Golub Capital is one of the leaders in private credit. David discussed how Golub has spent the balance of its life as a scaled specialist credit manager “honing the competitive advantages” that make the firm so unique. Golub has built a cadre of 200 high-quality sponsor relationships with many of the industry’s top private equity firms, which call on them when they are seeking sponsor financing for their companies. David and I had a fascinating conversation that covered everything from the early days of private credit to the story of pioneering unitranche loans to what LPs should look for in GPs to the psychology of relationships and partnerships. We discussed: What David and Lawrence saw in the early days of private equity informed how they decided to build Golub. Why the unitranche loan became popular with private equity sponsors. What Golub looks for in relationships with private equity sponsors. Why focus has been a key driver of scaling Golub’s business. What LPs should ask GPs when evaluating their fund and firm. Why LPs should evaluate GPs based on how GPs think about their own business. The psychology of relationships and partnerships. How David’s experience being surrounded by a family of psychologists and psychiatrists has given him an edge in investing, negotiating, and building win-win relationships. Bio David Golub is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Golub Capital, a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and experienced private credit manager. As of April 1, 2026, Golub Capital had over $90 billion of capital under management, a gross measure of invested capital including leverage. Golub Capital partners with institutional investors and family offices, offering tailored solutions for investors’ credit asset strategies. The Firm specializes in delivering reliable, creative and compelling financing solutions to companies backed by private equity sponsors. Golub Capital has been a top 3 U.S. Middle Market Bookrunner each year from 2008 through Q1 2026 for senior secured loans of up to $500 million for leveraged buyouts. Golub Capital has been consistently recognized with industry awards, including Lender of the Year, Americas ( Private Debt Investor , 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) Lender of the Decade, Americas ( Private Debt Investor , 2023), Senior Lender of the Decade, Americas ( Private Debt Investor , 2023), Senior Lender of the Year, Americas ( Private Debt Investor , 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025) and BDC Manager of the Year, Americas ( Private Debt Investor , 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023). Mr. Golub is active in charitable and civic organizations. Mr. Golub is a member of the Founder’s Council of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, where he was the first board Chairman and a long-time director. Mr. Golub is Co-Founder and Chair of the Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellows Network, which operates at 20 leading business schools; its mission is to make nonprofit boards more effective by training hundreds of MBA students each year to become highly skilled nonprofit directors. Mr. Golub is a member of the Association of Marshall Scholars’ Director’s Circle and previously was a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. He has served on the boards of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association, the Hudson Guild and the World Policy Institute. Mr. Golub is on the board of directors of Burton Snowboards and has served on the boards of numerous public and private companies. Prior to joining Golub Capital in 2003, Mr. Golub was a Managing Director of Centre Partners, a leading middle market private equity firm, and of Corporate Partners, a Lazard-sponsored $1.5 billion private equity fund formed to acquire significant minority stakes in established companies. Mr. Golub earned his AB degree magna cum laude in Government from Harvard College. He received an MPhil in International Relations from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. Thanks, David, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private credit, the business of asset management, and the psychology of relationships. Show Notes 00:00 Introduction 01:23 A Message from Ultimus Fund Solutions, Our Sponsor 02:26 David’s Career Shift to Credit 06:07 Sponsor Finance Market Gap 10:56 Unitranche Origins 12:47 Crisis As Catalyst 14:25 Distressed Value Lens 16:21 What Makes A Good Business 19:39 Relationships And Game Theory 21:26 Capital Isn’t Proprietary 25:39 Being First Call 26:21 Managing Growth Carefully 27:29 Fundraising Versus Opportunity 28:08 Only The Paranoid Survive 29:17 Staying A Specialist 29:45 Capacity And Performance 32:47 Scale As Advantage 36:23 Raising Capital Follows Winners 37:12 Future PE Picks Few Lenders 37:52 Credit Partner as A Signal 38:37 Doing Homework on Sponsors 39:02 Big “n” Investing Mindset 39:16 Risk Real vs Perceived 41:30 Press Noise and Redemptions 42:22 Darwinian Moment Ahead 42:54 Why Terms Improve Next 44:42 Portfolio Stress Reality Check 47:51 Junior Debt Trouble Spot 48:10 Underwriting the Manager 51:06 Ask the Why 52:00 What Keeps You Up at Night 54:13 Culture of Constructive Doubt 54:57 Testing Analytical Thinking 55:53 Building the Wealth Channel 56:45 Early Days Wealth Fundraising 58:11 Diversifying the Investor Base 01:00:45 Decades Mindset and Focus 01:01:35 Specialization and Infrastructure 01:02:39 More of the Same 01:03:21 Adjacencies Like GP Secondaries 01:03:42 Continuation Vehicles Rationale 01:05:22 Psychology and Relationships 01:06:48 Problem Solving Builds Trust 01:07:51 Authenticity Over Tactics 01:09:23 Closing Reflections A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their busin...
