Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
Today’s conversation provides a fascinating window into the world of how one of the industry’s largest wealth managers approaches private markets.
We sat down with the man who holds the keys to the kingdom.
Mark Sutterlin is the Head of Alternative Investments within the Investment Solutions Group at Bank of America. He leads the firm’s strategy and platform development across hedge funds, private credit, private equity, physical precious metals, and real estate, delivering a broad spectrum of institutional-grade investment solutions to advisors and their clients.
Mark brings the advisor’s perspective to bear as he builds the alternative investments menu for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank and helps educate advisors and clients on how and where to thoughtfully and appropriately include private markets in portfolios.
Mark and I had a fascinating discussion. We covered:
How GPs can work with private banks.
What one of the largest private wealth allocators looks for in GPs.
How Merrill approaches different product structures to deliver solutions across the wealth client spectrum.
What constitutes a manager’s edge.
I loved this conversation with Mark, who takes such a thoughtful approach and brings a true passion to helping clients and advisors build and protect wealth.
Thanks, Mark, for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion on private markets and private wealth.
A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions
This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.
That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.
Learn more: ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.
We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.
Show Notes
00:00 Investor Edge Beyond Returns
00:32 Sponsor Message from Ultimus
01:29 Meet Mark Sutterlin
03:27 From Advisor to Alts Lead
03:34 Lessons From 2008
04:12 Trust And Advisor Duty
04:27 Serving HNW And UHNW
04:51 Evergreen To Drawdown Spectrum
05:19 Building The Alts Shelf
05:52 Platform Design Principles
06:35 Diligence As Core Identity
07:04 Nuance In Private Credit
07:40 Long Term Themes Overlay
08:17 Core Satellite Portfolio Mix
09:57 Evergreens Take The Lead
10:23 Evergreen Growing Pains
10:50 Education And Expectations
11:49 Who Can Run Evergreens
12:40 Allocation Policy And Scale
13:07 Post-Sale Servicing Matters
13:40 Manager Service Playbook
14:57 Vetting Manager Fit
17:11 DNA Of A Firm
18:24 Speaking Advisor Language
19:27 Customization Versus Scale
20:23 UHNW Specialist Support
21:28 Tools For Custom Proposals
22:40 Feedback Loop Builds Menu
23:15 Differentiation In UHNW
23:52 What Merrill Expects From GPs
24:15 Capacity Co-Invest And Access
25:04 Next Frontier Experiential Change
26:23 Planning Tools For Alts
26:41 DLT And Private Markets
27:02 Fixing Fragmented Workflows
27:21 Streamlining To Drive Adoption
27:42 Biggest Blocker Education Gap
28:13 Advisor Intimidation And Misperceptions
28:37 Shared Responsibility To Educate
28:58 Misconception Complexity Fear
29:39 Controls And Simple Narrative
30:09 Alts Invitationals Bootcamp
31:09 Why The Lightbulb Moment Happens
31:33 Advisors Stretched Thin
32:11 What Why How Spectrum
34:12 Implementation Still The Gap
34:32 Scaling The Alts Platform
35:37 Open Architecture Product Depth
35:54 Lifecycle Infrastructure And Controls
36:34 Where To Invest Next
37:28 Growth Mix Existing Vs New
38:40 Advisors Yet To Adopt
39:41 Client Sentiment And Experience
41:26 Patience And Long Term Comfort
42:04 Next Gen Investors And Time Horizon
44:11 Manager Edge And Storytelling
46:07 Menu Construction And Gatekeepers
48:24 Platform Differentiation And Exclusivity
50:43 Liquidity Headlines And Real Risks
52:24 Excited About AI And Themes
54:58 Closing Reflections And Wrap Up
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
Disclaimer: Alt Goes Mainstream is an independent podcast and newsletter focused on the private markets industry. It is published for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, legal advice, or any other form of professional advice. Nothing contained herein should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or investment product. Some companies, individuals, or organizations featured or mentioned in this newsletter may be current or past sponsors of Alt Goes Mainstream. Sponsorship does not influence editorial coverage, but readers should be aware that a relationship might exist. The author may hold direct or indirect investments in companies, funds, or other entities mentioned in this podcast or newsletter.
