Alt Goes Mainstream

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 SuperReturn

00:27 Meet Anthony Maniscalco

02:22 Early Stakes Were Hedge Funds

04:03 Private Equity Stakes Inflection

04:56 Why GP Stakes Invest Well

05:19 Locked-In Fee Cashflows

05:58 Carry And Diversification

06:34 Where LPs Bucket Stakes

07:32 Today’s Allocation Buckets

08:29 Stakes As Strategic Access

09:05 The LP-GP Flywheel

10:12 Catalyzing Fundraising Growth

10:40 Capital Formation Support

11:32 Underwriting Growth Readiness

12:05 Scalability And Persistence

12:57 Primary Capital Use Of Proceeds

13:12 Why Sell Expensive Equity

14:33 Equity Plus Prefs And Debt

14:56 Barbell Market And Wealth

15:35 Talent Retention And Next Gen

16:41 Wealth Channel Strategy Fit

17:21 Underwriting Middle Market Plays

19:31 Portfolio Construction Framework

19:56 Where Buyout Works Today

20:59 Why Venture Is Harder

22:13 Hardest Middle Market Questions

23:11 What Creates Manager Edge

24:03 Fund Three Minimum Rule

24:57 From Fund To Firm

26:15 Liquidity And Exit Paths

27:20 Deal Level Vs Fund Liquidity

28:15 Strategic Buyers And Realizations

28:54 Fund Leverage And Bonds

29:24 Rise Of Prefs And Debt

30:16 Multi Solution Stakes Platform

31:02 GP Stakes For Wealth Investors

32:09 Downside Protection And Speed

32:47 Still Upside With Equity

33:25 Alignment Is Everything

34:36 Cash In Not Cash Out

35:38 Do Stakes Improve Performance

36:43 Growth Keeps Firms Stable

37:08 What’s Faster And Slower

37:29 Is The Market Really Crowded

38:23 Mid-Market TAM Opportunity

39:47 New Liquidity Tools Emerging

40:20 Continuation Vehicles Boost Economics

41:04 CV Market Impact On Stakes

42:03 Helping GPs Launch CVs

43:06 When M&A Returns

Join over 16,900 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

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. Today, Collar 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 GP-led continuation vechicles have 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 from SuperReturn Berlin

00:30 Meet Jake Elmhirst

05:49 23 Generations on the Farm

06:17 Black Death Family History

06:40 Farming Meets Secondaries

07:19 Spotting the Window

07:44 Secondaries as Solutions

08:25 LP Liquidity Crunch

09:15 GP Exit Alternatives

09:49 Continuation Vehicles Explained

10:59 Limits of CV Adoption

12:01 Buying With the GP

12:32 Small Funds and Wealth Channel

13:46 Consolidation and Niche Winners

14:12 Secondaries in Portfolios

14:51 Why Secondaries Work

16:46 Core Holding for Wealth

18:11 Quality Versus Discount

20:24 Underwriting Skills Shift

20:51 Coller’s Asset Focus DNA

21:42 LP Burden in CV Decisions

22:50 Evergreen Portfolio Mix

23:49 Beyond Fund of Funds

24:24 Scaling Custom Solutions

25:12 Expanding the Toolbox

27:19 Why Scale Matters

28:35 Discount Misconceptions

30:05 Active Portfolio Management

Join over 16,900 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

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 garnering the distinction of being a top 5 alternatives manager by AUM across both traditional and alternative asset managers.

Today, Goldman has grown to over $625B AUM in its alternatives business.

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 conversation that 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 evergreens are 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

Join over 16,800 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

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.

Thanks, Paul, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets, private wealth, and building enduring asset management businesses.

