Alt Goes Mainstream: The Latest on Alternative Investments, WealthTech, & Private Markets

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
We sat down with Paul Desmarais III, the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Sagard, the fast-growing $46B global multi-strategy alternative asset manager.
We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin.
With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers.
Sagard combines a rich history and heritage of building asset management businesses with a modern approach to building a global alternative asset manager.
Paul’s deep understanding of the industry comes from being part of a family of multiple generations of asset management pioneers in Canada who have built some of the industry’s largest financial services businesses. 
Paul is the “next first generation” of asset management pioneers to come out of the Desmarais family. He started Sagard with $400M in seed capital in 2016 and, in ten short years, has grown the platform into a global multi-strategy alternative asset manager with over $46B. 
Sagard’s mission to empower founders by being a business that builds businesses shines through in the approach Paul and the team have taken in building Sagard. The firm has incubated, built, and acquired asset management talent and firms to scale across strategy and geography into the global platform that it is today.
Paul and I had a fascinating conversation about the business of asset management and why Sagard exists to serve entrepreneurs around the world. We covered:
Sagard’s entrepreneurial DNA.
What does it mean to build a business that builds businesses?
Being the “next first generation.”
How Sagard approaches the buy, build, partner framework of asset management businesses.
How Sagard has expanded its platform across asset classes and strategies.
How to build a global, multi-strategy asset management brand.
Why specialization matters in asset management.
How to approach the wealth channel.
The decentralized pod shop model.
The future of private markets.
Bio
Paul Desmarais III is the Chairman and CEO of Sagard, an alternative asset management firm active in venture capital, private equity, credit, and real estate.
Paul has led Sagard since 2016, along with a handful of close partners bound by a common vision: partnering with entrepreneurs to catalyze transformation in our investments and communities. Sagard has experienced outstanding growth, with assets under management increasing to over $46B.
Under Paul, Sagard has built a global network of expertise that helps companies lead, embrace, and stay ahead of disruptive trends, expanding activity in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Paul engages actively in growing Sagard companies. Within the Sagard ecosystem, Paul is the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Portage (fintech & financial services investing) and the Chairman and Co-Founder of Diagram (venture builder). Within the investment portfolios, he is the Chairman of Wealthsimple, Novisto, and Sagard Wealth, and a director of Nesto and Midas. Paul also sits on the board of Empower, the number two 401(k) business in the U.S.
Show Notes

00:00 Live From SuperReturn
00:10 Meet Paul Desmarais III
01:06 Family Business Roots
01:23 G1 Entrepreneur Mindset
01:35 Launching Sagard 2016
01:51 Generational Reinvention
02:02 Early Spark To Build
03:40 Learning From Mistakes
04:33 By Entrepreneurs For Entrepreneurs
04:45 Sagard Origin Story
04:58 Power Corp Alternatives Gap
05:43 Starting With Credit
06:10 Serving Beyond The Family
06:46 Alignment With Family Capital
07:19 Customer First Performance
07:44 Team Money Invested
07:53 Generational Time Horizon
08:47 Patience Builds Partnerships
09:22 Innovation In The DNA
09:39 Regional To Global Champions
09:53 Why Reinvention Matters
10:26 Platform Strategy Mix
11:02 Pillars Of The Firm
11:25 Fintech Ecosystem Flywheel
11:35 Building The Competitive Moat
12:07 Emerging Managers Advantage
12:41 Synergies At Scale
13:08 Designing Collaboration
13:47 Incentives And Shared Carry
15:07 Values Drive Culture
23:25 Legacy And Entrepreneur Impact
24:39 Closing Thanks

