As banks retreated after the financial crisis of 2007-2008, Private Credit filled in the gap. What started as a niche within private equity now operates like a global lending system. And it extends beyond corporate balance sheets, asset-based finance, the ability to lend against real, cash-generating assets is growing fast and offers countless opportunities. The real unlock isn’t just capital — it’s the data and technology allowing to manage these assets at scale.

Granular, asset-level data enables better underwriting, continuous monitoring, and access to previously illiquid markets.

In my conversation with Cesar Estrada, we explored:

* How private credit replaced traditional bank lending

* Why asset-backed finance is now being unleashed

* How to understand the fall of Tricolor and First Brands

* And how data and technology could be defining the winners in this market

A few highlights from our conversation

Asset-based finance - an ever-expanding universe

 Asset-based finance means that instead of lending against the future cash flows of a company, you’re lending against an asset and the contractual cash flows associated with that asset. That’s a very broad definition, and it can include anything within, the consumer, finance world, buy now, pay later, credit cards, auto loans, student loans, any personal term loans, residential mortgages, home, equity lines of credit, the list, keeps on going on as you move outside of a consumer world into, other types of things.

Any type of account receivable, supply chain financing, litigation finance, and then more esoteric stuff like, synthetic risk transfers and other things. And it’s becoming very specialized by verticals: aviation finance, medical equipment finance…

It has possibly a larger addressable market than direct lending. It offers a lot of runway for growth for private equity, private credit firms, hedge funds, and insurance companies participating directly in this space.

The need for data feeds

 From a risk management perspective, given the rate of change of a consumer world, loans are being paid, new loans are being issued, loans are being not paid. You want to be monitoring this much much more real time than you do in a corporate book, where you’re getting monthly reporting from the borrower and you are comparing their latest actual financials against the original underwriting thesis against prior periods. And you do that activity once a month.

This is not a once-a-month thing. This is a daily thing. You want to see how it’s changing because it’s changing very dynamically.

I was surprised that this frequency of data was even a possibility, and Cesar also added that it goes beyond risk management; it also feeds into the creation of funds for private investors with daily NAV and daily liquidity.

 The frequency of reporting increases, the liquidity choices increase, and the volumes and rate of change in the investment strategies increase. That all compounds to necessitate a very robust, modern technology to process all of that data.

The First Brands & Tricolor question

Cesar mentioned he didn’t have any specifics on the situation, and when I asked about the data issue, his response from a data management provider was to be expected.

It is certainly possible that better data with more accuracy and more frequency could have helped offer a view that those assets were being used as collateral with multiple lenders. […]

But I wanted to dig a bit further, and at first, the response confirmed that when a crisis happens, all assets that are linked to it fall at the same time, even if in the long term, there’s dispersion (like banks during the Global Financial crisis)

In terms of how it happened so quickly, so abruptly. Again, pure speculation, I think that those things might have been bubbling without the public knowing for a while. But as soon as a big source of financing decides that you’re no longer creditworthy, all of the other sources of financing follow suit, and it’s very abrupt. You can face a liquidity challenge and go bankrupt.

It reminded me that Apollo Global Management shorted First Brands’ credit risk before the company’s fall, showing the information asymmetry that still exists in private credit. This requires a few caveats: First Brands was more direct lending; Tricolor was more linked to asset-based finance; nothing says that Apollo had better data. Yet, until the data-based approach that Cesar described becomes table stakes, it could be an important differentiator.

Related episode:

About Cesar Estrada:Cesar oversees Arcesium’s investment operations, accounting, and data management solutions for private markets fund managers and institutional investors. Previously, he served as Senior Managing Director and Alternatives Segment Head for North America at State Street – a role in which he drove the growth agenda for a business with approximately $1 trillion in Assets Under Administration (AUA) by leading new product launches, expansion into new client segments, strategic partnerships, and acquisitions. Prior to that, as a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, Cesar led the Private Equity & Real Estate Funds Services business from launch to $350Bn AUA. While at J.P. Morgan, he also held investment banking roles in New York, London, and Hong Kong.

Link: https://www.arcesium.com/authors/cesar-estrada

About the Investlogy podcast:Investology is a podcast dedicated to rethinking investment management and uncovering new ways to deliver better outcomes for investors.Listen on every podcast platform, or watch on YouTube.

