Episode summary
iCapital Chairman & CEO Lawrence Calcano - driving efficiency to transform private markets
Alt Goes Mainstream
· · Hosts: Michael Sidgmore · Guests: Lawrence Calcano
Summary
Lawrence Calcano argues that private markets are moving mainstream, but adoption will depend less on product enthusiasm than on fixing the whole operating chain. He says the biggest impediment is still education: many advisers understand alts only partially, and the industry needs help explaining what the products are, how they fit into portfolios, and what liquidity really means. He also says advisers want tools that let them work the way they already do, with portfolio construction, subscription, reporting, and lifecycle management integrated into one workflow.
Calcano frames fee pressure as an ecosystem problem, not a single-fund problem. He argues that lowering costs requires end-to-end technology, more standardized infrastructure, and more automation across GP, adviser, custodian, transfer agent, and administrator handoffs. He says distributed ledger technology and AI can make private markets more frictionless, and that platform businesses will outperform point solutions because they can keep investing across the full value chain.
On product design, he says the market is shifting from feeder structures toward direct and accredited-oriented products, while still needing solutions for accredited, sub-accredited, qualified client, and qualified purchaser investors. He expects private markets to keep growing into wealth portfolios, but says the industry is overestimating how fast that transition will happen and underestimating how much patience, education, and infrastructure investment it will take.
Key takeaways
- Calcano says education remains the biggest bottleneck, because many advisers still need help understanding what alts are and how they fit in a portfolio.
- He argues that fee compression in private markets must come from changing the entire ecosystem's cost structure, not just one product wrapper.
- Calcano says the most successful GPs in wealth have committed their best products to the channel and invested heavily in adviser education.
- He says direct and accredited-oriented products are now a larger share of iCapital's flows, but feeder structures still matter for many investors.
- He expects AI and distributed ledger technology to improve decision-making and reduce friction across private-market workflows.
Notable quotes
“the biggest impediment right now remains education”
“this requires a very holistic solution, right”
“you need to have tools that allow you as an adviser to operate the way you're used to operating”
“It's about not how do you lower fees with respect to one specific way in which people invest, but how do you actually lower fees across the whole chain”
“I would say that the industry is probably overestimating how fast it's all going to happen”
How the episode opens
This episode of the Alco Mainstream podcast is brought to you by Ultimus, a leading full-ervice fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. Ultimus is a leading full-ervice fund administrator for asset managers in both private and public markets, offering a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds, and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services.
Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the everchanging regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products. Trusted by institutions, investment consultants, registered investment adviserss, state governments, and fund managers, Ultimus provides solutions for nearly every investment structure in the marketplace.
Visit www.ultimusf fundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus' technology-enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus executive vice president of business development Gary Harris on email at g har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har har harris at ultimus funundsolutions.com. We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. We're going mainstream.
We're going mainstream. All my family 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 mainream and the collision of culture and finance.
We're going mainream. Welcome back to the Alco mainstream podcast. As the market continues to rapidly transform, I thought it would be good to have Lawrence Kalcano, chairman and CEO of I Capital, the largest technology platform in the industry, come back on the show to discuss the evolution of the different service models that enable GPS to unlock access to private markets for more LPS.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- private markets
- operational efficiency
- ai and distributed ledger
- education for alternative investments
- platform vs point solutions
Companies and tickers mentioned
- iCapital
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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Alts Pulse #18: The Global Boom in Alternative Investments w/ iCapital CEO, Lawrence Calcano -
Building a software investing powerhouse in the age of AI with Vista's David Breach -
ING - How to build a private markets platform within a European bank. -
Live! Armen Panossian, co-CEO of Oaktree at Brookfield Oaktree Wealth Solutions RIA Council Meeting
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.
