NEW YORK — iCapital Network, the financial technology platform democratizing alternative investments for high-net-worth individuals and their advisors, today announced it realized meaningful increases across all key metrics in 2017, including more than doubling its platform assets, significantly growing its investor network and expanding its executive team.
As of December 31, 2017, following three full years since its formal platform launch, iCapital now services approximately $5.2 billion in platform assets, which represents a more than 1500% increase from 2015. The platform services over 115 private fund access vehicles for approximately 10,000 domestic and international investor accounts, representing consistent year-over-year growth. In the last twelve months, the firm also doubled the number of financial institutions that leverage iCapital’s tech-enabled services to connect the HNW market with alternative asset managers.
“We are honored to have the support of a distinguished group of clients and partners, and our nearly 100 employees are completely focused on supporting the success of our clients,” said Lawrence Calcano, Chief Executive Officer of iCapital Network. “The wealth management community is embracing the need for an automated, transparent approach to alternatives and we are poised for another strong year of collaboration with advisors and general partners.”
Platform Enhancements
In 2017, iCapital continued to strengthen its platform functionality in support of an increasingly diversified slate of investments and globalized investor base.
• iCapital extended the investment offerings for its network across a more complete range of alternative products and exposures, including private equity strategies across the full company lifecycle; private credit strategies, including direct lending, distressed debt and structured credit; a variety of sector focused and real assets funds; and a selection of hedge funds across multi-strategy, hedged credit, event driven, long-short equity and global macro/CTA strategies.
• The firm expanded internationally and implemented a technology solution to support international investors and funds. Additionally, its 4Q acquisition of the US Private Equity Access Fund Platform from Deutsche Bank, which was comprised of 33 fund families representing 53 onshore and offshore vehicles and $2.8 billion in capital across domestic and international investor accounts, further enhanced its international offering.
• It expanded the scope and functionality of its technology platform to provide investment opportunities and support to accredited investors, in addition to its legacy business focused on qualified purchasers, and launched the first investment tailored specifically for the new segment of investors.
• iCapital introduced two-factor authentication to provide an extra layer of security during login and completed Service Organization Control (SOC I Type 2 and SOC II Type 2) exams around the security, availability and confidentiality of its technology-related business processes.
“We have combined industry best practices with leading-edge technology to deliver a secure, end-to-end solution for alternative investing,” said Tom Fortin, Chief Operating Officer of iCapital Network. “As we continue to grow and enhance our platform, we will remain focused on our priority of providing the highest quality alternative investment opportunities in the most efficient way possible.”
Development of Strategic Partnerships
iCapital also executed a number of critical partnerships over the past 12 months to advance industry access to alternative investments.
• iCapital secured strategic investments from some of the largest firms operating in the wealth advisory industry, including BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and UBS, and expanded its partnership with Fidelity Institutional. All four institutions leverage iCapital’s technology.
• The firm established an advisory council with representation from 12 large independent advisory firms to stimulate an industry dialogue about the use of alternative investments and help ensure client-driven product origination and development.
• iCapital partnered with the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association to offer CAIA’s Fundamentals of Alternative Investments certificate program to its member network. This is part of iCapital’s commitment to familiarizing the marketplace with alternative investments, which also entails providing original content on topics such as investment strategies, portfolio construction, practice management and asset class mechanics, as well as research on investor preferences and concerns.
“Alternative investments are important to our business, but it can be a confusing space. We wanted a partner that could provide turnkey solutions and deliver them simply. iCapital Network has done just that by increasing access to managers, providing full due diligence and transparency on the various fund choices and developing a reporting framework that makes it easy to deliver high quality advice to our clients,” said Frank Zecca, CFP, Managing Director at OFS Wealth. “iCapital has completely professionalized the investment experience.”
“Providing access to high quality alternative investment solutions has always been a key focus and differentiator at UBS. As we look to broaden the adoption of alternatives for their diversification and risk-adjusted return benefits, we approached iCapital as a software platform that can scale with an organization of our size,” said Jerry Pascucci, Managing Director at UBS and Head of Alternative Investments, Wealth Management Americas. “iCapital’s industry leading technology platform and operations team will permit our advisors to focus less on paperwork and process and more on serving the needs of their individual clients.”
Expansion of Leadership Team
In 2017, amid growing demand for alternatives from the HNW and UHNW sectors, iCapital grew its team to over 90 employees, including significant additions to its C-Suite.
• Tom Fortin was named Chief Operating Officer of iCapital and is responsible for Technology and Operations. Prior to joining iCapital, Mr. Fortin was a Managing Director at BlackRock from 2001-2017. He was most recently the Global Head of Retail Technology where he was responsible for the strategy, design, and development of BlackRock’s retail sales enablement and digital distribution solutions.