An episode produced by Orama:

Accelerate sales to the financial industry with content that builds trust and drives pipeline with sales-driven video strategies.

About the Host:

George Aliferis, CAIA is the founder of Orama, where he has produced content for financial brands and multinationals, including Amazon, Expedia, Louis Vuitton, and Unilever. Before that, he spent over a decade structuring, marketing and selling complex financial products to institutional clients in Europe and Asia.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-aliferis-60078312/

My Investing & Investment Management YouTube Channels

* Investorama - Separating Investment Facts from Financial Fiction (YouTube)

* Investology - Re-Think Investment Management (YouTube)

I’ve been hoping to discuss special situations and distressed debt, one of the least hyped but most interesting areas of finance and credit for a while.

Distressed debt investing requires a triple threat skillset: understanding legal frameworks, financial health, and industry landscapes.

It offers unique diversification benefits, standing apart from traditional equity and bond markets, and offers relatively defined investment horizons.

For all these reasons, the potential for alpha generation is significant, but it demands patience and precision.

So when I got the chance to interview Dan Bird’s team who’s been holding senior roles in that space for over two decades, I jumped on this rare opportunity. We explore the complexity of these markets and the skillsets needed to navigate them.

HIGHLIGHTS

Versatility

 You have to look at the company, and what it’s doing and determine a value. And sometimes that’s specific assets and sometimes that’s a stream of cash flows. Sometimes that’s intellectual property.

And then you need to be a management consultant. Is this business capable of turning itself around? Are industry forces too far against this company that it’ll never recover? So you need a, you need a lot of different skill sets in order to be successful in this type of industry.

Patience and Timing in Investments

When something in the industry changes. People are reluctant to acknowledge it. People don’t like change. Everyone thinks things revert to the mean. A lot of people involved in the situation tend to have bias just because they’ve been involved in the situation. They tend to overvalue the ability of companies to recover.

At this stage, I was thinking: “yeah, that’s when you, distressed investor, must intervene.” But then Dan added:

That’s the most dangerous time to invest when we don’t really know.

Part of doing this job the right way is finding the right entry point, the right timing. It’s very infrequently early.

Patience does matter in terms of getting into these things. A lot of time,s that doesn’t happen until very long after things start to change.

On Private Credit

We also discussed the rapid rise of private credit:

There’s worry about some of the assets that were originated in that period. We’ll have a little bit more stress. It’s possible. It’ll take a little while to figure that out. From my perspective, that just creates different opportunities.

And I always find it insightful, or surprising, when I hear an insider’s perspective on private markets:

Look, some investors like private assets because they don’t have to mark them to market.

To a public market mindset, this is counterintuitive. It goes against the “illiquidity premium”. One famous critic, Cliff Assness, calls it “volatility laundering”. And I used to agree wholeheartedly, but my perspective has evolved. Of course, marking your own NAV creates Fundzi (fund + ponzi) opportunities. But on the other hand, I can see how you may not want to be subject to the erratic behaviour of Mr Market.

About Dan Bird: As the founder of Thornwood Hill LLP, I specialize in credit and alternatives asset management. With over 25 years of experience in the financial industry, I have a proven track record of managing diverse portfolios across the credit spectrum, from direct lending, to special opportunities and distressed debt to liquid credit. My expertise lies in identifying and executing strategic investment opportunities, ensuring optimal risk management, and delivering strong returns for clients. I am passionate about creating value through innovative and tailored solutions that meet the unique needs of each investor.

* LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/daniel-bird-18456a42

About the Show: Investology is a podcast dedicated to rethinking investment management and uncovering new ways to deliver better outcomes for investors. Listen on every podcast platform, or on YouTube.

An episode produced by Orama:

Accelerate sales to the financial industry with content that builds trust and drives pipeline, with sales-driven video strategies

About the Host:

George Aliferis, CAIA is the founder of Orama, where he has produced content for many financial brands and multinationals like Amazon, Expedia, Louis Vuitton, and Unilever. Before that, he spent over a decade structuring, marketing and selling complex financial products to institutional clients in Europe and Asia.