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Today’s podcast takes us to the heart of New York City to talk with James Li , the President and Partner of Davidson Kempner , a firm that was an early participant in the merger arbitrage, distressed debt, and opportunistic credit industries. Davidson Kempner’s heritage lies in cutting through complexity to find value. Founded in 1983, Davidson Kempner’s origins began in merger arbitrage, distressed debt, and opportunistic credit. The firm, which now has around 1,800 clients, began accepting outside capital in 1987 and has since built out its investment platform to include convertible arbitrage, long / short equities, asset-based lending, and real estate strategies. Davidson Kempner has since grown to almost $40B in AUM across public and private markets strategies. The firm has a penchant for navigating complex situations across public and private markets to opportunistically uncover value, noting that “ no situation is too complex for [them] .” James unpacked how the firm’s family office DNA has evolved across three generations of leadership into a scaled investment platform across public and private markets to inform the firm’s relative value investing perspective. James and I had a fascinating conversation on a number of pressing topics at the intersection of public and private markets. We covered: How do public market feedback loops inform private market investments? How post-GFC growth in private equity has created “indigestion” in the system. What the current state of private equity means for capital solutions opportunities. Why distressed and opportunistic credit can be countercyclical. What it means to be a relative value investor and how Davidson Kempner navigates different sectors, markets, geographies, and asset classes. What deglobalization means for investing in private markets. Why are allocators shifting toward absolute return strategies? How Davidson Kempner’s family office DNA has informed how they approach working with the wealth channel. Bio James Li is the President and a Partner at Davidson Kempner. Mr. Li also co-manages the Client Partnerships & Business Development department and oversees the Firm’s Capital Markets, Strategy and Treasury Teams. He joined the Firm in 2018 and is based in the New York office. Before joining Davidson Kempner, Mr. Li was a Managing Director in the Client Relationship Management and Strategy Group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Li received a B.S. from Columbia University. Thanks, James, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about public and private markets and your approach to investing in complex situations. Show Notes 00:00 Live From Davidson Kempner’s Office in NYC 01:36 A Message from Ultimus Fund Solutions 02:37 Introduction to James Li 03:36 Career Roots At Goldman 05:16 Discovering Davidson Kempner 06:13 Three Generations Of Leadership 06:42 Family Office DNA 08:23 Investing In Complexity 10:44 Where Complexity Pays 12:20 Liquid Versus Private Feedback 13:37 Macro Shifts And Deglobalization 16:01 Finding Edge In Less Crowded Markets 17:28 Private Capital Indigestion 18:47 Capital Solutions Playbook 20:48 Building Operating Capabilities 25:59 Allocator Shift In Credit 31:26 Hedge Funds Return 32:12 Post GFC Lessons 32:48 Fees Volatility Gating 33:13 Evergreen Vehicle Design 34:04 Liquidity Over Leverage 34:15 Leverage Risk Explained 35:14 Semi Liquid Marking Issues 35:36 Flows Back To Hedge Funds 36:26 Wealth Channel Education 37:14 Merger Arb Basics 38:34 Global Credit Toolkit 39:18 Portfolio Velocity Risk 40:58 Investment-Led Ownership 43:43 Scale Competition Edge 44:28 Restructuring Repayment Focus 45:43 Building Wealth Business 54:07 Firm Vision And DNA A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com . We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant .
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We were live from iCapital Connect’s conference in Phoenix, where we sat down with some of the industry’s leaders across asset management and wealth management. We spoke with Ava Mallin , Managing Director, US Private Wealth Solutions at Ardian . Ava brings a distinctive approach to how she works with the wealth channel. She emphasized that asset managers should treat capital as a client’s legacy rather than “just dollars.” Speaking of legacy, Ardian is a firm with a rich legacy. The firm was born in 1996, when AXA’s Chairman, Claude Bébéar, chairman of AXA, asked Dominique Senequier to create a private equity arm for the insurer. And so AXA Private Equity was born. The firm’s first fund launched with a $100M French Buyout fund and two external clients. Today, Ardian stands tall as a giant in private markets, spanning asset classes and managing over $200B AUM. As a firm that provides investment solutions and customized strategies, Ardian thinks deeply about the breadth and depth of its relationships with LPs. Ava brings this perspective to bear in the wealth channel, which was evident in our conversation. Ava shared how she brings a uniquely human perspective to fundraising and partnering with the wealth channel. She believes managing money is managing emotion, which is critical for GPs to understand how wealth advisors manage their relationships with clients. We had a fascinating conversation, covering: The importance of understanding the human and emotional side that it takes to build enduring partnerships with LPs. Why US LPs have a growing interest in diversification and want exposure to Europe. Why secondaries is a partnership business with LPs and GPs. The importance of educating the wealth channel on private markets. Why Ardian prefers the term “evergreen” over “semi-liquid.” Why GPs should work with the wealth channel only if they have true commitment to the channel and top-down support from senior leadership. Bio Ava Mallin joined Ardian in 2022. She is responsible for Private Wealth relationships in the US. Prior to joining Ardian, she spent seven years at Carlyle in their Private Wealth group. She is based in New York. Thanks, Ava, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion for how you approach working with the wealth channel and your focus on EQ as part of building relationships with advisors that enable them to treat their clients' capital as legacy. Show Notes 00:00 Live From iCapital Connect 00:23 A Message From Ultimus Fund Solutions 01:21 Meet Ardian’s Ava Mallin 01:48 Money And Emotion 03:11 Ardian Culture And Fit 03:45 Secondaries Partnership Model 04:45 Building US Wealth Business 05:59 Evergreen Liquidity Mindset 07:26 Educating Advisors And Clients 09:02 Brand And Leadership Support 10:13 Authenticity In Sales 11:28 Listening And Curiosity 12:29 Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should 13:31 Getting Firmwide Buy In 14:11 Wealth Channel Challenges 14:47 Closing Thoughts A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com . We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant .
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We were live from AGM’s RIA Field Trip at Franklin Templeton ’s New York office in Madison Square Park with Franklin Templeton’s Head of Private Markets - Americas Wealth Management Dave Donahoo to discuss the nuances of serving the wealth channel. Dave brings the perspective of someone who has seen the wealth channel handle multiple market cycles and an understanding of both traditional and alternative asset management, while always keeping the outcome for the end investor in mind. Dave started his career in the depths of the 2008 financial crisis at T. Rowe Price, where he worked with individual investors. He rose up the ranks of T. Rowe Price and then joined Blackstone as a Principal in the firm’s Private Wealth Solutions business before moving to Franklin Templeton as Head of Private Markets - Americas Wealth Management. Unpacking nuances in private markets, Dave discussed why he believes a “family of specialists” with a “narrow scope” is critical for a private markets investment platform and how a traditional asset manager can approach building brand in private markets. We had a fascinating discussion, covering: How Dave’s background starting his career working with individual investors has informed how he approaches creating solutions for the wealth channel. Why LPs want to do more with fewer partners and what this means for GPs. Specialists vs. generalists. Why RIAs have “cold call fatigue.” What RIAs want from a product perspective and why differentiation, trust, and proactive client service are top of the list. How asset managers can approach brand-building. The product innovation roadmap and what the path to 401(k) and DC products might look like. Thanks, Dave, for sharing a fascinating window into the wealth channel and for your passion, expertise, and dedication to providing private markets solutions to the wealth channel. Show Notes 00:04 Live from Franklin Templeton RIA Field Trip 00:07 Meet Dave Donahoo 02:31 Lehman Day One Story 03:15 Thrown Into the Phone Queues 03:37 Teacher Call and Investor Fear 04:53 Start With the End Client 05:26 From T Rowe to Blackstone 05:53 Blackstone Wealth Playbook 07:18 Why Franklin Was the Fit 08:09 Traditional Manager Advantages 09:09 Platform Synergies in Wealth 10:16 Challenges of Going Private 10:36 Brand Transformation Story 11:44 Internal Alignment and Change 12:16 What the Brand Should Signal 12:50 Specialist Managers Philosophy 13:44 Building Perpetuals the Right Way 14:13 Defining the Right Structure 15:44 Evergreen Structure Depends 16:09 Secondaries Structure Choice 18:10 Infrastructure Partnership Model 20:02 Preserving Investment Cultures 21:50 Data and AI Cross Collaboration 24:17 Macro Insights Across Platforms 25:47 Product Innovation Roadmap 27:06 Private Markets in 401k Plans 27:53 What Model Portfolios Mean 29:06 What RIAs Want Most 30:21 Client Service and Honesty A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com . We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant .
