Breaking bread at Franklin Templeton's Private Markets RIA Advisory Council - Franklin Templeton's Dave Donahoo and Summit Wealth Group's Chelsea Ganey

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Building community is central to enabling an industry to grow. There are few better ways to build community and foster trusted relationships than to break bread. 

As the wealth channel continues to expand its adoption of private markets, peer-to-peer learning becomes ever more important. Sharing experiences and perspectives is what will help the wealth channel adopt private market solutions thoughtfully and responsibly.

That’s what happened at Franklin Templeton’s Private Markets RIA Advisory Council event and dinner at BLACKBARN recently. Bread was broken. Relationships were built. 

We also found time to record a podcast at a dinner table with Franklin Templeton’s Head of Private Markets - Americas Wealth Management Dave Donahoo and Summit Wealth Group’s CIO Chelsea Ganey. The discussion granted access to a direct, honest, and raw window into perspectives on how asset managers and wealth managers can work together to educate one another and help move the industry forward. And yes, bread was broken before and after the podcast.

Please enjoy this fantastic conversation with Dave and Chelsea on the state of private markets and private wealth and how both asset managers and wealth managers can balance customization and differentiation with scale.

Thanks, Dave and Chelsea, for such a thoughtful and fascinating conversation.

Show Notes

00:00 A message from Ultimus, our Sponsor

00:57 Meet The Guests

01:07 Private Markets Are Eating World

01:29 Why Create RIA Council

01:49 Franklin Client-First DNA

02:09 From Public To Private

02:43 Listening Beyond Product

03:07 Peer To Peer Insights

04:12 Chelsea On The Benefits of Advisory Council

04:36 Inbox Overload And Filtering

05:10 Serving Diverse RIA Needs

06:15 Many RIAs Within One

06:30 What CIOs Need Most

06:54 Educating Advisors At Scale

07:32 GPs Must Listen Better

08:26 What Education Really Means

09:01 Repeatable Advisor Resources

09:54 Avoid Oversimplifying Complexity

10:30 Education Shifts To Choice

11:50 Balancing Choice And Customization

13:13 Centralized Menu For Scale

15:10 Sober Selling And Integrity

16:30 Franklin Private Markets Platform

17:59 Specialist Managers Model

18:28 Infrastructure Partnership Play

19:22 Do More With Less Managers

21:04 Holistic Options For Advisors

21:47 Where Product Innovation Goes

22:23 Sun Moon Stars Aligning

22:53 Future Access 401k Models

23:12 Start With Investment Why

23:29 Allocator Innovation Lens

24:09 Models Versus Customization

24:35 Why Innovation Matters

24:53 No One Right Way

25:18 Whats Still Missing

25:33 Scaling And The Middle

25:55 Magic Wand Question

26:19 Plumbing And Reporting

26:32 Perpetual Structure Tradeoffs

26:46 Protecting Investment Integrity

27:30 Long Term Over Short Term

27:42 Need More CIO Mindsets

28:03 Strategic Allocation For Alts

28:50 Chelsea On Strategic Framing

29:34 Making Liquidity Intuitive

30:06 Educating On Liquidity Risk

30:29 Private Markets Risk Reframe

31:32 Dave On Portfolio Construction

32:14 Standardizing Industry Terms

32:42 Building Trust With Liquidity

33:45 A Fun Question

38:10 Client Analogies That Stick

40:43 Fat Pitch Opportunities Today

42:53 Closing Thoughts And Thanks

A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.

That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.

Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.