Related episodes:

Episode with Aarron Filbeck from the CAIA Association on Private Debt

My Investing & Investment Management YouTube Channels

* Investorama - Separating Investment Facts from Financial Fiction (YouTube)

* Investology - Re-Think Investment Management (YouTube)

In this solo episode, George Aliferis explores the complexities and risks associated with high-yield investment platforms, focusing on Yield Street, now rebranded as Willow Wealth. Through personal investigation and a detailed case study, he uncovers how Yieldstreet’s business model potentially leads to significant losses for investors, despite attractive marketing claims. The episode features an interview with investor Justin Klish, who shares his firsthand experiences and lessons learned from substantial losses on the platform, offering valuable insights and cautionary advice for investors considering similar opportunities.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Unveiling Yieldstreet’s Business Model

04:43 Deep Dive into Yieldstreet’s Products

08:11 Analysing the Risks and Failures

25:00 Interview with Yieldstreet investor Justin Klish

Related episodes

My Investing & Investment Management channels

* Investorama - Separating Investment Facts from Financial Fiction (YouTube)

* Investology - Re-Think Investment Management (YouTube)

* Investology in Audio version

For B2B Brands, Marketers & Podcasters

* Orama (my business): Accelerate sales to the financial industry with content that builds trust and drives pipeline.

* Newsletter about Selling to Financial Services: on Substack

We discuss the transformative developments in the fixed income market with Blake Lynch from IMTC.

Advancements in cloud computing and automation are streamlining the traditionally manual processes associated with fixed income investments, allowing for customized portfolios at scale. This has made SMA wrappers (Separately Managed Accounts) a lot more accessible, enabling greater transparency, direct ownership, and potential tax efficiency for the bond portfolios of an increasingly large number of investors.

An “Aha moment” for George Aliferis (host):

I’ve been involved in ETFs since the launch of Deutsche Bank’s X-Trackers in 2007, and I’ve always believed they were an ideal wrapper for equity markets. Today they dominate. While the earlier ETFs were equity, there have been considerable developments in fixed income ETFs as well (now totalling $2 trillion in assets), but it’s not straightforward. Indexing fixed income is problematic. And there’s the fact that you can own a fund of AAA bonds, but still lose your capital due to the mark-to-market. This conversation has made me realize the adequacy of the SMA wrapper for bonds and its huge potential.

About Blake Lynch, CETF®:Head Of Sales at IMTCMy mission is to address the industry’s failure to innovate and enhance technology in the fixed income space, which has resulted in fixed income professionals being neglected and subjected to inadequate and inefficient tools. I am passionate about simplifying and optimizing bond portfolio management with innovative and user-friendly software that enables meaningful automation and optimization, or as we like to call it, decision support. This allows fixed income professionals to focus on key business activities and client goals, rather than wasting time on manual and error-prone tasks. I have a proven track record of expanding the market share and reach of IMTC’s SaaS technology, leveraging my skills in new business development, sales enablement, strategic beta, and over 10 years of experience in the financial services space.

Connect with Blake Lynch, CETF®:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakejlynch/

* Website: https://imtc.com/

About the Show:Investology is a podcast hosted by George Aliferis, CAIA, dedicated to rethinking investment management and uncovering new ways to deliver better outcomes for investors.Listen on every podcast platform, or on YouTube.

Resources Mentioned:

Episode with Russell Feldman (CEO of IMTC)

Episode with MJ Lytle (then-CEO of Tabula)

Timestamps & Topics:00:00 Introducing a pivotal moment in fixed income

02:27 Understanding Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs)

04:48 The technological revolution in bond portfolio management

07:56 Benefits of SMAs

10:07 How IMTC works

28:33 The outlook for fixed income technology

My Investing & Investment Management channels

* Investorama - Separating Investment Facts from Financial Fiction (YouTube)

* Investology - Re-Think Investment Management (YouTube)

* Investology in Audio version

For B2B Brands, Marketers & Podcasters

Orama (my business): helps brands grow with podcasts & videos - DM if you need help with a brand podcast or videos

Newsletter about B2B marketing and podcasting: on Substack

Marco Aboav, CEO of Etna Research, delivers a contrarian take on the current state of AI and automation in financial services. The real challenge now is not technology, but change management, for operational efficiency. But not as a magic bullet for generating alpha. The real edge comes from domain expertise, data selection, and sophisticated modelling—areas where AI can assist but not replace human judgment.

Key Takeaways:

* The innovation cycle in AI for finance is already peaking—most essential tools and workflows are already available.