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Today’s podcast takes us to the heart of London, where we sat down with Maggie Fanari , the CEO of J Rothschild Capital Management Limited, manager of RIT Capital Partners plc . RIT blends a rich heritage with a modern approach to both asset allocation and private markets. Lord Jacob Rothschild founded Rothschild Investment Trust in 1971. RIT listed on the London Stock Exchange with total assets of £280M. Today, the firm stands tall as one of the UK’s largest investment trusts with over £4.7B of total assets. The firm’s permanent capital and family office heritage have enabled the firm to think long-term, according to Maggie. “Permanent capital is a privilege,” she said. Maggie has brought an institutional allocator’s background to RIT. She joined as CEO of RIT from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in 2024, where she was Senior Managing Director, Global Group Head of High Conviction Equities at OTPP, which has a global mandate to invest in public and private companies. Maggie and I had a fascinating discussion about how the firm invests across public and private markets, balancing both top-down portfolio construction and bottom-up asset selection. We covered: How RIT has aimed to compound wealth over time. Why top-down portfolio construction and bottom-up asset allocation are equally important. How can investors capture as much growth, limit market volatility, and compound growth over a long period of time? How RIT finds unique and different managers in private markets, which includes some of the top investors in the world. What market structure changes mean for investing across public and private markets? How to invest when the world order has changed. Taking a family office mindset and applying that investment mindset for investors in RIT. Why permanent capital is a privilege. How to be early to a theme rather than chase the trend. Why RIT decided to invest in SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, and Epic Systems. Where do investors bucket RIT into their asset allocation? What is a manager’s edge and how can they apply that edge with consistency? Why depth of network matters for private markets managers. Why RIT invested in firms like Thrive, Greenoaks, and Ribbit. Bio Maggie Fanari is the CEO of J. Rothschild Capital Management Limited (JRCM) , investment manager for RIT Capital Partners plc . She is Chair of JRCM’s Investment Committee. Maggie was previously Senior Managing Director, Global Group Head of High Conviction Equities at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which has a global mandate to invest in public and private companies. At Ontario Teachers’, she served as a member of many of the pension plan’s investment committees. She was involved in the execution of investments across a variety of asset classes (private and public), including supporting the development and execution of the venture and growth business. Before joining Ontario Teachers’, Maggie worked at KPMG and Scotia Capital. Maggie is a chartered accountant and a CFA charter holder. She also holds a BBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University and ICD.D certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Maggie served as a non-executive director on the Board of RIT Capital Partners plc from April 2019 to February 2024. Thanks, Maggie, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion across public and private markets and your thoughtful perspectives from your experiences as an institutional investor. This podcast was recorded on 15 June 2026, and therefore all RIT data is provided as at 31/05/2026. Show Notes 00:42 Meet Maggie Fanari 03:44 Teachers’ Pension Roots 04:51 Top Down Meets Bottom Up 05:50 Allocating In New Paradigm 06:15 Diversification Returns 07:02 Volatility Creates Opportunity 07:22 What Makes RIT Unique 08:08 Compounding With Downside 09:41 Brand Opens Doors 10:05 Backing Emerging Managers 11:57 Co-Invest Importance 12:36 Returns And Realizations 13:22 Great Co-Investor Playbook 15:02 Building AI Theme Exposure 16:06 Sourcing Deals Like SpaceX 16:37 Public Private Value Split 20:09 Public Themes And Sovereignty 20:58 Moats And Terminal Value 24:06 Permanent Capital Edge 25:07 Oversubscribed Fund Access 26:46 Underwriting And Discipline 27:17 Why AI Needs Capital 27:49 Anthropic Growth Math 28:15 Databricks Scale Comparison 28:41 Can Funds Get Bigger 30:22 FOMO And Chasing 30:47 Portfolio Allocation Guardrails 31:47 Permanent Capital Advantage 32:13 Right Sized Private Exposure 32:51 Liquidity And Realizations 33:28 Owning Winners At Scale 34:11 Private To Public Hold 34:41 Re Underwriting Post IPO 35:38 Retail Investor Impact 36:20 Public Market Liquidity Needs 37:57 Why Investment Trusts Work 38:56 Discounts As Margin Safety 40:08 How Shareholders Allocate 41:03 Sentiment Shifts In Cycles 42:02 What Makes Great Managers 43:14 Manager Edge Examples 45:02 AI And Finding Leaders 46:56 Consolidation And Differentiation 47:51 Being A Great LP Partner 48:50 Macro Lens As Edge 49:42 Private Signals Inform Public 50:48 Culture One Team One NAV 51:28 Risk And Scenario Analysis 52:59 Multipolar World Investing 54:14 Geopolitics In Diligence 55:10 Permanent Capital Best Of Both A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus , the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands. That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals. Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com . We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We sat down with Mike Trihy , Head of Portfolio Management for the Venture Growth Evergreen strategy at Wellington Management . We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin. With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers. Wellington Management has a rich heritage as an independently owned asset manager. The firm, which has taken a research-driven approach and long-term thinking to active management in public markets and, increasingly, in private markets, is nearing its 100-year anniversary. Wellington has grown to over $1.3T in AUM and is the largest sub-advisor in the world. Mike joined from Bow River Capital to run Wellington’s Venture Growth Evergreen strategy, which will focus on direct growth and venture investments, secondaries, and select fund investments. Mike brings deep expertise in the evergreen fund management space, co-founding and scaling Bow River’s evergreen private markets platform and working as a portfolio manager at evergreen pioneer Partners Group. Mike and I had a fascinating discussion about the current state of evergreen funds and the venture and growth investing market. We covered: The evolution of evergreen