Show Notes

00:00 Live From Berlin

01:09 Meet Paul Desmarais III, Family Legacy Builder

01:50 Sagard Origin Story

02:19 Early Entrepreneurial Spark

03:01 Risk And Reinvention

04:22 Mission To Empower Founders

04:59 By Entrepreneurs For Entrepreneurs

05:13 Why Sagard Started

05:40 Alternatives And Innovation

06:14 Credit Plus Venture

07:08 Customer First Alignment

09:13 Generational Time Horizon

09:26 Patience In Partnerships

10:03 Innovation As Moat

11:11 Platform Strategy Mix

11:53 Platform Pillars Next Steps

13:00 Emerging Managers Flywheel

14:00 Scaling Collaboration

14:44 Incentives And Shared Carry

16:11 Values Create Moat

16:38 Choosing The Right Partners

17:51 Building A Joint Vision

18:12 Hiring Builders Early

19:21 Long-Term Greedy Culture

19:37 Future Of Alternatives

20:05 Specialization Over Mega Deals

21:17 Decentralized Pod Model

23:19 One Brand Or Many

25:00 Legacy And Founder Impact

26:18 Closing Thoughts

Join over 16,800 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

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.

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 the 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 and how it’s informed his investment career.

Why today is the era of “roll up your sleeves private equity.”

How Brookfield is approaching value creation in industrial companies.

Where Brookfield believes they can leverage AI to create post-deal operational value creation.

Why Brookfield partnered with OpenAI to create DeployCo in order to scale enterprise AI deployment.

Where we are 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 Introduction

00:23 Meet Anjun Ranjan

02:02 Brookfield Goes Global

02:07 First Private Equity Fund

02:20 Moving Around the World

02:26 Building in India and MENA

02:39 Emerging Markets Lessons

02:45 Industrial Investing in Growth

03:14 Deal Frenzy in India

03:38 Why the Bubble Burst

03:42 Five Years of Patience

03:48 Learning via Portfolio Entry

03:54 First Big India Buys

04:12 Scaling the India Playbook

04:14 Proving Institutional Control

04:32 India Results at Scale

04:46 Exporting the Model

04:53 From Regions to Global PE

05:03 Growing Through Headwinds

05:31 Roll Up Your Sleeves Private Equity

05:40 Operational Value Creation

05:48 Brookfield Platform DNA

06:18 Balance Sheet Advantage

06:30 Long-Term Investing Culture

06:50 Rewarded for Waiting

07:18 Middle East Long Game

07:57 Testing Tech on Balance Sheet

08:15 Owning What’s Next

08:26 AI Needs Land and Power

09:57 Platform Collaboration Culture

10:38 Cross-Platform Underwriting

12:23 Westinghouse Nuclear Bet

13:57 Energy Transition Tailwinds

14:13 Why Carve Outs Are Hard

14:33 People Make the Carve Out

15:50 Picking the Right Divisions

17:07 Transformational Underwriting

17:42 Pricing Power Playbook

19:03 From Five to Twelve Returns

20:17 Carve Outs Create Alpha

21:25 AI for Industrial Efficiency

22:13 Data Before AI

23:34 Predictive Maintenance Example

24:57 Physical AI and Robotics

26:26 Digitizing the Factory Floor

26:52 When Robotics Clicks

28:06 DeployCo with OpenAI

28:34 From Innovation to Execution

29:31 Best AI Investment Angle

29:38 Buying Boring Businesses

30:32 Building the Right Team

31:21 Hiring Tech Leaders

31:53 Blockbuster vs Netflix

32:38 Closing Reflections

Join over 16,800 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

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 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.

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 working at Cisco Systems and Siebel Systems. Through this lens, as well as 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.

