CAIS Group

Last updated

Capital Integration Systems LLC
CAIS
Company type Private
Industry Financial services
Founded2009;15 years ago (2009)
FounderMatt Brown
Headquarters New York City, U.S.
Key people
Matt Brown (Chairman & CEO)
Products
Website caisgroup.com

Capital Integration Systems LLC (doing business as CAIS) is an American fintech company that provides platform solutions related to alternative investments in the private markets.

Contents

Background

CAIS was founded in 2009 by Matt Brown who previously worked in the wealth management industry. The company started out offering financial advisers access to hedge funds for minimum commitments as low as $100,000 each. [1] [2] Early investment managers that CAIS offered access to included Paulson & Co., Third Point and Goldman Sachs' Commodity Opportunities Fund. [3]

In February 2012, CAIS partnered with Mercer to offer independent and smaller wealth advisers operational support. [4] In June 2015, CAIS enlisted Mercer's services to help it perform due diligence services as well as providing market intelligence. [2]

In November 2019, it was reported CAIS hired Andrew Smith Lewis, co-founder of Cerego to be its chief innovation officer. He would oversee the development of the CAIS IQ learning system which would help educate registered investment advisors on alternative investments. [5]

In June 2024, it was reported that CAIS was cutting fees to as low as 0.05% for feeder funds that direct investors to alternative assets. It aimed to set a new industry standard that lowers fees and makes them more transparent, as part of an effort to "truly democratize alternative investments". [6]

CAIS offers platforms that gives financial access to a broad selection of investment strategies in alternative investments. [1] CAIS partners with wealth advisers such as Fidelity Investments, Hightower Advisors, Focus Financial Partners and William Blair & Company. It has worked with the largest hedge funds to offering their products through its platform. [2]

Companies that have invested in CAIS include Apollo Global Management, Franklin Templeton Investments and Eldridge Industries. [1] In April 2022, CAIS reached unicorn status with a valuation of $1.1 billion [7]

Related Research Articles

A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that holds liquid assets and that makes use of complex trading and risk management techniques to improve investment performance and insulate returns from market risk. Among these portfolio techniques are short selling and the use of leverage and derivative instruments. In the United States, financial regulations require that hedge funds be marketed only to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Investment banking</span> Type of financial services company

Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by underwriting or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of debt or equity securities. An investment bank may also assist companies involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and provide ancillary services such as market making, trading of derivatives and equity securities, FICC services or research. Most investment banks maintain prime brokerage and asset management departments in conjunction with their investment research businesses. As an industry, it is broken up into the Bulge Bracket, Middle Market, and boutique market.

Private equity (PE) is capital stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. In the field of finance, private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms rather than the companies that they invest in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wealth management</span> Investment management and financial planning service

Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals and families. It is a discipline which incorporates structuring and planning wealth to assist in growing, preserving, and protecting wealth, whilst passing it onto the family in a tax-efficient manner and in accordance with their wishes. Wealth management brings together tax planning, wealth protection, estate planning, succession planning, and family governance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial adviser</span> Professional who renders financial services to clients

A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory body in order to provide advice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ETF Securities</span> Australian asset management firm

ETF Securities is an asset management firm that issues exchange-traded funds (ETFs) primarily in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family office</span> Family controlled investment group

A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50–100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer wealth across generations. The company's financial capital is the family's own wealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternative investment</span> Investments other than stocks, bonds and cash

An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any asset class excluding capital stocks, bonds, and cash. The term is a relatively loose one and includes tangible assets such as precious metals, collectibles and some financial assets such as real estate, commodities, private equity, distressed securities, hedge funds, exchange funds, carbon credits, venture capital, film production, financial derivatives, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and Tax Receivable Agreements. Investments in real estate, forestry and shipping are also often termed "alternative" despite the ancient use of such real assets to enhance and preserve wealth. Alternative investments are to be contrasted with traditional investments.

A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leveraged buyout, venture capital, and growth capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apollo Global Management</span> American private equity company

Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. As of 2022, the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capital, hedge funds, non-performing loans, and collateralized loan obligations, $99 billion invested in private equity, and $46.2 billion invested in real assets, which includes real estate and infrastructure. The company invests money on behalf of pension funds, financial endowments, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as other institutional and individual investors.

