Episode summary
Aksia, Alternatives & the Wealth Channel | Chris Schelling on Private Markets Today
Dakota Live!
· · Hosts: Robert Morier · Guests: Chris Schelling
Summary
Chris Schelling frames his move to Aksia as a shift from managing capital directly to translating institutional-grade alternatives for the wealth channel. He says the opportunity is to take Aksia’s research engine across private equity, private credit, real assets, and hedge funds and package it in a way that fits advisers’ different business models, time constraints, and client needs.
He argues that private markets are entering a broader democratization phase, but not every firm or product should be treated the same. Schelling emphasizes that wealth allocations are still low, that many advisers are asking first whether they should do alternatives at all, and that the real challenge is portfolio construction, liquidity management, and governance. He also says the firm’s scale and research depth let it focus on both large platforms and smaller managers, especially in middle-market and lower middle-market opportunities.
On private credit, Schelling says the market is not a bubble in aggregate, but some segments are "bubblier" after roughly $2.2 trillion of capital formation across drawdown funds, insurance pools, and evergreen products over five years. He is similarly constructive on hedge funds, noting that higher volatility, greater dispersion, and positive stock-bond correlations have improved the case for long-short and other low-beta strategies.
Key takeaways
- Schelling says Aksia’s core edge is its institutional research engine, which he is adapting for advisers in the private wealth channel.
- He believes wealth allocations to private markets remain very low, so the bigger question for many advisers is still whether to use alternatives at all.
- Schelling says hedge funds are regaining relevance because volatility, dispersion, and stock-bond correlations have become more favorable for alpha and diversification.
- He sees private credit as structurally sound in aggregate, but warns that capital has concentrated heavily in a small group of firms and strategies.
- He says Aksia is focused on middle-market and lower middle-market opportunities in both private equity and credit, plus selective opportunities in Japan.
- Schelling says the key wealth-channel challenge is building scalable model portfolios without losing the bespoke qualities advisers want.
Notable quotes
“the institutional engine effectively of accessing you know private markets and alternatives and building portfolios in a scalable way really um really makes sense”
“we have four asset class verticals. Private equity, private credit, um private real assets, and hedge funds”
“the two biggest ones are things probably won't be a surprise to you because they're all over the headlines”
“I think there's a number of trends that not just immediately now but the last few years have been more supportive of alpha generation in hedge funds”
How the episode opens
Welcome to the Dakota Live podcast. I'm your host, Robert Morier. The goal of this podcast is to help you better know the people behind investment decisions.
We introduce you to chief investment officers, manager research professionals, and other important players in the industry who will help you sell in between the lines and better understand the investment sales ecosystem. If you're not familiar with Dakota and our Dakota Live content, please check out our website at dakota.com to learn more about our services. Before we get started, I need to read a brief disclosure.
This content is provided forformational purposes and should not be relied upon as recommendations or advice about investing in securities. All investments involve risk and may lose money. Dakota does not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information provided by the speaker who is not affiliated with Dakota.
not a solicitation, testimonial, or endorsement by Dakota or its affiliates. Nothing herein is intended to indicate approval, support, or recommendation of the investment adviser or its supervised persons by Dakota. Today's episode is brought to you by Dakota Marketplace.
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Well, I am very excited to introduce our guest today, Chris Shelling, managing director at Axia. Chris joined Axia in May of 2025 to help bridge the firm's deep institutional research capabilities with the evolving needs of the private wealth channel.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- private markets
- private credit
- private equity
- hedge funds
- wealth channel alternatives
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Aksia
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Dakota Live!, this episode and its artwork belong to Robert Morier. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
