All Things Fundraising

We cover new RIA launches like SagePoint Capital Partners and Kintra, as well as RIA acquisitions like Fiducient Advisors' deal for Sellwood Investment Partners and Cerity Partners' acquisition of Covenant Partners. We also share updates on commitments from the City of Knoxville Pension Board, The Boston Retirement System, and The Indiana Public Retirement System (PRS). On the search front, we highlight activity from the Boston Foundation. We also cover fundraising from True Anomaly, Ground State Ventures, and EQT — plus a reminder to register for our next Dakota Cocktails event.

We cover new RIA launches like Hesmer Wealth Management LLC as well as RIA acquisitions like Covenant Partners LLC and Corient. We also share updates on commitments from Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System (SCERS), The Virginia Retirement System, and California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). On the search front, we highlight activity from Taunton Contributory Retirement System, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), and El Paso Firemen & Policemen's Pension Fund. We also cover fundraising from pH7 Technologies Inc., Victory Giant Technology Huizhou Co., and Slate Auto — plus a reminder to register for our next Dakota Cocktails event.

In this Dakota Insights interview, Chris LeRoy and Alex deMarco sit down with Ben Easterlin, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Infinity Capital Partners, to explore the firm's commercial real estate credit strategy and what makes it stand out in today's market.

Infinity Capital Partners has been around since 2002, originally built as a hedge fund-of-funds platform serving RIAs, foundations, and endowments. Over time, the firm expanded into new verticals, always through the lens of finding niche, defensive opportunities for its clients. Commercial real estate entered the picture in 2018 with a focus on low-income housing, and by 2023, Ben's experienced CRE credit team joined to launch the firm's commercial lending platform.

The strategy centers on senior secured first lien loans against stabilized commercial properties,  primarily multifamily, but also retail, industrial, and self-storage. Ben is deliberate about what "stabilized" means: these are cash-flowing assets with operating history, not transitional or construction-era deals. Target returns sit in the mid-teens, with quarterly dividends paid to investors. As Ben puts it, CRE credit is a strategy where you can count on income from day one, no reliance on appreciation, no waiting on an exit.

Underwriting is where Infinity truly differentiates itself. The firm reviews a high volume of deals annually but approves fewer than 6% of them. Each loan passes through a multi-stage process,  from an internal green light memo to third-party property reports, sponsor analysis, and two separate credit committee reviews. Institutional asset managers, some overseeing tens of billions in CRE, sit on those committees, bringing a market perspective that sharpens every credit decision.

Portfolio construction is equally disciplined. The team enforces hard concentration limits by property type, geography, sponsorship, and tenant, reviewed weekly. No single deal gets approved in isolation; it's always evaluated against what's already in the portfolio. Loan parameters reinforce this conservative posture: loan sizes range from $10–$50 million, LTVs are held at 65–70%, and minimum debt yields and coverage ratios are required at entry to ensure meaningful equity cushion under stress.

The market backdrop has been a significant tailwind. Regulatory pressure has forced regional banks, historically the dominant lenders in this middle market space, to pull back sharply. Infinity has stepped into that void, with loan volume reaching approximately $8 billion in 2025, doubling from the prior year. With an estimated $940 billion in CRE maturities expected in 2026 and $2.5 trillion by end of 2027, the opportunity set shows no signs of slowing.

Looking ahead, Ben remains most convicted in multifamily, despite broader sector concerns. He draws a clear line between the troubled transitional loans driving headline delinquency numbers and the stabilized assets Infinity targets. A persistent housing shortage and affordability crisis, he argues, make rental demand a long-term structural story, one the firm is well-positioned to serve.

Disciplined, niche-focused, and deeply experienced, Infinity Capital Partners has built a CRE credit platform that prioritizes capital preservation without sacrificing returns, exactly what its institutional client base is looking for.

In this episode of The Rainmaker Podcast, Gui Costin sits down with Stephen Tiller, who joined Sterling Global Financial roughly 13 years ago after a 35-year career across some of the most respected names in real estate finance and investment banking. Sterling, founded by David Kosoy more than 50 years ago, manages roughly $7–8 billion in assets across six countries and runs a platform that includes private credit lending funds, development and construction businesses, trust companies, and banks. Stephen describes it as a microscopic-scale version of the Brookfield or Blackstone model, with real estate as its DNA.

The conversation opens with Stephen's origin story growing up in a northern Ontario mining town, playing varsity hockey at Western, and starting his career at CB Richard Ellis as it was first entering Canada. He spent the 1990s working out distressed real estate and financial companies at RBC Capital Markets, an experience he credits as foundational to how Sterling underwrites and builds products today. He later ran the merchant bank at Brascan under Bruce Flatt, and led global investment real estate banking at Bank of Montreal before joining Sterling.

On sales, Stephen explains that distribution is Sterling's number-one priority. The firm's Canadian retail engine runs through FundServ the platform owned by the major Canadian banks and dealers which connects the firm to thousands of retail investors. Once approved, the platform allows an IA in Vancouver to invest a client on Friday after a Thursday request. But the efficiency of the back end only works if the front end is covered: Sterling's sales team is built around managing the IA and RIA channels, understanding each advisor's book and decision-making.

Communication inside the firm is high-touch and high-frequency, with twice-weekly calls at critical junctures. Stephen leans heavily on time-tested sales discipline tell them what you're going to do, do it, then tell them what you did combined with a modern tech stack including HubSpot, Asana, and a growing AI layer. He's candid that Sterling is "on the 5-yard line" with AI but treats it as a top-down priority, with senior executives leading the rollout themselves.

