Clients will have access to high-growth companies, credit and other opportunities, the wealth management firm says.
Mercer Advisors, a national RIA with $60 billion in client assets under management, on Monday announced the expansion of its private markets offering with the launch of the Aspen Partners platform.
Aspen Partners, a proprietary private markets platform built by Mercer, delivers institutional-grade access and terms for individual investors in private markets, according to the firm.
Through Aspen Partners, all qualified Mercer Advisors clients will be able to participate in a portfolio of private investments with lower portfolio-level costs, low minimums and a streamlined operational experience, the company said.
To be a qualified purchaser, the client needs at least $5 million in investable assets.
Privately held assets significantly outweigh the public markets and represent many of the world’s fastest-growing companies, as well as large swaths of the credit markets and other interesting opportunities, according to Mercer.
Many investors and RIAs, however, “find it difficult to confidently access high-quality private markets opportunities in a scalable, investor-friendly way,” the firm said.
Mercer is working directly with some of the world’s top private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate and infrastructure managers to build institutional-grade portfolios for its clients without adding exorbitant fees or expense ratios, Mercer Advisors President Daniel Gourvitch said.
Donald Calcagni, Mercer’s chief investment officer, explained that Aspen Partners is built to “bring a fiduciary-centered approach to private markets by providing investors access to selectively chosen private managers.”
Mercer Advisors plans to launch several private funds, designed to maximize the percentage of fund fees allocated to top-performing managers while minimizing fees paid to intermediaries, such as fund administrators, platform sponsors, funds of funds managers or placement agents, the company said.
Mercer Advisors built Aspen Partners in partnership with Opto Investments, which provides the end-to-end technology and operational platform, Gourvitch said. Mercer Advisors and Opto Investments are both independently backed by GIC, a global institutional investor.
Mercer said it also has expanded its private investment leadership team, which includes Bob Burlinson in an expanded role as senior director, private markets, and Will Rockett, senior director, investment strategy group.
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