Global wealth surged to an all-time high of $250 trillion in 2020, according to a Boston Consulting Group report. And that growth is causing many alternative investment managers, who have traditionally focused on institutional investors, to recognize the opportunity to sell their products on the private money market.
Private equity firm KKR is certainly part of that trend, with the firm announcing Wednesday that it has hired Todd Bullion, President of KKR Credit and Markets, as its global head of private wealth. The newly created role is part of KKR’s efforts to expand access to its alternative strategies for individual investors, and Builione will oversee the teams responsible for building its private wealth distribution platform.
Erik Mogeloff, Global Head, KKR, said, “The combination of a low-yield environment, new technology and innovative investment structures is creating an inflection point in the industry and we see individual investors significantly increasing their allocation to options in the coming years.” ready to do.” customer and partner group, in a statement.
KKR is not new to the retail business; The firm has $50 billion in personal property assets, and the firm said it has “a large network of financial advisors and RIAs.” Private assets now account for 10-20% of KKR’s new capital raised annually, and the firm expects to increase to 30-50% of annual fundraising over the next several years.
Growth efforts include investments by KKR in sales and marketing, distribution, technology and product manufacturing, and education.
“Today, KKR’s private equity, credit and real estate investment strategies are accessible to individual investors through KKR-sponsored and continuously registered funds offerings by third parties,” the firm said in a statement.
Many alternative investment asset managers, which traditionally cater to institutional investors, have made more dedicated efforts to expand into the retail market, including Blackstone, Hamilton Lane and Apollo, which last year created a business entity focused on retail investors. Was.
In December, Apollo announced the acquisition of Griffin Capital, a privately held alternative investment asset manager in Los Angeles. The move has led to the addition of 60 retail-facing distribution professionals and hundreds of distribution agreements. At its recent Investor Day, Apollo aims to raise more than $50 billion of organic capital for its global wealth business over the next five years.
Earlier last year, Hamilton Lane launched the 40 Act Fund to bring its private equity and private credit strategies to eligible US clients with an investment of at least $50,000. Shortly after, the firm announced the acquisition of Denver-based long/short equity fund manager 361 Capital.