On leadership, Stephen credits founder David Kosoy, who at 60+ years in the business is still first in the office. He emphasizes buy-in by example, boots-on-the-ground decision-making, and picking up the phone which he argues has become a real leadership differentiator as email turns into a CYA tool. His marina infrastructure example captures it: only by being physically on site did the team realize they didn't have a development site with a marina, they had a marina with a development site.

His advice for young professionals: ask better questions and anticipate where the puck is going, not where it is. He closes on the biggest challenge facing the industry today the pace of regulatory and geopolitical change and his answer to it: grow or die. Constant improvement, reinvesting in people, and adapting the business, because the people are the business.

Tired of chasing outdated leads? Book a demo to see how Dakota Marketplace simplifies your fundraising process with accurate, up-to-date investor data. 

Master sales with four game-changing principles: Focus on what matters, target the right people, craft the perfect pitch, and follow up like a pro. Packed with actionable tips, this guide helps you turn meetings into deals—fast! 💼🔥

In Episode 42 of the Emerging Manager Growth Show, Dakota's Tim Dolan breaks down why the RIA channel is the #1 priority for emerging managers looking to raise capital. With roughly 6,500 RIAs in Dakota Marketplace actively using outside managers, Tim explains how to identify the right targets — particularly nimble $200M–$5B firms eager for differentiated strategies. He covers key custodians, TAMP platforms, product structures, and the due diligence process RIAs expect. Tim also shares one of the most overlooked sales tactics: following up inside the meeting by asking the two critical questions that tell you exactly where you stand.

In this episode of the Rainmaker Podcast, Gui Costin sits down with Mike Castino, President of Sound Capital Solutions, for a deep dive into the mechanics of ETF creation, distribution, and the accelerating structural shift reshaping investment management.

Mike's career began on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he spent 12 years as an independent futures trader before transitioning into the investment management industry. His first sales role came at Claymore ETFs — one of the original ETF families, eventually acquired by Guggenheim and later Invesco — where his trading floor instincts translated directly into his commercial style. From there, Mike spent over a decade at U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, building out the business development function for ETF administrative and custodial services from the ground floor into a high-revenue operation. Sound Capital, the firm he co-founded with Claymore veteran Nick Dalmasso, was born from a shared entrepreneurial itch and a clear view of where the industry was heading.

Sound Capital operates two complementary businesses: a white label ETF advisory service, where the firm serves as the registered advisor for clients who want to launch funds without building their own infrastructure, and a solutions provider offering that supports asset managers before, during, and after launch. Unlike traditional consultants who parachute in with a plan and leave, Sound Capital positions itself as a long-term partner focused on helping clients both build and retain AUM.

A major theme of the conversation is the mechanics behind getting an ETF to market — and the parts that most first-time issuers underestimate. Revenue sharing with broker-dealer platforms is more complex and more negotiable than it appears, with fees ranging from flat access charges to AUM-based percentages to paid data packages. Market maker relationships are similarly misunderstood: firms like Jane Street and Citadel are not standing by as utilities for any issuer that arrives. They are selective partners who respond to seed capital, credible distribution plans, and meaningful trading relationships.

Mike and Gui also discuss the transparent versus non-transparent active ETF debate, where Mike is direct: the flows have settled the argument. Non-transparent structures have failed to gather meaningful organic assets, while transparent active ETFs have surged — and the front-running fears that once justified opacity are largely overstated for anyone outside of micro-cap strategies.

The conversation closes on two forward-looking topics. First, the dual share class structure — now approved for 30+ firms beyond Vanguard — which Mike sees as the long-term bridge that will unlock sticky mutual fund assets as intermediaries build switching infrastructure. Second, the challenge of building a young firm's credibility in a market that prizes institutional tenure. Mike is candid: individual experience only goes so far when prospects are evaluating the firm itself, and the answer is simply to deliver exceptional work, every day, one client at a time.

Tired of chasing outdated leads? Book a demo to see how Dakota Marketplace simplifies your fundraising process with accurate, up-to-date investor data. 

We cover new RIA launches like Soulence Wealth Management, as well as RIA acquisitions by firms such as Maridea Wealth Management and Creative Planning. We also share updates on commitments from The New Mexico State Investment Council (SIC), Seattle City Employees Retirement System, and Boston Retirement System. On the search front, we highlight activity from The Tulare County Employees’ Retirement Association (ERA), Boston Retirement System, and Plymouth County Retirement Association. We also cover fundraising from Leafgreen Capital, Inflexion, and Starcloud — plus a reminder to register for our next Dakota Cocktails event.

We cover new RIA launches like Maridea Wealth Management and Soulence Wealth Management as well as RIA acquisitions by Creative Planning. We also share updates on commitments from North Dakota State Investment Board (SIB) and City of Phoenix Employees' Retirement System. On the search front, we highlight selections from The Firefighters’ Retirement System of Louisiana, The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, and The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System (APERS). We also cover fundraising from Conduit Health, Nadia Care, and Orion Resource Partners — plus a reminder to register for our next Dakota Cocktails event.

Gui Costin and Tim Dolan make the case that investment sales teams are leaving enormous analytical value on the table by not fully leveraging their CRM data alongside AI tools — specifically Claude. Using Formula 1 racing as an analogy, the episode frames the gap between how professional sports use granular performance analytics and how most sales organizations still operate. The core argument: Salesforce is only as powerful as the data entered into it, and Claude can transform that data into real-time, PhD-level insights that previously required a dedicated analytics team.