Partners Group bags iCapital exec, after signing BlackRock to add alts to model portfolios; reportedly now pressing DOL for 401(k) investor access
- Partners Group hires iCapital's Amoroso to spearhead private wealth and retirement strategies.
- BlackRock partnership aims to integrate alternative investments into model portfolios.
- Firm reportedly pressures DOL for 401(k) access, targeting individual investors.
- Partners Group seeks growth amid slowed private equity dealmaking and changing investor landscape.
An alts giant that wants a retail presence is on a minor hiring and collaboration spree to make it happen.
Nine months after signing a deal with BlackRock to launch model portfolios with alternative investments, Partners Group has poached iCapital's chief investment strategist to grow into her former platform's market – RIAs and stockbrokers.
The New York City alts shop, which has $150 billion in overall assets under management, made Anastasia Amoroso its chief investment strategist for private wealth and retirement.
Partners Group made a Bloomberg headline on May 15 when the news service quoted anonymous sources saying the buyout firm is leaning on the Labor Department to allow it to sell its investments through 401(k) plan sponsors. See: Partners Group Will Urge Trump Officials to Bless Private Equity in 401(k)s
Her hire follows the firm's February appointment of Phil Shankweiler, former Starwood Capital Group head of RIA and multifamily office fundraising. He'll serve as Partners Group's new head of RIA sales.
“With the addressable market anticipated to keep growing … [they] have extremely valuable roles to play,” said Partners Group Partner and head of US private wealth Robert Collins in a Jun. 2 release.
Amoroso will join Partners Group at the end of June.
Green pastures
Partners Group signed a deal with BlackRock last September to launch a model portfolio that incorporates private equity, private credit, and other alts assets.
In its article, Bloomberg pointed to individual investors as a green pasture for a private equity industry starved for untapped assets.
“Alternative asset managers are searching for new sources of capital as some of their traditional backers, especially US pension funds, have reined in new investments,” it writes.
“Meanwhile, private equity deal making has slowed to a trickle since the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in 2022, making it harder to return money to investors.”
Steffen Meister, Partners Group's executive chairman, expresses optimism that his company's collaboration with BlackRock will set the standard, or even “revolutionize” private markets for mass investors.
“This separately managed account solution has the potential to revolutionize the wealth management industry, setting a new benchmark for institutional-quality programs that meet wealth investors’ private markets portfolio needs,” he said.
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