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
We sat down with Brookfield Private Equity CEO Anuj Ranjan. 
We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin.
With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers.
Brookfield has a rich legacy as an asset owner and operator of some of the “businesses that drive the global economy.” Brookfield is a firm where skin in the game (~25% of every fund includes an investment from Brookfield’s balance sheet) meets scale and synergies across its investment platform, which spans private equity, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and energy.
Now, they are looking to own what’s next.
What will the next era of private equity require? A different approach, according to Brookfield Private Equity CEO Anuj Ranjan. 
The conversation that Anuj and I had in the Tiny Space cabin covered big themes.
Brookfield is investing in the megatrends that are driving the world’s economy across its platform, from digitalization to decarbonization to deglobalization. The firm’s focus on industrials in its private equity business makes it well equipped to invest in essential companies, as Brookfield aptly describes their investment focus as “own[ing] the boring that makes exciting possible.”
Anuj and I had a fascinating conversation about the current state of private equity and what it will take to drive value in a new era for the industry where “12 is the new 5.” We covered:
Brookfield’s history as an owner-operator.
How the firm’s long-term perspective informs its investments in and ownership of private equity-backed companies.
Anuj’s experience investing in India was an exercise in patience.
Why is today the era of “roll up your sleeves private equity?”
How Brookfield is approaching value creation in industrial companies.
Where Brookfield believes it can leverage AI to create post-deal operational value.
Why Brookfield partnered with OpenAI to create DeployCo in order to scale enterprise AI deployment.
Where are we in the adoption curve of physical AI and robotics?
Bio
Anuj Ranjan is Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield’s Private Equity Group and Brookfield Business Corporation. In this role, Mr. Ranjan is responsible for the investments, operations, and expansion of the Private Equity business, in addition to managing Brookfield’s external strategic partnerships. He is a member of Brookfield’s Executive Committee.
Mr. Ranjan joined Brookfield in 2006 and has held various positions within the company and its affiliates. He established and previously led Brookfield’s India and Middle East operations.
Mr. Ranjan holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Ivey Business School at Western University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alberta.
Thanks, Anuj, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets and how to create value through operating companies better.
Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to SuperReturn
00:07 Meet Anuj Ranjan
00:55 From Software to Finance
02:03 Building India and Mideast
02:48 India Deal Frenzy
03:17 Five Years of Patience
03:22 Learning Before Buying
03:28 First True Buyouts
04:06 Profits and Team Growth
04:16 Taking Model Global
04:32 Growth Amid Headwinds
04:58 Roll Up Sleeves Private Equity Era
05:06 Operational Value Creation
05:12 Brookfield Platform DNA
05:33 Balance Sheet Advantage
05:54 Long-Term Investing
06:12 Patience Gets Rewarded
07:14 Testing Tech on Balance Sheet
07:32 Owning What’s Next
07:41 AI Needs Hard Assets
07:58 Brookfield at the Center
09:09 One Firm Collaboration
09:51 Platform Informs Deals
11:27 Westinghouse Nuclear Bet
15:19 Picking the Right Carve Outs
16:34 Pricing Power Example
17:51 From Five to Twelve
18:59 Why Carve Outs Win Now
20:05 AI for Industrial Ops
20:53 Data Before AI
22:12 Predictive Maintenance Story
23:31 Physical AI and Robotics
24:52 Digitizing the Physical World
25:33 Humanoid Robotics Timeline
26:28 Deploying AI at Scale
26:56 Execution Beats Innovation
27:52 Best AI Investment Thesis
28:00 Buying Boring Businesses
28:52 AI Ready Leadership Team
29:30 Hiring Real Tech Leaders
30:00 Blockbuster vs Netflix
30:43 Closing Reflections

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
We sat down with Vista Equity Partners’ Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Flagship Fund, Monti Saroya. 
We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin.
With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers.