* The next frontier is not more technology, but how organizations manage change, optimize teams, and handle data in a world of brutal efficiency.

* Incumbents can still fight back against pricing pressure through operational efficiency and smart management decisions.

* Big tech companies may struggle to succeed in verticals like finance, where high accuracy and deep integration are required.

* The “frontier” is in highly specialized, vertical applications, not in generic AI solutions.

About Marco Aboav:Marco Aboav is the CEO and Founder of Etna Research, specializing in the intersection of AI, data, and financial services. With deep expertise in operational efficiency and technology integration, Marco brings a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry today.

”I fell in love with AI's potential to transform investing back in 2009 while wrestling with my engineering PhD. Since then, I’ve spent my career in financial services—across buy and sell-side roles in London—building businesses, managing money, and applying AI to capital markets.”

Connect with Marco Aboav:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-jean-aboav/

* Website: Etna Research

About the Show:Investology is a podcast hosted by George Aliferis, CAIA, dedicated to rethinking investment management and uncovering new ways to deliver better outcomes for investors.Listen on every podcast platform, or on YouTube.

Resources Mentioned:

* Previous episode with Marco:

* Perplexity for Finance: https://www.perplexity.ai/finance

* Anthropic’s MCP protocol: https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol

* Finbourne’s MCP announcement: https://www.finbourne.com/finbourne-unlocks-compliant-agentic-ai-for-the-investment-industry-powered-by-mcp/

* Anthropic for Financial Services: https://www.anthropic.com/solutions/financial-services

Etna’s recent publications

* Diversification an Ephemeral Illusion: https://etnaresearch.notion.site/Diversification-An-Ephemeral-Illusion-231457fd575a800ead88c99086368e8a?pvs=74

* Backtest Roulette: https://etnaresearch.notion.site/Backtest-Roulette-238457fd575a80dc8c27dc8e7574ed40

Timestamps & Topics:00:00 – Introduction: Data Challenges

04:00 – Introduction to Agent AI for Data Management

06:39 – Simplifying Data Processes with AI

08:47 – The Role of Data in Gaining Competitive Edge

13:06 – Generative AI in Financial Services: Commodity or Edge?

19:13 – Operational Efficiency and AI Adoption

25:03 – Verticalization and High-Precision Problems

40:30 – The Future of AI in Investment Management

A deep dive into the inner workings of hedge funds and quantitative investing, with Dr. Richard Saldanha, a seasoned quant, former hedge fund manager, and now an academic and consultant.Richard shares stories from his career, including cautionary tales of fraud, and offers a contrarian take on the democratization of finance. Learn why adaptability, skepticism, and data quality are more important than ever in today’s markets.

Watch it on Substack or listen on your preferred podcast app.

Key Takeaways:

* Data quality and access are critical—and often underestimated—challenges in finance.

* Market inefficiencies persist, and quants thrive by exploiting them, but adaptability is key.

* Many hedge fund strategies have become commoditized; true innovation is rare and valuable.

* The democratization of investing is driven by ETFs, not hedge funds or private equity.

* Due diligence is essential—fraud and misrepresentation still occur at the highest levels.

Related episodes:

* Previous episode with Dr. Richard Saldanha on AI

* Marco Aboav: Quant Trading from Data to Alpha

* Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies & The Quant Revolution | Greg Zuckerman

Resources Mentioned:

* Renaissance Technologies

* AQR Capital Management

Connect with Dr. Richard Saldanha:

* On LinkedIn

* Oxquant (Richard’s consultancy)

Timestamps & Topics:

[00:00] - Introduction to Dr. Richard Saldanha - an insider’s look at hedge funds.[00:36] - The Importance of Financial Data[01:55] - Quantitative Trading and Market Inefficiencies[03:34] - Challenges in Hedge Fund Strategies[05:20] - Renaissance Technologies: Ahead of the Game[07:55] - The Evolution and Challenges of Hedge Funds[09:41] - The Democratization of Investments[13:38] - Private Equity vs. Hedge Funds[18:18] - Cautionary Tales: Fraud in Hedge Funds

About the Show:Investology is a podcast hosted by George Aliferis, CAIA, dedicated to rethinking investment management and uncovering new ways to deliver better outcomes for investors.

