With so much focus on the rise of alternative/private markets’ access in recent years, firms such as iCapital have risen to widen access for wealth managers to previously hard-to-enter investments traditionally dominated by big institutions and ultra-wealthy individuals. 

New York-headquartered iCapital is
continuing to expand at a brisk pace. 

The global fintech platform for alternative investments in the
wealth sector is launching “iCapital Marketplace” in Hong Kong
and Singapore. The offering is billed, according to a statement
this week, as “a one-stop-shop connecting wealth managers and
advisors with a broad menu of alternative investment
opportunities across private equity, private debt,
infrastructure, real assets and hedge funds.”

“Investors in Asia and the rest of the world are increasingly
interested in how private markets can offer enhanced
diversification and potentially superior returns for their
portfolios, while asset managers seek to diversify their
fundraising across the growing wealth management channel,” Marco
Bizzozero, head of iCapital’s international arm, said.  

With so much focus on the rise of alternative/private markets’
access in recent years, firms such as iCapital (US),
CAIS (US) and Moonfare (Germany) have risen
to widen access for wealth managers to previously
hard-to-enter investments traditionally dominated by big
institutions and ultra-wealthy individuals. 

iCapital’s ascent has been particularly rapid, having only been
established since 2013. In March this year, JP Morgan Asset
Management (JPMAM), which has $213 billion in alternative assets
under management globally, announced that it was partnering with
iCapital to open up access for Asia-Pacific wealth managers and
their clients to JPMAM’s private market investment capabilities.
JP Morgan became a strategic investor in iCapital in 2018. In
December 2023, iCapital partnered with investor services group
IQ-EQ.

The high frontier

Alternative asset managers can expand their distribution strategy
and fundraise from the growing wealth management channel via one
single access point via the new offering, iCapital said.

The platform also features research and educational tools, such
as due diligence reports, market insights, webinars, and training
modules.

See here for an
interview (2022) with iCapital’s Bizzozero.