private markets funds. The convergence of public and private investing. Lessons learned from building and managing evergreen funds at Partners Group and Bow River. The importance of portfolio construction, liquidity planning, and evergreen fund operations. Which firms are well-positioned to run and manage evergreen funds? Partnerships in asset management. How the market may shake out and why structure must match the asset, the client, and the liquidity terms. LP composition, evergreens vs. drawdowns across wealth and institutions, and the role of partnerships. What the potential wave of mega IPOs could mean for DPI, exits, and private market fundraising. Bio As lead portfolio manager for the Venture Growth Evergreen (“VGE”) strategy, Mike is responsible for overall portfolio construction and allocation of capital across direct growth and venture investments, secondaries, and select fund investments. He also oversees risk management, liquidity management, and cash flow forecasting for the evergreen fund. Prior to joining Wellington Management in 2025 Mike was a portfolio manager at Bow River Capital, where he co-founded and scaled their evergreen private markets platform while overseeing the fund’s investment activity across multiple private markets asset classes. Prior to Bow River, he was a portfolio manager at Partners Group where he was responsible for portfolio construction and asset allocation for evergreen products and custom separate account mandates. He started his investment career at wealth-focused listed private equity firm Red Rocks Capital. Mike graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in finance, and he is a CFA and CAIA charterholder. Thanks, Mike, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and perspectives on private markets and evergreen funds. Show Notes 00:00 Live from SuperReturn Berlin 00:12 Meet Mike Trihy 02:06 Defining the Perfect Evergreen 02:27 Evergreen vs Drawdown DNA 02:42 Deal Flow Isn’t Everything 03:01 Portfolio Construction Focus 03:20 Cashflow Planning Mindset 03:33 Operations and Valuations 03:47 Sales and Flow Forecasting 04:03 Regulation and Complexity 04:11 Fiduciary Growth Discipline 04:46 Do Firms Have the Toolkit 05:20 Scale vs Boutique Nuances 05:42 When Bottom Up Fails 06:18 The Deal Flow Constraint 06:44 Should There Be More 07:00 Shakeout and Quality Wins 08:07 No One Best Wrapper 08:28 Matching Assets and Clients 09:43 LP Mix and Herding Risk 11:34 Evergreens Future in Wealth 13:21 Public Markets DNA Advantage 14:56 Partnerships and Mega IPOs 17:07 Private Markets Stay Private 18:52 DPI and Exit Wave Impact 20:17 Public vs Private Valuations 22:21 What Happens Faster Slower 24:08 Closing
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We sat down with Anthony Maniscalco , the Managing Partner and Business Head of Investcorp Strategic Capital Group (ISCG). We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin. With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers. Investcorp has been a pioneer in private equity. Since its founding in 1982, the firm has grown from a “ boutique Gulf firm ” into a global and diversified alternative asset manager. Investcorp launched its Strategic Capital Group (SCG) (GP stakes) business long after its founding in 1982. But the firm brought in a pioneer to launch and build SCG into a leading GP stakes firm, which now has over $2.2B of AUM. Anthony has been involved in GP stakes from the industry’s early days. He was a founding member of Blackstone Strategic Capital Holdings, a $3.3B private, permanent capital vehicle focused on acquiring minority interests in alternative asset manager GPs. He was also a Managing Director of the Hedge Fund Solutions business at The Blackstone Group. Prior to joining Investcorp, Anthony was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Credit Suisse Anteil Capital Partners. Launched in 2019, Investcorp’s SCG acquires minority interests in alternative asset managers, particularly GPs that manage longer-duration private capital strategies. SCG has completed 12 investments since inception. Anthony and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of GP stakes and the benefits of GP stakes for investors. We covered: Why have stakes shifted from hedge funds to alternative asset managers? Why the features of the alternative asset management business model (contracted management fees, locked-up capital, less key-person risk) can make for a good GP stake investment. Why a GP would sell an equity stake in its firm to finance its growth. Unpacking the middle-market GP landscape and where middle-market GPs need help growing their firm. The evolution from fund to firm and what’s next for GP stakes. Bio Anthony Maniscalco is the Managing Partner and Business Head of Investcorp Strategic Capital Group (ISCG), based in New York. ISCG is focused on providing capital solutions to the GPs of mid-sized private market alternative asset managers. ISCG closed its inaugural fund in the Spring of 2022 and currently manages over $2.2 billion of AUM. In his current role, Mr. Maniscalco is focused on managing the overall business, sourcing new investment opportunities, advising portfolio GPs and is the chairperson of the Investment Committee. Prior to his current role, Mr. Maniscalco was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Credit Suisse Anteil Capital Partners. Prior to this, he was Managing Director of the Hedge Fund Solutions business at The Blackstone Group. At Blackstone, he was a founding member and on the investment committee of Blackstone Strategic Capital Holdings, a USD 3.3 billion private, permanent capital vehicle focused on acquiring minority interests in alternative asset manager GPs. Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Maniscalco was Head of Alternative Asset Management Banking at Barclays (and its predecessor Lehman Brothers) within its Financial Institutions Group. Prior to this role, Mr. Maniscalco was head of the Media and Telecom vertical within Lehman Brothers’ Leveraged Finance Group. Early in his career, he worked at Bank of America and its predecessor Continental Bank in Chicago, focused on high-yield, mezzanine, syndicated bank loans, and interim financing products. Anthony holds a B.S. from Indiana University (2026 College Football National Champions!) and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. Thanks, Anthony, for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion about GP stakes and the business of alternative asset management. Show Notes 00:00 Live From Berlin 00:15 Meet Anthony Maniscalco 02:56 Early Staking Was Hedge Funds 03:05 Banks And Prime Brokerage 03:40 Private Equity Hits A Wall 03:53 Shift To Private Equity Stakes 04:30 Why Stakes Are Attractive 04:54 Locked In Fee Streams 05:31 Carry And Diversification 06:06 How LPs Classify Stakes 06:59 Three Allocation Buckets 07:55 Strategic Access Flywheel 09:05 Tougher Fundraising Today 09:19 Why Middle Market 09:05 Fundraising Help For GPs 10:55 Underwriting Growth Readiness 12:15 Primary Capital Use Of Proceeds 12:49 Why Equity Is Worth It 14:46 Talent Retention And Next Gen 15:46 Wealth Channel Fit 18:23 Portfolio Construction Framework 19:36 Why Venture Is Harder 23:23 From Fund To Firm 24:34 Liquidity And Exit Paths 27:35 Prefs, Debt, And New Solutions 38:41 Continuation Vehicles Flywheel 41:02 Closing Thoughts