Listen on every podcast platform, or watch on YouTube.

Thanks for reading Investology: re-think investment management! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

My Investing & Investment Management channels

Investorama - Separating Investment Facts from Financial Fiction (YouTube)

Investology - Re-Think Investment Management (YouTube)

Investology in Audio version

For B2B Brands, Marketers & Podcasters

Orama (my business): helps brands grow with podcasts & videos - DM if you need help with a brand podcast or YouTube channel

Newsletter about B2B marketing and podcasting: on Substack

I love referring to the HBO show Succession, it’s one of the greatest dramas, I would go as far as to compare it with my all-time favourite, “The Sopranos”.

And… it truly is a masterclass in how NOT to handle estate planning. Family feuds, intense legal battles, and being reckless with your assets are great for drama, but you don’t want any of that in real life.

Estate planning is an(other) area where the advice model is broken; it’s a wealth management issue that lawyers typically handle. So, it doesn’t receive the holistic approach to wealth, tax, and family-specific considerations it deserves.

I spoke with Gene Farrell, the CEO and President of Vanilla, a company that has raised $84 million to build the technology that changes that.

This episode is from a new Wealthtech series.

LINKS

Vanilla website: https://www.justvanilla.com/

Related Wealthtech episode: Wealth Engineered - Quantifeed

📩 Get episodes by email and go even deeper with the Investology Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3AxnyTY

🎧Investology on podcast platforms: https://pod.link/1511595070

📹Investology on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investology_podcast

This episode was produced by Orama - a video and podcast studio for B2B brands https://orama.tv/

ABOUT VANILLA

Estate planning is no longer just a luxury–it’s a necessity when delivering holistic financial advice. Vanilla’s next-generation software makes estate planning easy for every client.

ABOUT THE INVESTOLOGY PODCAST

A podcast that helps you think about critical topics and principles of investment management. Each episode explores the technology, mythology, psychology, and narratology of investment management through interviews with acclaimed authors, innovative startup founders, and industry pioneers.

ABOUT GEORGE ALIFERIS: INVESTOLOGIST & HOST

With a background in investment management and selling sophisticated products to large institutional investors across Europe and Asia, George is now on a mission to find new ways to deliver better outcomes for investors.

Aside from the Investology podcast, George is a content creator for the finance industry and the founder of Orama a podcast and video agency.

He’s a CAIA Charterholder (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association); and holds a Master’s from HEC, Paris

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to Estate Planning Drama

01:23 The Importance of Having an Estate Plan

02:06 Challenges in Estate Planning

02:14 Vanilla's Role in Estate Planning

03:45 Components of a Good Estate Plan

05:09 Legacy and Tax Efficiency

07:03 State and Federal Tax Implications

09:11 Vanilla's Technology and Services

10:22 Vanilla's Founding and Growth

14:37 Advisor and Client Engagement

33:13 Market Potential and Challenges

36:42 CEO's Background and Journey

40:51 Conclusion and Contact Information

My chat with Andrea Carnelli Dompe, the founder and CEO of Tamarix Technologies, about the intersection of private market investing and AI technology. We discuss the usefulness of AI agents in helping institutional investors, family offices, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals escape the operational chaos of private markets investing.

It’s also a masterclass in building a startup in the age of AI.

USEFUL LINKS

* Visit the Tamarix website

* Andrea on LinkedIn

* You can subscribe to the podcast on audio platforms and YouTube

This episode was produced by Orama - a video and podcast studio for B2B fintech brands.

ABOUT TAMARIX

Automated data management and portfolio monitoring for private markets investors (LPs).

Tamarix helps leading LPs save costs and make better investment decisions by automating data entry, monitoring & reporting, and portfolio analysis.

Capital allocators waste 1000s of hours each year extracting, cleaning, and analyzing data locked in PDF reports such as notices, capital accounts statements, and quarterly reports. Commonly cited challenges include data entry, reporting, and modelling cash flow and NAVs to manage liquidity and pace commitments.

Thanks to our cutting-edge AI technology, we automatically turn messy data into a clean, real-time, actionable overview of your private capital portfolio - so you can save 1000s of hours of human labour, and focus on making better investment decisions.

ABOUT THE INVESTOLOGY PODCAST

A podcast that helps you think about critical topics and principles of investment management. Each episode explores the technology, mythology, psychology, and narratology of investment management through interviews with acclaimed authors, innovative startup founders, and industry pioneers.

