Episode summary
Going Public Ep. 2 The Wu-Tang Clan analogy w Glenn Schorr, Sr MD, Sr Research Analyst, Evercore ISI
Alt Goes Mainstream
· · Hosts: Michael Sidgmore · Guests: Glenn Schorr
Summary
Glenn Schorr argues that in alternative asset management, fees and distribution are the engines of value creation, but only when they are backed by real alpha. He says public investors reward durable fee streams more than carried interest, which is why firms have adapted their structures and capital allocation to emphasize fee growth, capital markets fees, and scalable fundraising. He also warns that if managers cannot keep producing better returns over time, the industry’s growth story weakens.
Schorr is bullish on structural growth across private markets, citing a large institutional base and a much bigger wealth channel still early in adoption. He sees model portfolios, private market sleeves, and perpetual vehicles as important distribution tools, but says the biggest distributors still control the gates. In his view, size increasingly matters because it helps managers win large mandates, co-investments, and strategic partnerships with banks and wealth platforms.
He also frames the market as being in a consolidation phase. Bigger firms are buying vertical specialists in areas like data centers, asset-based finance, and private credit, while smaller firms can still thrive if they stay specialized. His near-term focus is on proof points: more M&A, more exits, continued deployment, and evidence that capital can be returned to LPs.
Key takeaways
- Glenn Schorr says fees matter, but only durable alpha keeps alternative managers growing over time.
- Schorr believes the wealth channel is still early, with private-market allocations still small relative to what he expects eventually.
- He says distribution almost always wins, which gives large platforms like Morgan Stanley and BlackRock an edge in models and product shelf access.
- Schorr sees consolidation accelerating as larger managers buy specialists in data centers, asset-based finance, and other high-growth verticals.
- He argues size is an advantage in private markets because it helps win very large transactions and institutional mandates.
Notable quotes
“fees rule everything around me”
“I do think in every industry I cover in financial services, talent, your R&D and your talent walks in and out the door every day”
“Don't mistake cyclicality for for structural growth. We have structural growth ahead”
“distribution almost always wins in asset management”
“size is always going to be of ultimately have some impact but wow there are a lot of ways that size is helping these alternative asset managers right now”
How the episode opens
Everybody gets a piece. We're going mainream. Everybody's going to eat.
We're going mainream. All my family see. See you on mainream.
We're going mainream. From Wall Street to Melrose Avenue. We're going mainream.
venture capitalists to athletes to creators to the person who's collecting trading cards. We're going to collision of culture and finance. We're going.
Welcome to the alt goes mainstream going public series with Glen Shore. In this special series, we aim to make private markets more public. We take a deep dive into the public side of the alternative asset management industry.
Our guide Glenn Shore is a well-known Wall Street analyst who has covered alternative asset managers since the first firms in the industry have gone public. Glenn is a senior managing director and senior research analyst at Evercore ISI. Glenn has covered the financial sector since 2000 as a senior analyst and has consistently been named to institutional investors allameric research team for his coverage of brokers, asset managers, and exchanges in large cap banks.
most recently ranking number two and runnerup respectively in the sectors in 2023 and number one and number two in 2022. Listen in as Glenn shares market stories, the evolution of alternative asset managers as businesses, the biggest and most exciting trends in private markets based on what the industry's largest players are doing. And we also will go around the horn for his analysis on each of the publicly traded firms.
Couldn't ask for anyone better to take us on this journey. Glenn and I hope you enjoy. We're going mainream.
Glenn, welcome back to Going Public. I want to start with Wu Tang Clan. So, you quoted Wu Tang Clan in one of your recent reports.
Tell us more about that. Well, I'm an old school hip-hop guy.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- alternative asset management fees
- alpha generation
- distribution in asset management
- alternative manager growth
- private credit market evolution
Companies and tickers mentioned
- EVR
- Evercore ISI
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Alt Goes Mainstream, this episode and its artwork belong to Michael Sidgmore. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