Vista Equity Partners has been a pioneer in enterprise software investing. They have been at the forefront of every major technology platform shift, whether it was on-prem to cloud, the adoption of enterprise software, and now the agentification of the enterprise with AI.
The $103B AUM scaled specialist software investor has dedicated its efforts to building “mission critical” enterprise software companies that organizations can’t live without.
Monti has had a front-row seat in building and developing both infrastructure and software that the technology industry can’t live without. He brings to bear the perspective of someone who lived through the early days of the internet from his time at Cisco Systems and Siebel Systems. Through this lens, and drawing on his experience investing in enterprise software companies since joining Vista in 2008, Monti is able to make sense of where, how, and why AI will be adopted within the enterprise, and what it means for both operators and investors.
This conversation with Monti was one of the most illuminating conversations I’ve had on AI recently. He pieced together so much of what is happening in AI today, covering:
The different layers of AI adoption.
Why “harness” companies can be valuable.
Where AI agents are having the most impact on a business.
Why open source is the next wave of the AI buildout.
The Linux lesson for AI.
Why Monti is so excited about the firm’s investment in SambaNova.
Do “harness” companies have a moat?
Why the moats for many AI companies might surprise you.
Why sovereign AI is the next big thing.
Bio
Monti Saroya joined Vista Equity Partners in 2008 and is Co-Head of the Vista Flagship Fund and sits on its Investment Committee.
Additionally, Monti serves as a member of Vista’s Executive Committee, the firm’s governing and decision- making body for matters affecting its overall management and strategic direction, and Vista’s Private Equity Management Committee, the firm’s decision-making body for matters affecting Vista’s overall private equity platform.
Monti is also the Co-Chief Executive Officer of VistaOne, Vista’s evergreen private equity vehicle, and serves on the Investment Committee. Monti helps lead Vista’s artificial intelligence initiatives, driving the firm’s approach to AI adoption through strategic partnerships and the deployment of AI-enabled infrastructure and capabilities across the platform and portfolio ecosystem.
He currently sits on the boards of Acumatica, Allvue Systems, Avalara, Cloud Software Group, Duck Creek, Finastra, Infoblox, Playlist, Smartsheet, Solera, among others. Monti was actively involved in the firm’s investments in Apptio, Cvent (NASDAQ: CVT), Datto (formerly NYSE: MSP), Marketo, PowerSchool (formerly NYSE: PWSC), SumTotal, The ACTIVENetwork, and Transfirst, among others.
Prior to Vista, Monti worked as a Senior Research Analyst for JMP Securities, where he provided research for buy-side clients on public on-demand (SaaS) companies. Monti previously worked as an Associate on the enterprise software/applications team. Before JMP, Monti worked at Siebel Systems in a sales capacity for the CRM On Demand division. Prior to Siebel, Monti worked for Cisco Systems in various operations roles.
Thanks, Monti, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about AI, enterprise software, and technology transformations.
Show Notes
00:00 Intro: Live from SuperReturn
00:10 Meet Monti Saroya
00:20 Why AI Matters Now
00:41 Career Origins Cisco
00:57 Building Internet 1.0 
01:21 Infrastructure Before Apps
01:25 From Compute to Giants
01:38 AI as New Buildout
01:56 Internet 1.0 Lessons
02:17 Change Slower Then Bigger
02:48 Consumer Adoption First
03:08 What We Underestimate
03:26 AI Like Electricity
03:41 Three Layer AI Stack
04:03 Cloud Providers Layer
04:15 App Layer Value Capture
04:26 What Is the App Layer
04:41 Software Needs Humans
05:25 Agents System of Action
05:53 Where Agents Impact Today
06:20 Engineering Productivity Gains
07:29 Augment Not Replace
07:51 Rearchitecting With AI
08:16 Harnesses Around Intelligence
09:17 Routing Cuts Compute Cost
09:26 Model Choice and Governance
10:55 Enterprise Goals Drive AI
11:51 Workflow Context Is Key
12:47 SambaNova Compute Economics
14:27 Token Subsidies Ending
15:39 Open Source Next Wave
16:02 Linux Lesson for AI
17:03 Deploying Is the Hard Part
17:40 Vista Agentic Factory
18:42 Avoiding Services Trap
19:05 Where Value Gets Created
19:32 NeoCloud Inference Centers
20:21 Harness Companies and Moats
21:05 Enterprise Software Reality Check
21:51 CFOs Demand ROI Metrics
22:44 Word Association Game
23:15 Workflow Specific Future
23:48 Sovereign AI Is Coming
24:24 Wrap Up and Thanks

