Alt Investments
Mercer Advisors Takes Private Market Investing Up Another Gear

Overseeing more than $60 billion of client assets, Mercer Advisors is one of the big-hitters in North American wealth management. It has developed a platform to improve client access and opportunities within private investments.
Mercer
Advisors, the US wealth manager and financial planning group,
yesterday said it has launched the Aspen Partners platform, part
of a drive to expand its private markets offerings.
Aspen Partners is a proprietary private markets platform built by
Mercer Advisors. Through this business, all qualified Mercer
Advisors' clients can use a curated portfolio of private
investments. Mercer said the offering enables investors and
RIAs who struggle to access high-quality
opportunities confidently in a scalable way.
"For years, the world’s leading institutional investors have
benefited from incorporating well-diversified private investments
into their portfolios,” Daniel Gourvitch, president at Mercer
Advisors, said. “Too often, individuals offered ‘unique access’
to private investments end up paying high fees, invest too
narrowly, and miss out on many of the better opportunities in
private markets.”
Private market investments, which typically offer an illiquidity
premium – attractive to investors after over a decade of
ultra-low interest rates – have expanded rapidly in recent years.
There has been an increasingly loud drumbeat about the merits of
private market areas such as venture capital, private equity and
credit. There are voices of dissent, however, because some
are concerned that these assets aren't always suitable
to certain investors. (See
an article here.)
Mercer plans to launch several private funds to help clients
build better, more fully diversified portfolios. Aspen Partners
funds offer diversification across multiple managers and
vintages. The funds maximize the percentage of fund fees
allocated to compensating top-performing managers while
minimizing fees paid to intermediaries, such as fund
administrators, platform sponsors, funds of funds managers, or
placement agents.
The Aspen Partners offering was built by Mercer alongside Opto
Investments.
Mercer Advisors and Opto Investments are both independently
backed by GIC, a global institutional investor.
Team additions
Mercer Advisors has expanded its private investment leadership
team. Bob Burlinson, will take on an expanded role as senior
director, private markets. He leads the private markets team and
its manager sourcing, due diligence, and monitoring
efforts.
Also joining the investment team is Will Rockett, senior
director, investment strategy group. Rockett, whose 25 years of
asset management experience includes roles with Morgan Stanley,
Charles Schwab, Nuveen, US Trust, and Barclays Capital, now leads
the team of investment strategists tasked with helping advisors
build, implement, and monitor private markets allocations for
clients.
Chris Casdia is joining the team as vice president, private
markets compliance and operations. He brings 15-plus years of
financial services experience from Homrich Berg, Gratus Capital,
and AXA Equitable.