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.
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A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions
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: ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.
We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.
Show Notes
00:00 AI Since Day One
01:06 A Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus
02:02 Introduction to Yann Magnan
04:15 Valuations: From Manual To Automated
06:47 Evergreen Funds Shift
08:25 Valuations Now Drive Trades
13:12 Transparency And Liquidity
16:20 Evergreen Ops Requirements
18:35 Tech Leverage In Valuation
21:02 Data As The Single Source
22:45 Why Valuations Differ
23:31 Consistency In Valuations
24:10 Humans Versus AI
26:00 No Single Best Method
26:56 Educating Wealth Investors
28:15 GP Valuation Uniformity
29:27 Global Tech Adoption
30:33 Why Tech Helps Fundraising
31:30 Data Extraction And Insights
34:35 Standardizing Portfolio Data
36:11 Scale Versus Expertise
38:22 AI Agents In Valuation
40:37 Governance And Explainability
44:00 Digital GP LP Data Sharing
45:29 Trust And Closing Thoughts
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
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