Overseeing more than $60 billion of client assets, Mercer Advisors is one of the big-hitters in North American wealth management. It has developed a platform to improve client access and opportunities within private investments.

Mercer Advisors, the US wealth manager and financial planning group, yesterday said it has launched the Aspen Partners platform, part of a drive to expand its private markets offerings. 

Aspen Partners is a proprietary private markets platform built by Mercer Advisors. Through this business, all qualified Mercer Advisors' clients can use a curated portfolio of private investments. Mercer said the offering enables investors and RIAs who struggle to access high-quality opportunities confidently in a scalable way.

"For years, the world’s leading institutional investors have benefited from incorporating well-diversified private investments into their portfolios,” Daniel Gourvitch, president at Mercer Advisors, said. “Too often, individuals offered ‘unique access’ to private investments end up paying high fees, invest too narrowly, and miss out on many of the better opportunities in private markets.” 

Private market investments, which typically offer an illiquidity premium – attractive to investors after over a decade of ultra-low interest rates – have expanded rapidly in recent years. There has been an increasingly loud drumbeat about the merits of private market areas such as venture capital, private equity and credit. There are voices of dissent, however, because some are concerned that these assets aren't always suitable to certain investors. (See an article here.)

Mercer plans to launch several private funds to help clients build better, more fully diversified portfolios. Aspen Partners funds offer diversification across multiple managers and vintages. The funds maximize the percentage of fund fees allocated to compensating top-performing managers while minimizing fees paid to intermediaries, such as fund administrators, platform sponsors, funds of funds managers, or placement agents. 

The Aspen Partners offering was built by Mercer alongside Opto Investments.

Mercer Advisors and Opto Investments are both independently backed by GIC, a global institutional investor. 

Team additions
Mercer Advisors has expanded its private investment leadership team. Bob Burlinson, will take on an expanded role as senior director, private markets. He leads the private markets team and its manager sourcing, due diligence, and monitoring efforts. 

Also joining the investment team is Will Rockett, senior director, investment strategy group. Rockett, whose 25 years of asset management experience includes roles with Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, Nuveen, US Trust, and Barclays Capital, now leads the team of investment strategists tasked with helping advisors build, implement, and monitor private markets allocations for clients. 

Chris Casdia is joining the team as vice president, private markets compliance and operations. He brings 15-plus years of financial services experience from Homrich Berg, Gratus Capital, and AXA Equitable.