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 Berlin

00:21 Meet Monti Saroya

00:51 Career Origins Cisco and Siebel

01:12 Building Internet Infrastructure

02:17 Internet Lessons for AI

02:38 Adoption Moves Slower

03:34 What We Underestimate

04:09 AI Value Stack Layers

04:56 Why the App Layer Wins

05:12 From Screens to Agents

06:28 Agents Boost Productivity

06:56 Engineering Impact Today

08:55 Harnesses and Model Routing

13:49 Token Costs and SambaNova

14:49 Hosting Cost Shock

15:13 Finding Cheaper Hardware

15:23 Token Pricing Reality

16:02 Public Markets Raise Prices

16:15 Should You Build It

16:34 Open Weight Pivot

17:10 Why Open Source Wins

17:13 Linux vs Unix Lesson

17:38 China Open Model Lead

17:50 Enough Intelligence Threshold

18:19 Deployment Is The Bottleneck

18:58 Building An AI Factory

20:03 Avoiding Services Trap

20:26 Where Value Accrues Next

25:25 Sovereign AI Is Coming

Join over 16,800 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

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 lining 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 and 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 an interesting 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.

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 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 is a graduate of Vassar College where he received a BA in Political Science. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

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’s co-CEOs, Andrew Sillitoe and Mitch Truwit

00:39 Andrew on Industry Change and Apax’s Evolution

01:12 Private Equity: From Cottage Industry to Scale

01:26 The Purpose of Private Equity

01:44 Apax Growth and Professionalization

02:07 Values and Venture Roots

02:36 Mitch’s Journey from Operator to Investor

03:30 Building the Operating Platform at Apax

04:10 Defining the Middle Market

04:45 Why Sub-Billion EV Works

05:00 Exit Options and Liquidity

05:32 Capability Gaps in Management Teams

06:04 TRADER Corporation - Canada App Turnaround

06:50 Apax’s Digital DNA and Carve-Outs Approach

07:28 Choosing the Harder Path

07:55 Digital DNA and AI Wave

08:34 Top Line Growth Lever

09:26 Add-ons and TAM Expansion

10:28 ECI Roll Up Example

11:05 Integration vs. Not Just Buying

11:27 Market Structure and Selling Well

12:50 Fund Size Discipline

13:42 Returns Over AUM

15:12 Global Pods Micro Investing

17:11 Scale Specialization Flexibility

18:34 Future Proof Investing in AI Era

21:54 Moat and Investment Committee

23:58 Why Middle Market Is Underloved

25:09 Next Decade Alpha and AI

26:54 Impact Through Insight Tenacity

28:01 Apax Culture: An Obligation to Dissent

29:07 Aspirational Brands

30:04 Wrap Up

Join over 16,800 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s podcast takes us to the heart of Mayfair in London, where Blackstone Private Wealth COO Farhad Karim shared the firm’s history and evolution in Europe.

He took a walk down memory lane to discuss the firm’s 25th anniversary in Europe as we walked through Berkeley Square from Blackstone’s current office to their new office at the other end of the square, highlighting how the firm has become the largest owner of commercial real estate in Europe and the importance of building a local presence in the region.

Farhad took on the role of Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Private Wealth in 2024 after a career at Blackstone that included serving as Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Europe and holding a senior leadership role in the firm’s Real Estate business.

Farhad and I had a fascinating discussion about the evolution of Blackstone’s business in Europe and the firm’s Private Wealth business globally. We covered:

Why it’s important to “meet people where they are at.”

What Farhad learned from his experience running Blackstone Europe.

Building and expanding Blackstone’s Private Wealth business.

How Blackstone will continue to be a pioneer in private wealth.

The next phase of product innovation in the wealth channel.

How an international perspective has shaped Farhad's approach to building the Private Wealth business.

Harmonizing the institutional and private wealth businesses when delivering solutions to LPs.

The human element of working with wealth.

What it means to be “relentless.”

Perspectives on evergreen funds.

The scale of opportunity, information, and access.

Thanks, Farhad, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets and private wealth.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

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: ultimusfundsolutions.com or email [email protected].