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We sat down with Jake Elmhirst , Partner, Head of Private Wealth Secondaries Solutions and Head of Capital Formation at Coller Capital . We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin. With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers. Coller Capital has been a pioneer in the rapidly growing secondaries market. Coller’s tagline? “First in secondaries.” Coller might be “first in secondaries.” The industry they focus on has moved to the forefront of private markets. Secondaries are coming in first for many LPs, in part because secondaries are now an active portfolio management solution for LPs (LP-led secondaries) and a way for LPs and GPs to continue to invest in the growth and value appreciation of some of their funds’ best assets (GP-led secondaries). The firm completed its first secondaries transaction in 1990 and its first GP-led investment in 1996. Today, Coller has $55B in AUM (as of 3/31/26). Jake joined Coller after a long career at UBS, where he partnered with Coller from a few different vantage points co-founding and co-leading the Private Funds Group within UBS Investment Bank and leading the Private Markets effort within UBS Global Wealth Management. His perspective on Coller was very much a reason why he decided to leave his farm in Yorkshire (as a 23rd generation farmer!) to join Coller as they build out their wealth efforts. Jake and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of secondaries and how they are increasingly “solutions” for LPs and GPs. We covered: Jake’s experience witnessing the rise of the early days of private markets and how that’s shaped how he thinks about secondaries today. Why secondaries are becoming “solutions” for LPs and GPs. Why secondaries can be a core portfolio holding. The features of secondaries. The drivers of the increase in LP-led sales. Why have GP-led continuation vehicles become a popular solution? Why secondaries make sense for private wealth investors. Bio Jake is a Partner and Head of Private Wealth Secondaries Solutions and Head of Capital Formation. He is based in the firm’s London office. Prior to joining Coller Capital in April 2022, Jake spent 25 years at UBS where he led the Private Markets effort within UBS Global Wealth Management, based in London. Prior to that, Jake co-founded and co-led the Private Funds Group within UBS Investment Bank, based in New York. He previously worked at Freshfields in London, where he qualified as a solicitor working in the Tax Team with a focus on collective investment schemes. Jake has a degree in Law (LLB) from the University of Bristol. Jake Elmhirst is a registered representative of Parallel Distributors LLC. Thanks, Jake, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion in private markets, private wealth, and secondaries. Show Notes 00:00 Live in Berlin Intro 00:39 Jake Elmhirst’s Career Journey 02:08 Wealth Channel Lessons 05:06 Farming Roots Detour 07:34 Secondaries Liquidity Fix 09:26 Continuation Vehicles Impact 11:21 Wealth Channel and Scale 13:21 Why Secondaries Work 15:15 Core Holding for Wealth 16:31 Discount Versus Quality 18:43 Underwriting in CV Era 20:56 Evergreen Portfolio Mix 21:56 Future of Solutions 23:02 Toolbox Expansion Ideas 24:55 Why Scale Matters 25:53 Discount Nuance Explained 27:30 Active Portfolio Management 28:45 Closing Thoughts
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We sat down with Kyle Kniffen , Managing Director, Global Head of Alternatives, Third Party Wealth at Goldman Sachs . We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin. With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers. A little over two years ago, I wrote on AGM about how, at $456B in AUM in alternatives, Goldman Sachs was a “sleeping giant” in private markets. In reality, Goldman is anything but a sleeping giant in private markets, having started its private equity business in 1984 and earning the distinction of being a top-5 alternatives manager by AUM across both traditional and alternative asset managers. Today, Goldman has grown its alternatives business to over $625B in AUM. The firm has expanded its platform with the acquisition of Industry Ventures and a partnership with T. Rowe Price to deliver public and private markets solutions to the wealth channel, and, most recently, the creation of its Alternative Investment Platform to provide HNW clients with direct access to private companies. The evolution of Goldman’s Alternatives business reflects a thoughtful, measured approach to understanding the needs of wealth channel investors and finding the utility and purpose of strategy, product, and product structure. That was much of the focus of the conversation Kyle and I had in Berlin. We discussed the objective and utility of private markets in a portfolio. We covered: The growth of evergreen funds. Why evergreens are the product structure of choice. Why are evergreens also appealing to institutional allocators, insurance companies, and UHNW investors? How GPs and LPs are approaching LP composition to evergreen vehicles. The next wave of product innovation. The build, buy, partner framework Why Goldman is so excited about the GeoWealth partnership and what the future of model portfolios look like. What is not known but should be known about the Goldman Alternatives franchise. Bio Kyle Kniffen is a managing director in the Client Solutions Group within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He serves as global head of Alternatives for Third Party Wealth (TPW), overseeing client strategy for the firm’s TPW clients globally, delivering the power of the Alternatives investing platform to a broad set of individual investors through our partnerships with financial intermediary clients and their advisors, including Private Banks, Broker-Dealers, RIAs and other distribution platforms. Kyle partners closely with leadership across our Alternatives franchise to develop products that meet our clients’ evolving needs. He is also co-chair of the AWM Global Distribution Working Group. Prior to this role, Kyle was in Alternative Capital Markets (ACM), serving as head of ACM for Goldman Sachs Ayco and leading coverage for One Goldman Sachs financial sponsors globally. