Episode summary
Wealth Management Invest: BofA Merrill’s Mark Sutterlin on Alternatives Allocations
Summary
Mark Sutterlin says Bank of America Merrill Lynch has been expanding private markets access because client demand for alternatives keeps rising, especially among ultra-high-net-worth investors. He describes the firm’s new Alts Expanded Access shelf, launched in the fourth quarter of last year, as a curated way to offer niche, esoteric, higher-volatility, or capacity-constrained strategies to clients with more complex portfolios.
He argues that evergreen funds are a positive development because they broaden access and help investors build diversification up front, but only if advisors and clients keep a long-term mindset. Mark Sutterlin stresses that liquidity features do not make these products truly liquid, and that investors still need education, disciplined underwriting, and consistent allocation through market cycles.
Technology is another major theme. Mark Sutterlin says most of the investor experience happens after the sale, so better reporting, execution, and portfolio interfaces will matter more than product launches for the next wave of growth. He expects true managed model portfolios in alternatives in the next 2 to 3 years, and says the platform is also seeing strong interest in hedge strategies, structured products, AI-related themes, infrastructure, aerospace and defense, life sciences, biotech, and co-investments.
Key takeaways
- Mark Sutterlin says Alts Expanded Access is aimed at ultra-high-net-worth clients with $50 million or more in investable assets and more complex private-market needs.
- He says Bank of America Merrill reviews about 700 to 1,000 prospective alternative funds a year but only brings a selective subset to the platform.
- Mark Sutterlin says evergreen funds are helpful for access and diversification, but investors still need long-term discipline because liquidity features can be misleading.
- He expects true managed model portfolios in alternatives to become a reality in the next 2 to 3 years.
- Mark Sutterlin says the firm is recommending an allocation north of 20% to alternatives for most investors, depending on goals, risk tolerance, taxes, and time horizon.
- He says hedge strategies and structured products are seeing renewed demand as investors look to reduce market beta and add downside protection.
Notable quotes
“We probably across the alternative investments landscape will, in some form, review somewhere between 700 to 1,000 prospective funds each year”
“the Alt Expanded Access platform is specifically catered to the ultra high net worth investor”
“you need to make sure that you're thinking long-term”
“I would expect in the next 2 to 3 years true model portfolios that'll be managed will be a reality in the alternative investment space”
How the episode opens
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Hello and welcome to the Wealth Management Invest podcast. I'm your host David Bodamer, editorial director with Wealth Management, and back with another exciting guest that I'm that I'm really eager to talk to you. Mark Sutherland, who is head of alternative investments for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank.
Mark, I know people know who Merrill and Bank of America are, but if you could talk a bit about your role there, and also about this program that it started about 6 months ago called Alts Expanded Access. So, if you could just round us in a little bit about what your role is, and and a little bit about what that is.
Yeah, of course. And and David, thank you for having me. Excited to be here and excited to talk about the business that we're very proud of here with alternative investments at Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank.
As you mentioned, my role here is I'm the head of alternative investments within the Investment Solutions Group. So, that role includes overseeing the alternative investments platform from sourcing through a client and advisor experience for the bank's wealth management channel, which is just over $6 trillion in assets and quite a few advisors oversee those client investments. In terms of the Alts Expanded Access, yeah, that was an addition to the platform that we introduced in the fourth quarter of last year.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- private markets
- alternatives allocation
- evergreen funds
- advisor education
- ai and infrastructure investing
Companies and tickers mentioned
- BAC
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch
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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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