Lessons from Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is with an experienced private markets and distribution executive who has been educating the wealth channel and distributing private markets investment solutions at some of the industry’s largest investment platforms.

We sat down in Prudential’s Newark studio with PGIM’s Global Head of Alternative Investments, Dominick Carlino. PGIM is the $1.4T global asset management business of Prudential Financial.

At PGIM, Dominick is responsible for driving the continued development and distribution of alternative investments tailored to the firm’s wealth channel investors globally.

Dominick joined the firm in 2023, bringing over 20 years of experience in alternatives distribution. He was most recently MD, Head of Alternative Investments Distribution at Merrill Lynch.

Dominick and I had a fascinating conversation about the intersections between insurance and asset management and the evolution of distribution. We covered:

• How the distribution of private markets investment solutions has evolved.
• The benefits of an integrated platform across insurance and asset management.
• Navigating the playing field of collaboration and competition between asset managers and insurance companies.
• The importance of education.
• How, why, and where evergreen funds will be adopted.

Thanks Dominick for sharing your perspectives and wisdom on insurance and private markets. We hope you enjoy.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at gharris@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus

01:18 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream

01:55 Guest Introduction: Dominick Carlino

03:34 Dom’s Background and Career Journey

03:55 Early Career and Transition to Alternatives

05:03 Experience at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch

05:18 Evolution of Private Markets Distribution

07:08 Wealth Channel and Private Markets

09:08 Joining Prudential and PGIM

10:25 Prudential's Capabilities and Strategy

12:47 Asset Liability Matching in Private Markets

14:22 Liquidity Risk and Private Markets

16:16 Education and Evergreen Funds

17:06 Credit Risk in Private Credit

18:14 Vertical Integration and Acquisitions

19:35 Partnerships and Strategic Growth

20:22 Market Shakeout and Scale

22:09 Product Set and Innovation

23:24 Advisor and Client Needs

24:45 Evergreen Funds and Market Trends

26:13 Specialized Strategies in Private Markets

26:41 Distribution and Education

28:16 Skills for Effective Distribution

30:54 Organizational Alpha and Trust

31:56 Brand and Stability

33:11 Partnerships and Long-term Solutions

33:49 Insurance and Tax-Advantaged Strategies

34:12 Asset Managers and Insurance Partnerships

35:42 Private Markets in Retirement Plans

36:17 Future of Private Markets

36:41 Keys to Winning in Private Markets

37:29 Prudential's Competitive Advantages

37:48 Conclusion and Guest Farewell

The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of PGIM, Inc. PGIM, Inc. is not responsible, endorses nor confirms its accuracy. All trademarks and other intellectual property used or displayed are the ownership of their respective owners. Unless noted otherwise in this podcast, PGIM, Inc. is not affiliated with, nor  endorses any mentioned company or any linked third-party content.
 
PGIM and its affiliates may develop and publish research that is independent of, and different than, the recommendations contained herein. PGIM’s personnel other than the author(s), such as sales, marketing and trading personnel, may provide oral or written market commentary or ideas to PGIM’s clients or prospects or proprietary investment ideas that differ from the views expressed herein.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.