Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Login
  • My Account
  • Logout
  • Register For Free
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • CIOs
    • Consultants
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Partner Content
    • Private Credit
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Regulation
    • Special Reports
    • Washington
    • White Papers
  • International
    • U.K.
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Australia - New Zealand
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
    • Africa
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2024
    • Eddy Awards
  • Resource Guides
    • Active Thematic Global Equities
    • Retirement Income
    • Fixed Income
    • Pension Risk Transfer
    • Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs)
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
    • Innovation in ESG Investing
    • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Divestment Database
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Research Center
    • The P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
  • Print
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. ALTERNATIVES
May 30, 2016 01:00 AM

In alternatives, consultants and money managers branching out into each other's territory

Arleen Jacobius
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    The already blurred line between investment consultant and money manager is getting fuzzier as both types of firms aim to serve investors desiring strategic relationships that cut across alternative investment asset classes and require fewer managers.

    These firms are aiming to offer multiple asset classes as a way of winning strategic partner and separate account mandates. Firms that started out as private equity managers — such as Apollo Global Management LLC, KKR & Co LP and The Blackstone Group LP — have been continually expanding their investment capabilities and managing strategic accounts since the financial crisis.

    Alternative investment managers that started out in the funds-of-funds business and consulting firms are following suit. In January, Chicago-based private equity management firm Adams Street Partners LLC hired former Oaktree Capital Management LP private credit executives William Sacher and Shahab Rashid to form a new private credit group.

    Earlier this month, StepStone Group LP, an alternatives investment manager that has its origins as a private equity consulting firm, acquired Swiss Capital Alternative Investments AG, a European private debt and hedge fund business. It also hired a 15-member infrastructure team from KPMG LLP’s institutional investment advisory business.

    The infrastructure team is expected to start working at StepStone this summer, bringing a new line of business to the firm. When the Swiss Capital deal closes — expected near the end of 2016 — StepStone will launch a new private debt business and a new hedge fund business.

    This will pretty much round out the firm’s evolution into a multiasset class discretionary and non-discretionary alternative investment manager.

    “Institutions that we work with all want to work with a smaller number of service providers,” said Monte Brem, partner and CEO of the La Jolla, Calif.-based StepStone. “Our main focus is customized separate accounts — discretionary and non-discretionary.”

    Investors are looking to hire firms that can provide multiple investment offerings, rather than working with specialized boutiques, Mr. Brem said in an interview.

    “To get the designation of a ‘strategic partner’ you have to do multiple things,” he said.

    StepStone added infrastructure and private debt because investors are seeking replacements for fixed income, Mr. Brem said.

    The new additional resources will give the firm the ability to offer real estate and infrastructure debt strategies. It also gives StepStone businesses in a large swath of alternatives investment asset classes across the globe, including buyout, venture capital, energy and real assets.

    “I think this reflects what is happening in the market generally,” Mr. Brem said. “There’s a breakdown of (the distinction between) advisers and money managers driven by institutional investors. It’s a complicated market to operate in because of the demand of institutions, and because there is more and more capital going into separate accounts.”

    StepStone is not alone in evolving in this way. In February, TIAA Global Asset Management combined its real estate, timber, agriculture, energy, infrastructure and private equity businesses into a single real asset business.

    The firm created the single platform “to accommodate investor interest and create synergies,” said Chris McGibbon, managing director and head of real estate for the Americas, based in TIAA’s Charlotte, N.C., office.

    It is mainly larger institutional investors that are interested in the separate accounts, Mr. McGibbon said in an e-mail.

    “Several of our larger clients — those committing $300 (million) and above — have shown a preference for separate accounts and strategic partnerships,” Mr. McGibbon said. “However, we are also seeing a strong interest in our commingled products from clients that prefer smaller commitment amounts and may not have the resources to deal with the significant administrative demands of separate accounts and ventures.” 

    Related Articles
    Money managers by the numbers
    Firms see solid but not spectacular growth in year
    Buyout, distressed debt top growth; energy falls
    Manager assets dip in '15; markets, oil slide blamed
    Firms see solid but not spectacular growth in year
    Pavilion to acquire Altius, combine private markets consulting businesses
    Alternatives managers' assets rise 3%, Willis Towers Watson survey finds
    Recommended for You
    Headshot of Brent McGowan
    Manulife Investment Management picks CIO of agriculture
    A man walking through a data center.
    Blue Owl closes data center-focused digital infrastructure fund at $7 billion
    Systematica Investments' Leda Braga
    Hedge fund highflier Leda Braga reflects on 10 years of Systematica
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    The State of Lifetime Income Report
    The Next Wave of LDI Evolution
    Retirement security to future income wins, TIAA brings you the latest financial…
    U.S. Public Funds Top Performers: Q2 2024
    Generative AI Investing: Opportunities at a Key Tech Inflection Point
    Research for Institutional Money Management: Advancing Physical Risk Modelling,…
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    October 23, 2023 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Custom Content
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2025. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • CIOs
      • Consultants
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Partner Content
      • Private Credit
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Regulation
      • Special Reports
      • Washington
      • White Papers
    • International
      • U.K.
      • Canada
      • Europe
      • Asia
      • Australia - New Zealand
      • Middle East
      • Latin America
      • Africa
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2024
      • Eddy Awards
    • Resource Guides
      • Active Thematic Global Equities
      • Retirement Income
      • Fixed Income
      • Pension Risk Transfer
      • Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs)
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
      • Innovation in ESG Investing
      • ESG Rated ETFs
      • Divestment Database
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Research Center
      • The P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
    • Print