• Jonathan Feigelson has been appointed General Counsel and Managing Director, Head of Human Resources and is responsible for the Legal, Compliance and Human Resources departments. Prior to joining iCapital, Mr. Feigelson was Senior Managing Director, General Counsel and Head of Regulatory Affairs & Policy at TIAA. Before joining TIAA in 2006, he was Managing Director and General Counsel for ABN AMRO’s North American Investment Bank.
• Vanessa Geronimo has been named Chief Accounting Officer and is responsible for the company’s accounting operations and financial reporting functions. Previously, Ms. Geronimo was Director of Finance at CAIS and held various finance roles at Merrill Lynch – Bank of America and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is a CPA and a CFA Level III candidate.
• Richard Prescott Stearns has been named Chief Information Security Officer and will oversee information technology and cybersecurity policies and programs at iCapital. Previously, Mr. Stearns led cloud security architecture at TD Securities, corporate integration at Mount Sinai Health System and both technical compliance and global engineering for Credit Suisse.
“We have doubled the size of our team in the past 12 months to support and accelerate our growth and development,” added Mr. Calcano. “Each new team member represents the thoughtful expansion of our firm’s capabilities with an eye toward improving the investor experience and promoting continued adoption of the iCapital technology.”
Industry Recognition
iCapital was honored with the recognition of its industry colleagues:
• Private Asset Management (PAM) awarded iCapital the title of “Best Fund Product for HNW Clients” at the 2017 PAM Awards, and iCapital has been shortlisted in three categories for the 2018 PAM Awards.
• iCapital was named “Best Outsourced Alternative Investment Platform” by Wealth & Finance International as part of the publication’s 2017 Alternative Investment Awards.
• iCapital has been named a finalist in three categories in the 2018 Family Wealth Report Awards, the winners of which will be announced in March 2018. iCapital was additionally selected as a finalist in the Money Management Institute/Barron’s 2017 Industry Awards and the WealthManagement.com 2017 Industry Awards.
About iCapital Network
iCapital Network is a financial technology platform that provides modular alternative investments solutions for registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, private banks, family offices and other sophisticated investors. The state-of-the-art online portal offers a curated menu of private equity, private credit, venture capital, real estate and hedge funds, along with extensive due diligence support, an automated subscription process and integration with a wide range of custodians and reporting packages. The firm’s configurable technology and specialized suite of services is also used by asset managers and financial institutions to streamline and automate their private fund operational infrastructure. As of December 31, 2017, iCapital serviced approximately $5.2 billion in platform assets including all iCapital entities and their collective assets under management, assets under administration and other fee earning assets.
For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at icapital.com | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icapital-network-inc | Twitter: @icapitalnetwork | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icapitalnetwork/
For iCapital Network media inquiries, please contact:
Emma Murphy, 718-875-4545
Cell 347-968-6800
[email protected]
or
Morgan Cretella, 718-875-7606
Cell 919-602-2806
[email protected]
Disclosures:
The PAM Awards (“PAMA”) are awarded annually by Private Asset Management, a financial services industry publication of Pageant Media. PAMA invites firms to compete for awards in several categories by providing answers regarding their business model, services offered, growth in client count and assets managed, countries of operation, service innovation, and performance. In addition, PAMA permits firms to provide additional information of their choosing in support of their candidacy. A panel of independent industry experts selects the nominees and winners based on a number of qualitative and quantitative performance indicators. PAMA does not release statistics on the number of firms competing. Nomination or receipt of a PAMA is not necessarily indicative of any particular client’s experience or a guarantee that the firm will perform in the future as it did during the period evaluated by PAMA.
The Wealth & Finance International Alternative Investment Awards (“WFIAIA”) recognize firms dedicated to client service, innovation and success in several categories within the alternative investment industry. They have been awarded annually since 2014 by Wealth & Finance International (“WFI”). WFIAIA receives nominations, and once a firm has been nominated and accepted its nomination, firms can supply supplemental information about their key practice area(s), services offered, business strategy and accolades. WFI’s dedicated in-house research team reviews each entry before ultimately selecting the award recipients. Nomination or receipt of a WFIAIA is not necessarily indicative of a recipient’s experience or a guarantee that the recipient firm will perform in the future as it did during the period evaluated by WFI.
This material is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as, and may not be relied on in any manner as legal, tax or investment advice, a recommendation, or as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to purchase or a recommendation of any interest in any fund or security offered by iCapital. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Alternative investments are complex, speculative investment vehicles and are not suitable for all investors. An investment in an alternative investment entails a high degree of risk and no assurance can be given that any alternative investment fund’s investment objectives will be achieved or that investors will receive a return of their capital. The information contained herein is subject to change. Securities may be offered through iCapital Securities, LLC, a registered broker dealer, member of FINRA and SIPC and subsidiary of Institutional Capital Network, Inc. iCapital and iCapital Network are registered trademarks of Institutional Capital Network, Inc. All rights reserved.
