Episode summary
CAIS Founder and CEO, Matt Brown, looks back at 2025
CAIS Live Conversations
· · Hosts: Matt Brown
Summary
Matt Brown says 2025 was a defining year for CAIS and for the broader alternative investment industry, with technology, education, and access changing how advisers use alternatives in client portfolios. He argues that advisers are embracing private markets at a level CAIS has not seen before, pointing to survey data showing nine in 10 advisers expect to increase alts allocations over the next 2 years and nearly 70% seeing more demand from millennials and Gen Z.
He highlights strong platform growth for CAIS, saying active advisers rose more than 50% year over year, total platform transactions increased 76%, and orders and positions each climbed more than 80%. Brown also says the firm onboarded more than 200 new wealth management firms, bringing total network assets to over 7 trillion, and surpassed 300,000 advisor and client interactions across the firm.
Brown frames innovation as central to CAIS’s progress, citing more than 250 platform enhancements, new tools such as Case Compass and the structured investments pricing tool, and the launch of ticker-traded functionality, life cycle management, and a models marketplace. He adds that the company’s live events were a major part of the year, and says CAIS will keep scaling tools and experiences in 2026, with “big announcements” coming in Q1.
Key takeaways
- Matt Brown says 2025 marked an inflection point as advisers embraced private markets and technology made alts easier to use in portfolios.
- The 4th annual CAIS Mercer survey found nine in 10 advisers planning to increase alts allocations in the next 2 years, according to Brown.
- CAIS says active advisers on its platform rose more than 50% year over year, while platform transactions increased 76% and orders and positions each rose more than 80%.
- Brown says CAIS added more than 200 wealth management firms in 2025, taking network assets to over 7 trillion.
- He says CAIS launched more than 250 platform enhancements in 2025 and plans additional announcements in Q1 2026.
Notable quotes
“We also launched features including our ticker traded functionality allowing advisors to trade all their alts in one place”
How the episode opens
2025 was a defining year not just for case but for the entire alternative investment industry. We've reached an inflection point where technology, education, and access are truly transforming how advisers incorporate alternatives in client portfolios. And CAS's role in shaping that future is bigger than ever.
This year, advisers are embracing private markets in a way we've never seen before. According to the 4th annual case Mercer survey, nine in 10 advisers are planning to increase allocations to alts in the next 2 years. Nearly 70% of advisers are seeing increased alts demand for millennials and Gen Z.
And for the 2,000 wealth management firms utilizing the case platform, we're making the alternative investment process simpler, smarter, and more scalable. The momentum across our ecosystem this year has been truly remarkable. Active advisors on the case platform are up more than 50% year-over-year.
The total platform transactions surged 76% across our funds and structured investments. Orders and positions both increased more than 80%. And our advisors and client interactions exceeded 300,000 across the firm.
Additionally, this year alone, we have onboarded more than 200 new wealth firms to the case platform, bringing our total network assets to over 7 trillion. These are incredible numbers, but more importantly, they reflect the trust our network places in case and the relationships built across the entire ecosystem. At case, innovation has always been at the heart of what we do.
We continually strive to find a way and then find a better way. In 2025, that meant releasing over 250 platform technology enhancements for our community. Enhancements such as new platform tools to help advisor scale product discovery.
From Case Compass, a personalized portfolio construction hub to the structured investments pricing tool that simplifies analysis and comparison. We've advanced our technology to streamline trading with an enhanced case trade experience, enabling advisors to transact many funds at one time for many accounts.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- alternative investments
- private markets
- industry growth
- community engagement
- 2026 outlook
Companies and tickers mentioned
- CAIS
Watch the episode
Watch “CAIS Founder and CEO, Matt Brown, looks back at 2025” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
CAIS Live Conversations, this episode and its artwork belong to CAIS. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
