$28B Sanctuary Wealth on working with the wealth channel

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives deep into one of the fastest growing independent wealth platforms in the US — Sanctuary Wealth — and how alternatives is a major ingredient to the growth of their firm and the RIA space more broadly.

We have Sanctuary’s MD and Head of Alternative Investments, Patrick McGowan, and Director of Strategic Partnerships, Oksana Poznak, on the show to discuss why they believe alternative investments are a key driver of their growth and why they are so important to the development of advisor’s practices.

Patrick and Oksana both bring valuable perspectives on private markets to bear.

Patrick was previously a SVP and Head of Product Management at Azimut Alternative Capital Partners, the NY based GP stakes arm of Azimut Group, one of the largest independent wealth management companies in the world. This background gives him a great understanding of the GP stakes world, where he's spent a bunch of time thinking about this in terms of how it relates to the wealth channel. Prior to Azimut, Patrick was part of the Invesco Private Capital team, the $1B PE and VC arm of Invesco, where he focused on their efforts for CalSTRS SMA and a fund of funds that invested in a number of high-performing, generally smaller and emerging managers. He also worked at OC Private Capital, a JV between Carlyle and OppenheimerFunds, the advisor to a $1B close-ended interval fund focused on private credit. Prior to this role, he was a Senior Director at AI Insight, which was acquired by iCapital. He started his career at OppenheimerFunds and then worked at Altegris Investments, which was a pioneer in bringing alts to the wealth channel.

Oksana brings over 20 years of experience in business development, marketing, and relationship management to Sanctuary. She was most recently Segment Marketing Director at CAIS, where she promoted alternative investment fund managers. Prior to CAIS, she held senior positions at Atria Wealth Solutions, BNY Mellon Pershing, Ladenburg Thalman, and Advisor Group.

We had a fascinating discussion about the intersection of wealth and alts. We discussed: 

• What it will take to grow Sanctuary to a $100B Super RIA.
• Why the wealth channel is so interested in alternatives.
• Why alternative asset managers are interested in working with the wealth channel.
• How alternative asset managers can best approach working with and educating the wealth channel.
• The biggest mistake alternative asset managers make when trying to work with the wealth channel.
• How smaller funds can partner with wealth advisors.

Thanks Patrick and Oksana for coming on the show to share your thoughts and wisdom about the intersection of wealth and alts. We hope you enjoy.