ABOUT GEORGE ALIFERIS: INVESTOLOGIST & HOST

With a background in investment management, George is on a mission to find new ways to deliver better outcomes for investors.

Founder of Orama a podcast and video agency working with the finance industry.

CAIA Charterholder (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association); Master’s from HEC, Paris

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 The mix of private markets, AI and data

01:27 Andrea's Background and Journey

02:19 Understanding Limited Partners (LPs)

05:26 Operational Challenges for LPs

06:07 Tamari's AI-Driven Solutions

09:02 Traditional vs. AI-Driven Approaches

10:29 Implementing Tamarix's Solutions

12:49 Measuring Efficiency and Impact

14:45 The Role of AI in Private Markets

22:59 Future of Private Markets and Democratization

26:16 Conclusion and Contact Information

I spoke with Leyla Kunimoto, the writer behind the Accredited Investor Insights Substack, and I finally got what it takes to “democratize private assets”.

One approach is to incentivize financial advisors to distribute evergreen funds and enroll them in a 'university' established by one of the dominant firms in the market.

Alternatively, you can empower individuals by offering case studies and tools to help them conduct due diligence and select deals to join as Limited Partners (LPs), and it takes a lot of commitment and effort on their side.

We mainly used private real estate examples, but we covered a broad range:

* The information imbalance in private assets

* Who are the retail LPs?

* How they can try to achieve some Alpha

* The critical advice to get started

* How the value of private investing goes beyond returns

* Why AI is the biggest unlock for democratization

* The power of memes!

LINKS

Accredited Investor Insights: https://www.accreditedinsight.com/

Leyla on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lkunimoto/

📩 Get episodes by email and go even deeper with the Investology Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3AxnyTY

🎧Investology on podcast platforms: https://pod.link/1511595070

📹Investology on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investology_podcast

Related tweet: https://x.com/NicoGladia/status/1934997429520150573

This episode was produced by Orama - a video and podcast studio for B2B brands https://orama.tv/

ABOUT ACCREDITED INVESTOR INSIGHTS

Accredited Investor Insights is one-of-a-kind: the only voice offering a perspective from the LP seat. We cover both the good and the not so good—and often, useful resources (like articles and reports)—drawing on insights from hundreds of deals and numerous conversations with sponsors, LPs, and service providers.

Whether you're new to investing or a seasoned pro, our goal is to provide you with the insights and information you need to succeed. Join us on this journey as we strive to elevate the standards of investment education and due diligence for Accredited Investors everywhere.

ABOUT THE INVESTOLOGY PODCAST

A podcast that helps you think about critical topics and principles of investment management. Each episode explores the technology, mythology, psychology, and narratology of investment management through interviews with acclaimed authors, innovative startup founders, and industry pioneers.

ABOUT GEORGE ALIFERIS: INVESTOLOGIST & HOST

With a background in investment management and selling sophisticated products to large institutional investors across Europe and Asia, George is now on a mission to find new ways to deliver better outcomes for investors.

Aside from the Investology podcast, George is a content creator for the finance industry and the founder of Orama a podcast and video agency.

He’s a CAIA Charterholder (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association); and holds a Master’s from HEC, Paris

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introducing the “Private Assets Universities”

01:03 The Birth of Accredited Investor Insights

02:48 What does the Democratization of Alts really mean?

03:58 Who are the retail LP investors?

06:17 Paths to private market access

10:09 Challenges, nuances and opportunities in Private Assets

15:44 Advice for new investors

29:57 The role of AI in investment analysis for private real estate

32:23 The power of Social Media and content

36:20 Final Thoughts

Once a celebrated investment concept amassing over $50 trillion in assets, ESG is now facing criticism and skepticism. George Aliferis reflects on ESG, recalling previous podcast conversations with two experts: Alex Edmans, an academic and author, and James Lawrence, Head of Investment at Smart Pension. If it's end of ESG, is this the beginning of something better?

Newsletter: https://investorama.substack.com/

Podcast with Alex Edmans:

Podcast with James Lawrence:

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 ESG: a $50 trillion investment management success

02:28 The rise of esg

04:33 The end of the rule of metrics (vs. judgement)

08:18 The end of short-term thinking (vs. long-term)

10:10 The end of black and white thinking (vs. nuance)

14:58 The end of ESG

I chat with Ross Milward from Quantifeed about moving beyond product sales towards a future where technology empowers investors.