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2018 as a vice president in ACM and was named managing director in 2021. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Kyle led a variety of distribution and product management teams for Bank of America’s Alternative Investment Group within their Global Wealth and Investment Management division. Kyle is a board member for the Institute of Portfolio Alternatives (IPA), and a member of The Economic Club of New York. Kyle earned a BA from Gettysburg College. Thanks, Kyle, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets and serving the wealth channel. Show Notes 00:00 AGM Live from SuperReturn Berlin 00:22 Meet Kyle Kniffin 01:10 Wealth Meets Private Markets 01:37 Big Pools Little Allocation 02:24 Alt Strategies Explosion 03:04 Lessons from Hedge Funds 03:34 Start with Client Goals 03:53 Risk Liquidity Tradeoffs 04:10 Portfolio Utility First 04:25 Holistic Private Markets 04:44 Fit and Terms Matter 05:07 Setting Expectations 05:32 Product Innovation Shift 05:52 Evergreens and Flexibility 06:10 Monthly Access and Tactics 06:39 Evergreen Growth Rates 06:45 Education and Dispersion 07:15 Why Evergreens Exist 07:41 Diversification Lower Minimums 08:04 Operational Simplicity 08:21 Evergreen Nuance Phase One 08:47 Goldman in Third Party Wealth 09:26 Institutions Buying Evergreens 10:31 LP Mix and Liquidity Caps 11:36 Institutionalizing Wealth Platforms 13:29 Goldman Platform Advantage 14:46 Feeding the Evergreen Engine 15:13 GeoWealth and Model Portfolios 15:45 T Rowe Price Collaboration 16:12 Build vs Buy Partner Balance 16:42 Industry Ventures Acquisition 17:33 Goldman Alts Heritage 18:35 Pioneering GP Stakes 19:45 Secondaries Since 1998 20:12 Apex of Private Markets 21:08 Will Secondaries Be Core 21:48 Max Flexibility for Wealth 22:42 Customization vs Scale 23:16 Flagships Then Bespoke 23:49 Lessons from Private Wealth 25:10 Broader Menu of Privates 25:34 Closing Thoughts
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We sat down with Paul Desmarais III , the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Sagard , the fast-growing $46B global multi-strategy alternative asset manager. We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin. With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers. Sagard combines a rich history and heritage of building asset management businesses with a modern approach to building a global alternative asset manager. Paul’s deep understanding of the industry comes from being part of a family of multiple generations of asset management pioneers in Canada who have built some of the industry’s largest financial services businesses. Paul is the “next first generation” of asset management pioneers to come out of the Desmarais family. He started Sagard with $400M in seed capital in 2016 and, in ten short years, has grown the platform into a global multi-strategy alternative asset manager with over $46B. Sagard’s mission to empower founders by being a business that builds businesses shines through in the approach Paul and the team have taken in building Sagard. The firm has incubated, built, and acquired asset management talent and firms to scale across strategy and geography into the global platform that it is today. Paul and I had a fascinating conversation about the business of asset management and why Sagard exists to serve entrepreneurs around the world. We covered: Sagard’s entrepreneurial DNA. What does it mean to build a business that builds businesses? Being the “next first generation.” How Sagard approaches the buy, build, partner framework of asset management businesses. How Sagard has expanded its platform across asset classes and strategies. How to build a global, multi-strategy asset management brand. Why specialization matters in asset management. How to approach the wealth channel. The decentralized pod shop model. The future of private markets. Bio Paul Desmarais III is the Chairman and CEO of Sagard , an alternative asset management firm active in venture capital, private equity, credit, and real estate. Paul has led Sagard since 2016, along with a handful of close partners bound by a common vision: partnering with entrepreneurs to catalyze transformation in our investments and communities. Sagard has experienced outstanding growth, with assets under management increasing to over $46B. Under Paul, Sagard has built a global network of expertise that helps companies lead, embrace, and stay ahead of disruptive trends, expanding activity in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Paul engages actively in growing Sagard companies. Within the Sagard ecosystem, Paul is the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Portage (fintech & financial services investing) and the Chairman and Co-Founder of Diagram (venture builder). Within the investment portfolios, he is the Chairman of Wealthsimple, Novisto, and Sagard Wealth, and a director of Nesto and Midas. Paul also sits on the board of Empower, the number two 401(k) business in the U.S. Show Notes 00:00 Live From SuperReturn 00:10 Meet Paul Desmarais III 01:06 Family Business Roots 01:23 G1 Entrepreneur Mindset 01:35 Launching Sagard 2016 01:51 Generational Reinvention 02:02 Early Spark To Build 03:40 Learning From Mistakes 04:33 By Entrepreneurs For Entrepreneurs 04:45 Sagard Origin Story 04:58 Power Corp Alternatives Gap 05:43 Starting With Credit 06:10 Serving Beyond The Family 06:46 Alignment With Family Capital 07:19 Customer First Performance 07:44 Team Money Invested 07:53 Generational Time Horizon 08:47 Patience Builds Partnerships 09:22 Innovation In The DNA 09:39 Regional To Global Champions 09:53 Why Reinvention Matters 10:26 Platform Strategy Mix 11:02 Pillars Of The Firm 11:25 Fintech Ecosystem Flywheel 11:35 Building The Competitive Moat 12:07 Emerging Managers Advantage 12:41 Synergies At Scale 13:08 Designing Collaboration 13:47 Incentives And Shared Carry 15:07 Values Drive Culture 23:25 Legacy And Entrepreneur Impact 24:39 Closing Thanks
