Mercer Advisors brings private market muscle to high-net-worth clients

The $60B RIA unveils strategic tech partnership for new alts platform, along with new leaders in its private markets division.

Mercer Advisors is joining the rush to help bring private market investing opportunities to advisors and their high-net-worth clients.

The wealth and financial planning giant boasting $60 billion in client assets has announced the launch of its new private markets platform.

The proprietary platform, Aspen Partners, is aimed at delivering private investments typically reserved for large institutional investors to qualified retail investors, with lower portfolio-level costs and low minimum investment requirements. Designed to provide a streamlined operational experience, it allows investors to participate in a curated portfolio of private investments.

“We are committed to delivering on the promise of a full-fledged family office. That means working directly with some of the world’s top private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure managers to build institutional-grade portfolios for our clients — without adding exorbitant fees or expense ratios,” Daniel Gourvitch, president at Mercer Advisors, said in a statement.

The platform seeks to address some of the main challenges faced by high-net-worth investors in private markets, including limited access, high fees, investment minimums, and complex reporting.

According to Donald Calcagni, chief investment officer at Mercer Advisors: “Aspen Partners is built to bring a fiduciary-centered approach to private markets by providing investors access to selectively chosen private managers.”

The platform was launched through a strategic partnership with Opto Investments, which provides the technological backbone to let Mercer Advisors efficiently integrate private market investments into client portfolios at scale.

“The private markets model is broken, and we’re thrilled to partner with Mercer Advisors to fix the space and create a more efficient and client-friendly paradigm as we grow together,” Jake Miller, co-founder and chief solutions officer at Opto, said in a separate statement.

With a private markets team boasting more than two decades of experience serving family office services to investors, Mercer Advisors is well positioned to offer “a fundamentally different private markets investment experience,” said CEO Dave Welling.

“Beginning today, every qualified client in our community will have the opportunity to benefit from our team’s deep expertise and experience,” Welling said.

Mercer Advisors has also strengthened its private market leadership team to support its push to help break down barriers for retail clients. Bob Burlinson has been appointed as senior director of private markets, bringing nearly three decades of private market investment experience.

With 25 years in asset management including roles at Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, and Nuveen, Will Rockett joins as senior director of the investment strategy group. Meanwhile, Chris Casdia has been named vice president of private markets compliance and operations.