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as the private equity’s industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin.
Much of the SuperReturn conference is centered on fundraising. GPs take up every available space — from hotel rooms to Tiny Space cabins that line the parking spots on Budapester Strasse outside of the InterContinental conference venue — to conduct meetings with LPs.
With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers.
Our first conversation was with Apax Co-CEOs Andrew Sillitoe and Mitch Truwit.
Apax is one of the pioneers in the private equity industry. The firm’s rich history dates back to the 1970s, when its founders, Alan Patricof (US), Sir Ronald Cohen (UK), and Maurice Tchénio (France), came together to establish the first US-UK partnership firm in private equity. During that time period, the firm backed Steve Jobs and the first iteration of Apple. The UK and US firms merged in 1981, laying the foundation for Apax.
Today, Apax stands at over $80B in aggregate funds raised. The firm underwent its second leadership transition in 2014, when Andrew and Mitch were elected as Co-CEOs, succeeding Martin Halusa, who became Chairman.
Apax sits in a unique position. They are a scaled platform that focuses on the middle market. They operate across three sectors, Tech, Services, and Digital / Consumer, infusing a digital DNA and value creation team into everything they do. Their platform spans “a mile wide and a mile deep,” which is what much of the conversation between Andrew, Mitch, and me unpacked.
We had a fascinating discussion about the current state of private equity and the middle market, why Apax focuses on “density-driven business models,” why the firm focuses on carveouts in the middle market, what’s underappreciated about the middle market, why it’s important to “buy in the right neighborhood and fix it up,” and how the firm’s core values of “having impact through insight and tenacity” drive every decision they make.
Bios
Andrew Sillitoe has been Co-CEO of Apax since 2014. He is Chairman of the Apax Global Investment Committee and the Digital Investment Committee, amongst others. He is also a member of the Apax Executive Committee. He has been based in London since joining the Firm in 1998, focusing on Tech & Telco investments.
Andrew has been involved in a number of investments including Inmarsat, Intelsat, King, Orange Switzerland, TIVIT, TDC and Unilabs.
Prior to joining Apax, Andrew was a consultant at LEK. Andrew holds an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from INSEAD.
Boards

Andrew has previously served on the boards of Inmarsat, King, Intelsat, Orange Switzerland and TDC.
Mitch Truwit is Co-CEO of Apax, based in New York.
Prior to joining Apax in 2006, Mitch was the President and CEO of Orbitz Worldwide between 2005 and 2006 and was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of priceline.com between 2001 and 2005.
Mitch is a graduate of Vassar College where he received a BA in Political Science. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Boards

Mitch serves as a Board member of Openlane and Trade Me. Prior boards include Advantage Sales & Marketing, Assured Partners, Dealer.com, Bankrate, Garda World, Hub International, Trader Canada, Boats Group and Quality Distribution Inc.
Mitch serves on the charitable boards of the Apax Foundation, the John McEnroe Tennis Project, Posse and StreetSquash.