Today’s investors need more than a list of products—they need guidance. By integrating software solutions, the wealth management industry can align itself with the long-term goals of clients, build better portfolios and embrace a more holistic approach.

TRIVIA: Ross and I were colleagues at Deutsche Bank for a while, although in different locations. As a salesperson, I witnessed the quantitative revolution in equity derivatives that Ross and his team engineered. This allowed greater access to quantitative tools and products within Deutsche Bank, between sales traders and structurers. This movement is now extending across vendors, advisors and end-clients.

HIGHLIGHTS

On wealth management:

If wealth management can be more accessible, you used the word democratize, that would be wonderful. There’s obviously a lot of stress in the global system around ageing populations, the burden that’s putting on pension funds, the earlier people can invest for the longer term the better. Bringing these tools into the hands of the end-customer, into the hands of the advisor, is the vision for us.

That democratization, for all of us, would be wonderful and for an advisor to sit with me, and have a solution, that I then work towards with that person over months and years, rather than being sold a product and then three months later thinking, what the hell did I buy that for? I can’t remember what that product was. That change of conversation is still really an opportunity for the industry.

The partnership model:

Nobody in this ecosystem can do everything. So I do think that partnership model, where we can work with the experts on the data, or the valuation of structured products, et cetera, fits really nicely for us. And when we work with financial institutions, there will often be one or two of these partnerships around data and product.

The AI opportunity for usability:

There’s a lot of opportunity for the AI tooling to provide information and bubble up information in a different form of interface than the current user interfaces that a lot of these platforms have. The combination of AI leveraging the underlying algorithms and the data can enable better usability. An advisor logging in at the start of a day, instead of them navigating and looking at what to do, you can be sweeping with agents saying: Well look, there’s been a movement in a set of customers positions or there’s been a change in a particular fund price, or we’ve just had the strategic asset allocation from our CIO group has just been imported and it’s impacting a set of clients.

LINKS

Quantifeed’s website: https://www.quantifeed.com/

Ross Milward on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-milward-36770b/

George Aliferis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-aliferis-60078312/

Investology on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investology_podcast

This episode was produced by Orama - a video and podcast studio for B2B brands: https://orama.tv/

ABOUT QUANTIFEED

Combining software engineering and quantitative finance, Quantifeed helps transform financial institutions into providers of wealthcare, a customer-centric service focused on meeting everyone's wealth management needs. Quantifeed’s solutions empower CIOs, customers, advisors, and portfolio managers. Quantifeed’s suite of capabilities and services can be assembled and configured to create compelling digital advice propositions.

ABOUT THE INVESTOLOGY PODCAST

A podcast that helps you think about critical topics and principles of investment management. Available on all podcast platforms https://pod.link/1511595070 or YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@investology_podcast

ABOUT GEORGE ALIFERIS

George is driven by a mission to explore innovative ways to deliver better outcomes for investors. His career began in financial markets sales at institutions such as Natixis, Deutsche Bank, and Invesco (Source), where he specialised in alternative investments, derivatives, and ETFs.

George is the founder of Orama, a financial services content agency. He is a CAIA Charterholder and holds a master’s degree from HEC Paris.

To be featured on the podcast, you can contact [email protected]

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Fixing Wealth Management with Quant & Software

02:24 Early Career and Experience at Deutsche Bank

04:21 Understanding the Role of Quants and Developers

05:27 Scaling and Architecture in Financial Systems

06:47 Evolution of Trading Platforms

08:31 Founding of Quantifeed

11:06 Client Segments and Services

13:18 Implementation and Integration of Quantifeed Solutions

26:08 Impact of AI and Machine Learning

33:51 The Advice System is Broken (Alokik Advani FISV)

36:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

My Investing & Investment Management channels

Investorama - Separating Investment Facts from Financial Fiction (YouTube)

Investology - Re-Think Investment Management (YouTube)

Investology in Audio version

For B2B Brands, Marketers & Podcasters

Orama (my business): Accelerate sales to the financial industry with content that builds trust and drives pipeline.

Newsletter about Selling to Financial Services: on Substack