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We sat down with Brookfield Private Equity CEO Anuj Ranjan . We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin. With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers. Brookfield has a rich legacy as an asset owner and operator of some of the “ businesses that drive the global economy .” Brookfield is a firm where skin in the game (~25% of every fund includes an investment from Brookfield’s balance sheet) meets scale and synergies across its investment platform, which spans private equity, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and energy. Now, they are looking to own what’s next . What will the next era of private equity require? A different approach, according to Brookfield Private Equity CEO Anuj Ranjan. The conversation that Anuj and I had in the Tiny Space cabin covered big themes. Brookfield is investing in the megatrends that are driving the world’s economy across its platform, from digitalization to decarbonization to deglobalization. The firm’s focus on industrials in its private equity business makes it well equipped to invest in essential companies, as Brookfield aptly describes their investment focus as “own[ing] the boring that makes exciting possible.” Anuj and I had a fascinating conversation about the current state of private equity and what it will take to drive value in a new era for the industry where “ 12 is the new 5. ” We covered: Brookfield’s history as an owner-operator. How the firm’s long-term perspective informs its investments in and ownership of private equity-backed companies. Anuj’s experience investing in India was an exercise in patience. Why is today the era of “roll up your sleeves private equity?” How Brookfield is approaching value creation in industrial companies. Where Brookfield believes it can leverage AI to create post-deal operational value. Why Brookfield partnered with OpenAI to create DeployCo in order to scale enterprise AI deployment. Where are we in the adoption curve of physical AI and robotics? Bio Anuj Ranjan is Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield’s Private Equity Group and Brookfield Business Corporation. In this role, Mr. Ranjan is responsible for the investments, operations, and expansion of the Private Equity business, in addition to managing Brookfield’s external strategic partnerships. He is a member of Brookfield’s Executive Committee. Mr. Ranjan joined Brookfield in 2006 and has held various positions within the company and its affiliates. He established and previously led Brookfield’s India and Middle East operations. Mr. Ranjan holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Ivey Business School at Western University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alberta. Thanks, Anuj, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets and how to create value through operating companies better. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to SuperReturn 00:07 Meet Anuj Ranjan 00:55 From Software to Finance 02:03 Building India and Mideast 02:48 India Deal Frenzy 03:17 Five Years of Patience 03:22 Learning Before Buying 03:28 First True Buyouts 04:06 Profits and Team Growth 04:16 Taking Model Global 04:32 Growth Amid Headwinds 04:58 Roll Up Sleeves Private Equity Era 05:06 Operational Value Creation 05:12 Brookfield Platform DNA 05:33 Balance Sheet Advantage 05:54 Long-Term Investing 06:12 Patience Gets Rewarded 07:14 Testing Tech on Balance Sheet 07:32 Owning What’s Next 07:41 AI Needs Hard Assets 07:58 Brookfield at the Center 09:09 One Firm Collaboration 09:51 Platform Informs Deals 11:27 Westinghouse Nuclear Bet 15:19 Picking the Right Carve Outs 16:34 Pricing Power Example 17:51 From Five to Twelve 18:59 Why Carve Outs Win Now 20:05 AI for Industrial Ops 20:53 Data Before AI 22:12 Predictive Maintenance Story 23:31 Physical AI and Robotics 24:52 Digitizing the Physical World 25:33 Humanoid Robotics Timeline 26:28 Deploying AI at Scale 26:56 Execution Beats Innovation 27:52 Best AI Investment Thesis 28:00 Buying Boring Businesses 28:52 AI Ready Leadership Team 29:30 Hiring Real Tech Leaders 30:00 Blockbuster vs Netflix 30:43 Closing Reflections
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We sat down with Vista Equity Partners ’ Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Flagship Fund, Monti Saroya . We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin. With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers. Vista Equity Partners has been a pioneer in enterprise software investing. They have been at the forefront of every major technology platform shift, whether it was on-prem to cloud, the adoption of enterprise software, and now the agentification of the enterprise with AI. The $103B AUM scaled specialist software investor has dedicated its efforts to building “mission critical” enterprise software companies that organizations can’t live without. Monti has had a front-row seat in building and developing both infrastructure and software that the technology industry can’t live without. He brings to bear the perspective of someone who lived through the early days of the internet from his time at Cisco Systems and Siebel Systems. Through this lens, and drawing on his experience investing in enterprise software companies since joining Vista in 2008, Monti is able to make sense of where, how, and why AI will be adopted within the enterprise, and what it means for both operators and investors. This conversation with Monti was one of the most illuminating conversations I’ve had on AI recently. He pieced together so much of what is happening in AI today, covering: The different layers of AI adoption. Why “harness” companies can be valuable. Where AI agents are having the most impact on a business. Why open source is the next wave of the AI buildout. The Linux lesson for AI. Why Monti is so excited about the firm’s investment in SambaNova. Do “harness” companies have a moat? Why the moats for many AI companies might surprise you. Why sovereign AI is the next big thing. Bio Monti Saroya joined Vista Equity Partners in 2008 and is Co-Head of the Vista Flagship Fund and sits on its Investment Committee. Additionally, Monti serves as a member of Vista’s Executive Committee, the firm’s governing and decision- making body for matters affecting its overall management and strategic direction, and Vista’s Private Equity Management Committee, the firm’s decision-making body for matters affecting Vista’s overall private equity platform. Monti is also the Co-Chief Executive Officer of VistaOne, Vista’s evergreen private equity vehicle, and serves on the Investment Committee. Monti helps lead Vista’s artificial intelligence initiatives, driving the firm’s approach to AI adoption through strategic partnerships and the deployment of AI-enabled infrastructure and capabilities across the platform and portfolio ecosystem. He currently sits on the boards of Acumatica, Allvue Systems, Avalara, Cloud Software Group, Duck Creek, Finastra, Infoblox, Playlist, Smartsheet, Solera, among others. Monti was actively involved in the firm’s investments in Apptio, Cvent (NASDAQ: CVT), Datto (formerly NYSE: MSP), Marketo, PowerSchool (formerly NYSE: PWSC), SumTotal, The ACTIVENetwork, and