Thanks, Andrew and Mitch, for a fascinating conversation and for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion at the intersection of investing and operating in private equity.
Show Notes
00:00 Meet Apax co-CEOs, Andrew Sillitoe and Mitch Truwit
00:26 Andrew’s Origins at Apax
00:47 Private Equity Then vs Now
01:25 Apax Growth and Values
01:45 Curiosity as a Differentiator
02:04 Mitch’s Operator Background
02:56 Why Mitch Joined Apax
03:40 Defining the Middle Market
04:14 Why Sub-Billion EV Works
04:59 Middle Market Talent Gap
05:20 Carve Outs as a Strategy
05:29 TRADER Corporation - Canada App Turnaround
06:12 Scaled Platform Advantage
07:14 Digital DNA and AI Wave
07:50 Top Line Growth Lever
08:36 Add-ons and TAM Expansion
09:33 ECI Case Study Roll Up
10:07 Integration Over Collection
10:28 Exit Options in a Bigger PE World
10:59 Building for Multiple Buyers
11:45 Fund Size Discipline
12:34 Choosing Returns Over AUM
13:16 Understanding Firm DNA
14:01 Global Micro Investing
14:49 Making Global Pods Work
15:50 Scale Specialization Flexibility
17:08 Where to Invest Now
19:23 Buying Complexity for Value
20:15 Moats and Investment Committee
22:13 Why Middle Market Excites Them
23:19 Future of PE and AI at Scale
24:50 Impact Insight Tenacity Culture
25:54 Obligation to Dissent Story
26:55 Aspirational Brand Analogy
27:48 Wrap Up and Thanks

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
Today’s podcast takes us to the heart of Mayfair in London, where Blackstone Private Wealth COO Farhad Karim shared the firm’s history and evolution in Europe. 
He took a walk down memory lane to discuss the firm’s 25th anniversary in Europe as we walked through Berkeley Square from Blackstone’s current office to their new office at the other end of the square, highlighting how the firm has become the largest owner of commercial real estate in Europe and the importance of building a local presence in the region.
Farhad took on the role of Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Private Wealth in 2024 after a career at Blackstone that included serving as Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Europe and holding a senior leadership role in the firm’s Real Estate business.
Farhad and I had a fascinating discussion about the evolution of Blackstone’s business in Europe and the firm’s Private Wealth business globally. We covered:
Why it’s important to “meet people where they are at.”
What Farhad learned from his experience as chairman of Blackstone Europe.
Building and expanding Blackstone’s Private Wealth business.
How Blackstone will continue to be a pioneer in private wealth.
The next phase of product innovation in the wealth channel.
How an international perspective has shaped Farhad's approach to building the Private Wealth business.
Harmonizing the institutional and private wealth businesses when delivering solutions to LPs.
The human element of working with wealth.
What it means to be “relentless.”
Perspectives on evergreen funds.
The scale of opportunity, information, and access.
Thanks, Farhad, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets and private wealth.
Show Notes
00:33 A Message from Our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions
02:14 Farhad’s Blackstone Journey
03:37 Speed and Certainty Culture
04:07 Real Estate to Wealth Channel Parallels
05:04 Building for Local Markets
06:16 On-the-Ground Coverage Worldwide
07:45 Education at Scale
08:52 How Well Advisors Understand Private Markets
10:45 Early Innings Adoption
12:09 Packaging Private Markets Products
13:46 Simplicity vs Customization
14:39 Consolidation and Institutionalization
19:14 Global Trends Localization
19:33 Scale and Deal Competition
20:11 AI Advantage in Investing
20:53 Portfolio Ops AI Playbook
21:42 Private Markets Risk Setup
22:17 Noise Versus Facts
22:57 Fighting False Narratives
23:42 Wealth Channel Narrative
24:18 Why Private Markets Matter
25:10 Investing Through Geopolitics
26:25 Evergreen Versus Drawdown
27:21 Discipline Over Structure
28:28 Semi-liquid as a Feature
29:17 Evergreen for Founders
30:39 Evergreen Mindset and Compounding
32:01 Owning the Narrative Direct
35:22 Fiduciary Seriousness Balance
36:15 Relentless Culture Explained
38:39 Closing 
Footnotes
(Timestamp 02:46.7): Largest owners of commercial real estate in Europe.
(Timestamp 31:33.0): Reference to Class I annualized, inception-to-date return from January 2017.

A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus
This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.
That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.
Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.
We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.