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:33 A Message from Ultimus Fund Solutions

02:11 Farhad’s Blackstone Journey

03:14 What Hasn’t Changed at Blackstone

04:14 Parallels Between Real Estate and the Wealth Channel

05:16 Building for Local Markets

08:01 Scaling Advisor and Investor Education

09:12 How Well Advisors Understand Private Markets

11:15 Early Innings of Adoption

12:39 Productization and New Fund Structures

14:20 Simplicity Versus Choice for Investors

15:13 Wealth Consolidation and Institutionalization

17:26 Aligning Wealth and Institutional Capital

19:08 Scale Advantage and Deal Access

19:56 Scale And Global Lens

20:21 Deal Competition And Pricing

20:59 AI advantage across platform

22:36 Risks in private markets

24:37 Explaining Private Markets

26:20 Investing Through Volatility

27:41 Evergreen Vs Drawdown

29:49 Semi liquid is a feature

32:03 How To Use Evergreens

33:32 Owning The Narrative

36:56 Relentless Fiduciary Focus

37:53 Relentless As Culture

39:55 Closing Thoughts

Footnotes

(Timestamp 02:47.8): Largest owners of commercial real estate in Europe.

(Timestamp 33:01.1): Reference to Class I annualized, inception-to-date return from January 2017.

Join over 16,800 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives deep into the world of wealth management with someone whose career is emblematic of the intersection of private markets and private wealth.

We sat down with Larry Restieri, the CEO of Hightower.

Larry is the CEO and a member of the Board of Directors at Hightower, a national wealth management firm that empowers financial advisors to deliver sophisticated investment and financial services to clients.

Larry joined the firm in June 2025 from Goldman Sachs, where he was a Partner. Larry served as the CEO of Goldman’s AYCO business, which specializes in workplace financial planning and private wealth advisory services.

He held a variety of leadership roles at Goldman across its wealth and asset management divisions, including heading up the Alternative Capital Markets business.

Larry and I had a fascinating conversation about the continuing convergence of private markets and private wealth from someone who was at the forefront of this industry transformation. We covered:

The evolution of private markets within the wealth channel.

Lessons learned from Larry’s time building Goldman’s Alternative Capital Markets business and the AYCO business.

The path to building Hightower into a $1T RIA.

The “Volkswagen model of wealth management.”

The build-out of Hightower’s Signature Wealth brand.

What does the continued buildout of private equity-backed platforms mean for the evolution of wealth management?

What drives financial advisors?

The benefits of the independent RIA model.

How and why wealth clients should be thinking about private markets.

Thanks, Larry, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion at the intersection of private markets and private wealth.

Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work - writing and podcasting about the convergence of private markets and private wealth since December 2020.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

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: ultimusfundsolutions.com or email [email protected].

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:30 Meet Larry Restieri

01:25 A Message from Ultimus Fund Solutions

02:35 Larry’s Career Story

08:44 Why Hightower CEO

09:28 Next Evolution Wealth

10:29 RIA Platform And Tech

12:16 Democratizing Alternatives

13:28 Selling Illiquidity Correctly

15:02 Education Avoids Surprises

18:05 Platform Scale And Choice

28:58 Signature Wealth Brand

29:21 Growth Targets Ahead

29:50 Platform Benefits Deal

29:58 Acquiring The Bahnsen Group

30:58 Inorganic Growth Model

31:26 Client Brand Question

32:02 Volkswagen Brand Model

32:43 Why Brand Matters

33:37 Values Across Teams

34:01 Building Unified Culture

35:04 Advisor Community Summit

35:49 Why Keep Independence

36:33 Hightower 3.0 Strategy

38:09 Advisor Client Connection

38:44 Defining Open Architecture

40:12 Private Equity Impact

42:29 Exit Paths Going Public

44:09 M&A Multiples Pressure

46:05 Market Cycles and Rates

47:48 Private Markets Allocation

49:32 Advisor Private Market Fears

51:10 GPs Serving RIAs Better

52:05 Enterprise GP Partnerships

53:06 Non-Obvious Alt Take

54:50 Closing Reflections

Join over 16,700 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

We were live from AGM’s RIA Field Trip at Brookfield’s New York office at Brookfield Place with Oaktree Managing Director and Co-Portfolio Manager Danielle Poli to unpack why private credit is at a crossroads and why dispersion is growing.

