Michael Kelly – Democratizing Access to the Middle Market at Future Standard (EP.473)

Our continuing exploration of the intersection of private wealth and alternatives takes us to Future Standard, one of the largest distribution platforms bringing the wealth channel exposure to the middle markets.

Michael Kelly is Co-President and Chief Investment Officer of Future Standard, a $90 billion alternative asset manager focused on private middle-market strategies for the wealth channel. Michael has been in the alternatives industry for three decades, starting as an analyst under Lee Cooperman and Julian Robertson, helping build FrontPoint Partners, which began the institutionalization of hedge funds, serving as CEO of ORIX USA, where he led the acquisition of $250 billion global asset manager Robeco, and for the last decade turning to the democratization of alternatives.

Our conversation covers Michael's path from working in hedge funds to building alternative asset businesses, including lessons about incentives, leadership, and culture. We then discuss his pivot from the institutional market to the wealth channel, and the growth from a single strategy at Franklin Square with $12 billion in assets to a full suite of strategies under the rebranded Future Standard with $90 billion across private credit, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing. Michael also shares his views on performance expectations and what the flood of new capital means for the institutional market.

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