Transfirst, among others. Prior to Vista, Monti worked as a Senior Research Analyst for JMP Securities, where he provided research for buy-side clients on public on-demand (SaaS) companies. Monti previously worked as an Associate on the enterprise software/applications team. Before JMP, Monti worked at Siebel Systems in a sales capacity for the CRM On Demand division. Prior to Siebel, Monti worked for Cisco Systems in various operations roles. Thanks, Monti, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about AI, enterprise software, and technology transformations. Show Notes 00:00 Intro: Live from SuperReturn 00:10 Meet Monti Saroya 00:20 Why AI Matters Now 00:41 Career Origins Cisco 00:57 Building Internet 1.0 01:21 Infrastructure Before Apps 01:25 From Compute to Giants 01:38 AI as New Buildout 01:56 Internet 1.0 Lessons 02:17 Change Slower Then Bigger 02:48 Consumer Adoption First 03:08 What We Underestimate 03:26 AI Like Electricity 03:41 Three Layer AI Stack 04:03 Cloud Providers Layer 04:15 App Layer Value Capture 04:26 What Is the App Layer 04:41 Software Needs Humans 05:25 Agents System of Action 05:53 Where Agents Impact Today 06:20 Engineering Productivity Gains 07:29 Augment Not Replace 07:51 Rearchitecting With AI 08:16 Harnesses Around Intelligence 09:17 Routing Cuts Compute Cost 09:26 Model Choice and Governance 10:55 Enterprise Goals Drive AI 11:51 Workflow Context Is Key 12:47 SambaNova Compute Economics 14:27 Token Subsidies Ending 15:39 Open Source Next Wave 16:02 Linux Lesson for AI 17:03 Deploying Is the Hard Part 17:40 Vista Agentic Factory 18:42 Avoiding Services Trap 19:05 Where Value Gets Created 19:32 NeoCloud Inference Centers 20:21 Harness Companies and Moats 21:05 Enterprise Software Reality Check 21:51 CFOs Demand ROI Metrics 22:44 Word Association Game 23:15 Workflow Specific Future 23:48 Sovereign AI Is Coming 24:24 Wrap Up and Thanks
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as the private equity’s industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin. Much of the SuperReturn conference is centered on fundraising. GPs take up every available space — from hotel rooms to Tiny Space cabins that line the parking spots on Budapester Strasse outside of the InterContinental conference venue — to conduct meetings with LPs. With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers. Our first conversation was with Apax Co-CEOs Andrew Sillitoe and Mitch Truwit . Apax is one of the pioneers in the private equity industry. The firm’s rich history dates back to the 1970s, when its founders, Alan Patricof (US), Sir Ronald Cohen (UK), and Maurice Tchénio (France), came together to establish the first US-UK partnership firm in private equity. During that time period, the firm backed Steve Jobs and the first iteration of Apple. The UK and US firms merged in 1981, laying the foundation for Apax. Today, Apax stands at over $80B in aggregate funds raised. The firm underwent its second leadership transition in 2014, when Andrew and Mitch were elected as Co-CEOs, succeeding Martin Halusa, who became Chairman. Apax sits in a unique position. They are a scaled platform that focuses on the middle market. They operate across three sectors, Tech, Services, and Digital / Consumer, infusing a digital DNA and value creation team into everything they do. Their platform spans “a mile wide and a mile deep,” which is what much of the conversation between Andrew, Mitch, and me unpacked. We had a fascinating discussion about the current state of private equity and the middle market, why Apax focuses on “density-driven business models,” why the firm focuses on carveouts in the middle market, what’s underappreciated about the middle market, why it’s important to “buy in the right neighborhood and fix it up,” and how the firm’s core values of “having impact through insight and tenacity” drive every decision they make. Bios Andrew Sillitoe has been Co-CEO of Apax since 2014. He is Chairman of the Apax Global Investment Committee and the Digital Investment Committee, amongst others. He is also a member of the Apax Executive Committee. He has been based in London since joining the Firm in 1998, focusing on Tech & Telco investments. Andrew has been involved in a number of investments including Inmarsat, Intelsat, King, Orange Switzerland, TIVIT, TDC and Unilabs. Prior to joining Apax, Andrew was a consultant at LEK. Andrew holds an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from INSEAD. Boards Andrew has previously served on the boards of Inmarsat, King, Intelsat, Orange Switzerland and TDC. Mitch Truwit is Co-CEO of Apax, based in New York. Prior to joining Apax in 2006, Mitch was the President and CEO of Orbitz Worldwide between 2005 and 2006 and was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of priceline.com between 2001 and 2005. Mitch is a graduate of Vassar College where he received a BA in Political Science. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Boards Mitch serves as a Board member of Openlane and Trade Me. Prior boards include Advantage Sales & Marketing, Assured Partners, Dealer.com, Bankrate, Garda World, Hub International, Trader Canada, Boats Group and Quality Distribution Inc. Mitch serves on the charitable boards of the Apax Foundation, the John McEnroe Tennis Project, Posse and StreetSquash. Thanks, Andrew and Mitch, for a fascinating conversation and for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion at the intersection of investing and operating in private equity. Show Notes 00:00 Meet Apax co-CEOs, Andrew Sillitoe and Mitch Truwit 00:26 Andrew’s Origins at Apax 00:47 Private Equity Then vs Now 01:25 Apax Growth and Values 01:45 Curiosity as a Differentiator 02:04 Mitch’s Operator Background 02:56 Why Mitch Joined Apax 03:40 Defining the Middle Market 04:14 Why Sub-Billion EV Works 04:59 Middle Market Talent Gap 05:20 Carve Outs as a Strategy 05:29 TRADER Corporation - Canada App Turnaround 06:12 Scaled Platform Advantage 07:14 Digital DNA and AI Wave 07:50 Top Line Growth Lever 08:36 Add-ons and TAM Expansion 09:33 ECI Case Study Roll Up 10:07 Integration Over Collection 10:28 Exit Options in a Bigger PE World 10:59 Building for Multiple Buyers 11:45 Fund Size Discipline 12:34 Choosing Returns Over AUM 13:16 Understanding Firm DNA 14:01 Global Micro Investing 14:49 Making Global Pods Work 15:50 Scale Specialization Flexibility 17:08 Where to Invest Now 19:23 Buying Complexity for Value 20:15 Moats and Investment Committee 22:13 Why Middle Market Excites Them 23:19 Future of PE and AI at Scale 24:50 Impact Insight Tenacity Culture 25:54 Obligation to Dissent Story 26:55 Aspirational Brand Analogy 27:48 Wrap Up and Thanks
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