Episode summary
Monthly Alts Plus Ep. 15: The BlackRock, iCapital, GeoWealth Unified Managed Account Partnership
Alt Goes Mainstream
· · Hosts: Michael Sidgmore · Guests: Lawrence Calcano, Jaime Magyera
Summary
BlackRock, iCapital, and GeoWealth announced a partnership to bring private markets into unified managed accounts, allowing advisers to access public and private exposures inside one portfolio construction and trading framework. The guests argued that this is the next phase of wealth adoption: not just making private markets available, but making them easier to implement, rebalance, and explain inside the tools advisers already use.
The discussion centered on why model portfolios have become so important in wealth management and why the category is now moving beyond public markets alone. A guest said the model market has grown to about 5 trillion and could reach 10 trillion in a few years, while another said advisers increasingly want private market allocations in the 15% to 35% range rather than the current 2% to 3% typically seen in wealth portfolios.
Both guests emphasized that technology, workflow automation, and education are now as important as access. They framed the partnership as a way to reduce operational friction, support customization at scale, and make private markets part of a broader portfolio strategy that can later expand into tax-managed sleeves, overlays, structured products, and annuities.
Key takeaways
- The guests said the BlackRock-iCapital-GeoWealth partnership puts public and private market exposure into one unified managed account for advisers.
- A guest said the model portfolio market is already about 5 trillion and may grow to 10 trillion in the next few years.
- A guest said wealth portfolios typically hold only 2% to 3% in private markets, while CIO-style targets are closer to 15% to 35%.
- The guests argued that automation around compliance, AML/KYC, and rebalancing is essential if private markets are to scale in the advisory channel.
- The guests said the new platform is meant to let advisers choose between standardized models and customized allocations without adding operational burden.
Notable quotes
“we announced in partnership with I Capital and Geo Wealth a holistic model that allocates assets across public markets, private markets in one unified managed account”
“The problem is is those models are all public, right? And when we think about enabling advisors to capitalize on the full power of capital markets that includes private markets, too”
“We think it'll grow to 10 trillion in the next few years”
“the average portfolio 2 3% um at best in the wealth space yet we hear from CIOS every day that it should be 15 20%”
“making it easy for all the players to connect into one operating system so that they can scale their business at a much lower in a much lower cost way”
How the episode opens
Jamie Lawrence, we're here from I Capital Connect. Really exciting day today. You both announced a partnership about first of its kind to enable private markets investments in portfolios for wealth adviserss.
Let's get into it. Jamie, let's hear from your perspective at BlackRock. You've been doing models for a while.
what's so significant about this partnership? Yeah. So, first of all, I have to say this conference has been incredible.
Uh really, really inspiring to see so many people come together and try to figure out how can we democratize access to private markets? How do we help advisers um come together and build a portfolio holistically that includes public markets and private markets in one seamless easy way. Um and so that's what we aim to do at Black Rockck.
And for years we've been doing that with models, right? public markets, traditionally public markets. And you think about 10 years ago, there was no such thing really as a model.
Today, that marketplace is 5 trillion. We think it'll grow to 10 trillion in the next few years. The problem is is those models are all public, right?
And when we think about enabling advisors to capitalize on the full power of capital markets that includes private markets, too. The problem is is it's hard to implement. And so today we announced in partnership with I Capital and Geo Wealth a holistic model that allocates assets across public markets, private markets in one unified managed account and makes it easy for an adviser to do that.
That's such an important point. I'm going to hang on to that last phrase, making it easy for an adviser. Lawrence, you've talked about this a number of times, meeting advisers where they are.
Why is building this model portfolio solution in the UMA so important for advisers and meeting them where they are?
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- private markets partnership
- uma model portfolios
- advisor allocation challenges
- public-private market structure
- wealth channel adoption
Companies and tickers mentioned
- BLK
- BlackRock
- iCapital
- GeoWealth
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.