A turnkey asset management program (TAMP) is a program for independent financial advisors, typically fiduciaries, to outsource the management of some or all of their clients' assets. Certified public accountants, law firms and banks have adopted use of the program relatively recently.

Betterment is an American financial advisory company which provides digital investment, retirement and cash management services.

Blockchain.com is a cryptocurrency financial services company. The company began as the first Bitcoin blockchain explorer in 2011 and later created a cryptocurrency wallet that accounted for 28% of bitcoin transactions between 2012 and 2020. It also operates a cryptocurrency exchange and provides institutional markets lending business and data, charts, and analytics.

Robo-advisors or robo-advisers are a class of financial adviser that provide financial advice and investment management online with moderate to minimal human intervention. They provide digital financial advice based on mathematical rules or algorithms. These algorithms are designed by financial advisors, investment managers and data scientists, and coded in software by programmers. These algorithms are executed by software and do not require a human advisor to impart financial advice to a client. The software utilizes its algorithms to automatically allocate, manage and optimize clients' assets for either short-run or long-run investment. Robo-advisors are categorized based on the extent of personalization, discretion, involvement, and human interaction.

Hedgeable, Inc. is a U.S. based financial services company and digital wealth management platform headquartered in New York City. Hedgeable doesn't follow set allocations, but actively manages accounts in response to market movements.

Wealthsimple Inc. is a Canadian online investment management service. The firm was founded in September 2014 by Michael Katchen, Brett Huneycutt, Som Seif, and Rudy Adler and is based in Toronto. As of March 31, 2024, the firm holds over C$38.7 billion in assets under management. It is primarily owned by Power Corporation indirectly at 56.6% through investments made through their holdings in Power Financial, IGM Financial and Portag3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadre (company)</span> New York-based technology company

Cadre is a New York–based financial technology company that provides individuals and institutions direct access to real estate investment properties, including commercial properties. The business and financial press describe it as a platform that "makes the real estate market more like the stock market" by allowing investors to select the individual transactions in which they participate, while investing a smaller amount than would be required to fully fund a transaction. For example, 12 institutional investors participated in a $60 million office building purchase. The firm was named to Forbes' "FinTech50" for 7 years in a row starting in 2016. In 2019, Cadre was the cover story of the Forbes "FinTech 50" issue. In 2018, a partnership with Goldman Sachs was announced through which Goldman Sachs' private wealth clients committed at least $250 million (USD) real estate investments through Cadre. In 2020, Cadre announced its "Direct Access" fund intended to include smaller investors with a $400 million target raise. The company also offers a managed portfolio service and a real estate secondary market, as well as a cash holdings account called "Cadre Cash". The company has announced plans to address racial injustice in the United States by investing at least 10% of its Direct Access fund investments with minority-owned operators and increasing its cash held in black-owned banks.

Edelman Financial Engines is an American financial planning and investment advisory company. As of December 31, 2023, it has more than $270 billion in assets and more than 1.3 million clients. The company was formed by the 2018 merger of Financial Engines and Edelman Financial Services.

Petershill Partners is an investment company specialising in alternative investments: investors in the business are able to participate, through minority investments, in the profits of large private equity and hedge funds. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Institutional Capital Network, Inc is an American fintech company that provides platform solutions related to alternative investments in the private markets.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gottfried, Miriam (January 11, 2022). "Apollo Leads $225 Million Investment in Alternatives Platform CAIS". Wall Street Journal.
  2. 1 2 3 Kreutzer, Laura (June 18, 2015). "CAIS Taps Mercer for Help in Adding PE to Offerings for Wealth Managers". Wall Street Journal.
  3. Wachtel, Katya (March 16, 2012). "When it comes to its hedge funds, Goldman is on the CAIS". Reuters.
  4. Coyle, Thomas (February 28, 2012). "Firm Makes Alternatives Easier to Handle". Wall Street Journal.
  5. Thrasher, Michael (November 5, 2019). "CAIS Hired an Education Whiz to Help Advisors 'Master' Alternative Investments". Institutional Investor. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  6. Basak, Sonali (June 20, 2024). "CAIS Cuts Fees, Seeking to 'Democratize' Alternative Investments". Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  7. Beltran, Luisa. "CAIS Snags $1.1 Billion Valuation With Reverence Investment". www.barrons.com. Retrieved July 20, 2024.