Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
Today’s episode is with a founder who is building mission-critical valuation and portfolio monitoring software for alternative asset managers.
We are joined by Yann Magnan, the Co-Founder and CEO of 73 Strings, to discuss how valuation work and portfolio monitoring is moving from manual to automated and why that’s so important for the industry. 73 Strings has leveraged AI and automation to more seamlessly and cost-effectively extract data, monitor portfolios, and streamline middle-office processes for valuations. 73 Strings works with a number of the industry’s top alternative asset managers and has received investment from Blackstone, Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Hamilton Lane, Golub, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, and Broadhaven Ventures, amongst others.
Yann has brought his experience as a senior member of the Duff & Phelps team, where he was EMEA Market Leader and member of the Global Operating Committee and as a Partner at EY’s Transaction Advisory Services to help bring valuation and portfolio monitoring solutions into the mainstream.
Yann and I had a fascinating conversation about how technology innovation and AI are impacting private markets and perspectives on valuation work today. We discussed:
- The challenges with manual valuation services businesses.
- How to create uniformity and standardization with private markets fund performance data.
- How AI is changing private markets post-investment reporting processes.
- Does automation in private markets help big funds or small funds more?
- The evolution of post-investment private markets market structure.
- The biggest technology innovation still missing from private markets.
- Why the growth of the wealth channel and evergreen funds increases the need for more streamlined reporting and valuation solutions.
Thanks Yann for coming on the show to share your expertise, insights, and passion about private markets.
Show Notes
00:00 AI Since Day One
01:06 A Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus
02:02 Introduction to Yann Magnan
04:11 From Manual To Automated
04:44 Excel Google Email
04:58 Cloud And Early AI
05:07 Governed Auditable Process
05:30 Founding 73 Strings
05:36 Two Valuation Platforms
05:55 Scaling With Alts Growth
06:28 Evergreen Acceleration
06:54 Retail Investor Expectations
07:09 Transactions Need Fresh NAVs
07:44 Valuations For Transactions
08:14 Continuation Vehicles Context
08:42 Reporting To Trading Shift
09:07 Illiquid Vs Liquid Compare
09:18 Mimicking Public Markets
09:43 Valuation Philosophy Changes
10:27 Back Office To Front Office
11:25 New Stakeholders To Balance
11:59 Why Private Must Feel Public
12:20 Transparency And Liquidity
13:18 Is Liquidity Good
15:11 Evergreen Process Differences
16:09 Higher Frequency Requirements
18:00 Tech Leverage Points
18:53 People Plus Technology
19:44 Portfolio Data As DNA
21:02 No Single Valuation Standard
21:47 Consistency Over Time
22:20 Human In The Loop
22:42 Art And Science Framework
24:03 No One Best Method
24:55 Wealth Channel Education
25:30 What LPs Should Ask
26:46 What Top GPs Want
27:38 Global Tech Adoption
28:49 Fundraising Drives Ops
30:23 AI Data Extraction Story
31:48 Standardizing Data Labels
32:21 Data Model Requirements
32:52 Is Data A Moat
33:14 Turning Data Into Insights
33:54 Scale Versus Specialization
35:04 Tech Helps Small Managers
36:21 AI Impact On All Funds
36:44 Starting Before GenAI Boom
37:42 ML And NLP Foundations
38:40 Agents Accelerate Valuations
39:26 Overnight Valuation Refresh
39:57 More Frequent Valuations
40:10 Limits Of Daily Data
41:03 Explainability And Trust
41:42 Next Market Structure Shift
42:09 Digital GP LP Data Sharing
43:12 Interconnection Needs Trust
43:46 Closing 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.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
