Mark is a member of the GenTrust investment team and is responsible for sourcing, due diligence, and selection of alternative investment strategies, including hedge funds, private equity, opportunistic, and non-traditional strategies. Mark is also part of our Client Advisory team, focusing on ultra-high-net-worth clients and families.

Before joining GenTrust, Mark spent 12 years as a Partner and Senior Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, for EJF Capital LLC, an alternative asset manager in Arlington, Virginia. At EJF, Mark was responsible for a wide array of cross asset class investments, specializing in the management of EJF’s high yield and event-driven fixed income investments. Mark managed investments and teams across multiple funds and strategies, including EJF’s Tactical Opportunities Strategy, which focused on equities, corporates, structured products, options, and esoteric. Mark was also a founding member of the EJF Real Estate Investment Committee, where he assisted in raising and deploying equity in commercial real estate development projects. Before EJF, he worked at Fannie Mae as a mortgage-backed securities trader and financial analyst, where his role included trading mortgage-backed securities and pricing complex legacy portfolios.

Mark holds a B.S. in Economics and an MBA from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

Links:

Mark on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-neely-6568269/

GenTrust - https://gentrustwm.com/

Brandon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/

Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:35) - Mark’s background and career

(00:03:52) - Alternatives and Privates at GenTrust

(00:05:53) - Mark’s role at GenTrust

(00:09:00) - Themes and trends for Alternatives in client portfolios

(00:12:30) - Defining Liquid Alts

(00:17:17) - What do you look for when underwriting new managers?

(00:19:09) - Track record attribution

(00:22:04) - How it works to get in touch with Mark

(00:25:42) - Operational due diligence processes

(00:28:20) - What do you expect from managers?

(00:35:19) - Navigating educational challenges for matching opportunities to client portfolios

(00:37:31) - Perception vs. reality for advisors

(00:39:18) - Roles of alternatives in portfolios

(00:42:02) - GenTrust as an RIA vs. the competition

(00:44:17) - What are you hearing from peers in the RIA space about diversification?

(00:49:59) - Themes to look for over the next 18 months

(00:51:24) - Resources for GenTrust