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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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