AGM Alts & Wealth Weekly News Roundup | 5.15.26
The news of the week in private markets and wealth management
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AGM News Roundup
đŚ Wealth Management
Opinion: We asked for private markets access, now we have to get it right | Sanctuary Wealthâs Adam Malamed for Citywire | Sanctuary Wealth CEO Adam Malamed shares why the onus is on advisors to approach private markets with care and why illiquidity in private credit funds is a feature rather than a bug.
Corient buys $7.8bn Oklahoma RIA Capital Advisors | Faye Kilburn | Citywire | One of the largest independent RIAs in Oklahoma has been bought by Corient. $7.8B Capital Advisors was acquired by one of the industryâs largest RIAs, Corient.
Vestmark debuts AI-powered portfolio monitoring tool | Alec Rich | Citywire | Vestmark rolled out its first AI tool for advisors, the Vestmark Pulse, which scans portfolio positions, market news, SEC filings, and client CRM data for changes or potential opportunities and provides suggestions to advisors based on those insights.
Jon Beatty: Schwab building advisor AI assistant to provide 'actionable intelligence' | Sam Bojarski | Citywire | Schwab is building out an AI assistant for advisors, according to MD and Head of Advisor Services Jon Beatty. Schwab aims to help convert âeveryday interactions into actionable intelligence for advisorsâ as part of its overall AI plans.
Altruist to launch 1099 advisor affiliation model | Alec Rich | Citywire | Altruist plans to roll out a new 1099 advisor affiliation model, Altruist Advisors, later this year, targeting breakaway brokers.
đ˛ Evergreen Funds
FAs Should Treat âSemi-Liquidâ as Illiquid: Industry Execs | Mela Seyoum | Financial Advisor IQ | Some wealth management CIOs view fundsâ limitations of redemptions as a âfeature, not a bug.â
Franklin Templeton launches private markets models | Tania Mitra | Citywire | Franklin Templeton is rolling out multi-asset private markets models in collaboration with digital infrastructure platform Corastone.
Coatueâs CTEK Joins CAIS, Bringing Public-Private Innovation Strategies to Independent Advisors | Business Wire | Coatue and CAIS announced that Coatueâs CTEK is now available on the CAIS platform.
đ ď¸ Private Markets Infrastructure
Ultimus and iCapital Collaborate to Deploy DLT Platform | Ultimus Fund Solutions | Ultimus and iCapital announced a strategic partnership that will introduce distributed ledger technology (DLT) to streamline data transmission and reconciliation processes. The integration of technologies merges iCapitalâs DLT platforms with Ultimusâ API-rich infrastructure, creating a more efficient, secure, and transparent processing environment for alternative investment data.
iCapitalÂŽ and LYNK Markets Launch Inaugural Private ETN Offering with Pantheon to Expand Eligible Access to Private Markets | iCapital | iCapital and LYNK Markets announced the launch of a Private Exchange-Traded Note (ETN) in collaboration with Pantheon. This launch marks the first Private ETN introduced with Pantheon as the first manager on the platform.
đ¸ Private Equity
Intertek Inclined to Recommend EQTâs Final ÂŁ9.2 Billion Offer | Dinesh Nair and Swetha Gopinath | Bloomberg | Fourth time a charm for EQT? Intertek is leaning toward recommending a takeover offer from EQT. EQTâs bid is reportedly ÂŁ60-a-share in cash, which valued the company at around ÂŁ9.2B, and investors would also receive a dividend of up to ÂŁ1.077.
Buyout Titans See Middle East Appeal for Deals, Hiring Undimmed | Dinesh Nair and Joumanna Bercetche | Bloomberg | Buyout firms General Atlantic and KKR continue to see fundraising and investment opportunities in the Middle East despite the Iran war.
QIA and General Atlantic Expand Strategic Partnership | General Atlantic | QIA and General Atlantic are expanding their partnership to co-invest into private markets, with QIA committing $500M to GAâs global growth equity investment strategies. The collaboration will include knowledge sharing, talent development, and support for portfolio companies entering Middle Eastern markets.
Blackstone Lays Groundwork for Third Long-Term Buyout Fund | Preeti Singh | Bloomberg | Blackstone is preparing to raise capital for a third iteration of its private equity fund that has a longer hold period than traditional private equity funds. This new fund will aim to invest $800M-1B in 8-10 companies, with the fund having a 20-year fund life.
Welsh Carson targets $5bn for latest flagship | Hannah Zhang | PEI | Welsh Carson | Welsh Carson is targeting $5B for its 15th flagship mid-market buyout vehicle.
Brookfield agrees to buy World Freight Company in $1.2 billion deal with EQT and PAI | Kane Wu | Reuters | Brookfield Asset management has reached a deal to acquire World Freight Company from EQT and PAI Partners for $1.2B. WFC serves more than â 300 airlines on 3,500 trade lanes and over 16,000 freight âforwarders across more than 80 countries and key international trade routes.