Danielle has a unique perch to form a developed view on the current state of private credit. She sits at the intersection of public and private credit, providing her with perspectives on where opportunities and risks lie across the liquidity spectrum.

Danielle is a founding member of Oaktree’s Global Credit strategy and its Investment Committee, which was established in 2017. She’s been an important contributor to its growth into a scaled multi-asset credit platform. She previously led Oaktree’s product specialist group, which she helped build into a global team supporting credit, private equity, and real estate. She joined Oaktree in 201 and has nearly two decades of experience in private markets. She has been named to Barron’s list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance.

Danielle and I had a fascinating conversation about the current state of private credit, where cracks might be emerging and where to find pockets of opportunity amid the dislocations. We covered:

Why is boring beautiful in private credit?

Where are we in the credit cycle?

Why it’s important to have a contrarian mindset.

Where, why, and how dispersion is rising in credit.

How to underwrite software investments post-AI.

Why asset-backed finance can be a diversifier.

Why now could be the time to prepare for opportunistic and rescue lending opportunities, as maturities are fast approaching.

How to balance public and private credit investing.

Thanks, Danielle, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private credit.

Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work - writing and podcasting about the convergence of private markets and private wealth since December 2020.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

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: ultimusfundsolutions.com or email [email protected].

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 Live Podcast Intro

00:17 Contrarian Mindset

00:34 Intro to our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

01:51 Where Private Credit Stands Today

02:13 Market Testing And Bifurcation

02:34 Private Credit Evolves Beyond Corporate

03:33 Danielle Poli Background

04:23 Why Liquidity Matters Now

04:49 Dislocation And Price Discovery

04:59 Structuring Power In Private Markets

05:22 Risk Return And Spread Compression

05:51 Paid For Illiquidity Plus Covenants

06:16 Asset-Backed Finance Diversifier

06:52 Corporate Vs Asset-Backed Underwriting

07:20 Why Ring-Fenced Cash Flows Win

07:51 How Allocators Fund ABF

08:11 Credit Taking Share From Equities

09:12 Tough Direct Lending Vintages

09:49 Rates Shock And Leverage Reality

10:10 AI Disrupts Software Credit

11:09 Oaktree Underweight Software

12:32 Underwriting Software Post AI

13:31 Inside The Investment Committee

14:35 Selling Rallies And Staying Humble

15:07 Busted Converts Playbook

15:55 Liquid Credit Helps Private Discipline

17:07 Why Do Both Public And Private

17:40 Transparency And Extend or Pretend

18:58 PIK Interest Red Flags

19:58 Stress Under The Surface

20:14 Triple C Spreads And Maturity Wall

21:27 Why Dispersion Is Rising

21:55 Risk Migrates To Loans And Private

23:00 Oaktree Contrarian Playbook

23:22 Complacency Vs Real Tailwinds

24:34 Brookfield Platform AI Insights

25:40 Exuberant Financing Warning Signs

26:28 Equity Vs Credit For AI Buildout

27:10 Allocating Between Equity And Credit

27:52 Valuations Signal Lower Equity Returns

29:14 What CIOs Should Tell Clients

30:00 Rescue Lending Opportunity Ahead

31:39 Signals And Timing The Cycle

32:04 Hybrid Products And Barbell Allocations

32:36 Core Income Plus ABF Deals

33:06 Memo Title - Boring Is Beautiful

34:30 Closing Thanks And Outro

Join over 16,600 Substack subscribers & followers and 44,000 LinkedIn and podcast followers who are thought leaders and executives from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, EQT, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Stonepeak, Hamilton Lane, StepStone, Partners Group, General Atlantic, Hightower, Focus Financial, Corient, Cerity Partners, and more.