The wealth management sector has spent years developing structures to democratize private markets, yet the actual flow of capital remains sluggish. In the UK, Long Term Asset Funds (LTAFs) have reached only £7.3 billion in assets across roughly 40 vehicles, a negligible figure in the broader landscape. Douie contends that the failure lies in the mechanics of distribution rather than the quality of the funds themselves. Wealth platforms are not built to accommodate these new vehicles at scale, creating a gap between product innovation and end-user accessibility.
Why Exchange-Traded Notes Could Unlock Private Market Access
Wealth platforms struggle to integrate private market assets, leaving new fund structures like LTAFs with limited reach. Tom Douie, CEO of PM Alpha, argues that the industry’s obsession with creating complex fund wrappers ignores the fundamental problem: existing infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle the distribution of these alternative investments.
PM Alpha proposes Exchange-Traded Notes (ETNs) as the missing link. Because ETNs function as securities, they integrate seamlessly into existing trading workflows, allowing advisors to report private market exposure alongside traditional equities and bonds. By structuring these notes as Dublin-based special purpose vehicles governed by independent trustees, firms like PM Alpha can offer the operational familiarity of a security while capturing the underlying performance of private market assets. Barings has already utilized this model to raise over $500 million, signaling that the barrier to entry is not investor appetite, but the technical friction of the platform itself.
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