Bain, LY Said to Offer to Buy Kakaku, Rivaling EQT Takeover Bid | Taro Fuse, Takako Taniguchi and Hideki Suzuki | Bloomberg | Bain Capital and LY Corp have submitted a joint offer to acquire Kakaku.com. The offer launches a bidding war with EQT.
đł Private Credit
Private credit isnât the problem - concentration is | HarbourVestâs John Toomey for the Financial Times | HarbourVest CEO John Toomey discusses the nuances of private credit and some of the hot button issues looming large in the category. Toomey noted, âprivate credit is not inherently dangerous. Concentration is.â
Private credit is not âa cancer,â says Wall Streetâs top prosecutor | Kaye Wiggins, Antoine Gara, James Fontanella-Khan, Martin Arnold | Financial Times | Jay Clayton has dismissed fears about private credit, arguing that private credit has helped to fuel US economic strength.
PE-Owned Insurers Boosting Private Credit Holdings, Study Finds | Emily Graffeo | Bloomberg | Life insurance companies owned by private equity firms have recalibrated their investment portfolios, investing in higher-yielding alternative credit strategies. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that PE-owned insurersâ investments in private placements for asset-backed securities and financial borrowers increased to 8% of assets from 2% from 2017 to 2024.
German Regulator to Push Insurers to Fix Private Credit Failings | Nicholas Comfort | Bloomberg | Germanyâs top financial regulator has emphasized the need to protect retail investors in private credit.
đ Real Estate
Blackstone REIT Raises $1.75 Billion in IPO to Buy Data Centers | Subrat Patnaik | Bloomberg | Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust raised $1.75B in a US IPO and will target newly built data centers valued at between $250M and $1.5B and leased to investment-grade hyperscalers. The listing is the largest ever IPO of a REIT set up in a blind pool format.
Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Launches Homebuilder Lending Platform | Claire Keyte | Bloomberg | Blackstone announced that Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) has launched a lending platform that will provide much needed capital and flexiblity to homebuilders. They expect to enable the construction of over 50,000 for-sale homes across the US annually. This commitment comes at a time when the U.S. is facing a critical housing shortage. Fewer homes are being built today than in 1960, despite the U.S. population nearly doubling.
Aramco Targets Raising Over $10 Billion From Property Portfolio | Dinesh Nair, Zainab Fattah and Laura Gardner Cuesta | Bloomberg | Saudi Aramco is considering plans to raise at least $10B through a sale and leaseback transaction, allowing it to unlock capital while retaining use of its real estate holdings
đĽ Secondaries
Hamilton Lane defends secondaries: 'You'd think we never sold an asset' | Selin Bucak | Citywire | Trust in valuations in private markets comes over time, according to Hamilton Lane Co-CEO Juan Delgado-Moreira, and in the end âcash is still king.â Speaking in London on Wednesday, Delgado-Moreira said the way to create trust is by selling assets even though headlines make it seem like âweâve never sold an assetâŚnever delivered cash.â
HarbourVest: Software secondaries getting harder to close | Alex Lynn | PEI | HarbourVest Partners Managing Director Jeff Keay notes that software secondaries are becoming harder to close.
đ ď¸ Infrastructure
BMO to Sell Truck, Trailer Financing Businesses to Stonepeak | Christine Dobby | Bloomberg | Bank of Montreal agreed to sell its business that finances trucks, trailers and equipment to Stonepeak, offloading a portfolio that totals about C$14.5B.
Microsoft Spent Over $100 Billion on OpenAI Partnership | Rachel Metz, Brody Ford and Madlin Mekelburg | Bloomberg | Microsoft has spent more than $100B on its partnership with OpenAI, including original investments and costs of building infrastructure. Microsoftâs stake in OpenAI was valued at about $135B as of October 2025, with OpenAIâs valuation skyrocketing to $852B as of the end of March 2026.
OpenAI to Buy Consulting Firm for JV With Private Equity | Seth Fiegerman | Bloomberg | OpenAI will acquire a consulting company to help drive adoption of its AI software within its PE-backed JV. The new entity, called OpenAI Deployment Company, will be staffed with roughly 150 employees focused on deploying AI software, including those from consulting and engineering company Tomoro.
𼊠GP Stakes
MassMutual and Barings Announce Closing of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdingsâ 18% Stake in Barings | Business Wire | MassMutual and its global alternative asset management subsidiary Barings announced that MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings completed the acquisition of an 18% stake in Barings through its subsidiary, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance.
William Blair looks to capture GP and LP stakes in sports with Inner Circle | Rafael Canton | PE Hub | William Blair is looking into an expansion into GP stakes through its recent acquisition of Inner Circle Sports.
O3 Partners broadens strategic focus | Shoaib Shahid | SecondaryLink | Dutch investment manager O3 Partners is broadening its strategic focus and expanding into GP stakes investing.
đŹ Private Markets Research
The State of Private Markets 2026 | MSCI | MSCI examines five forces reshaping private markets in 2026: from stress in private credit and an ongoing liquidity drought changing how GPs return cash to investors, to the tie between AI and private capital, the rise of evergreen funds and what a total-portfolio lens reveals that asset-class-specific analysis misses.
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