John Farrall

We don't call on RIA's under $1 billion. There's a prevalent belief among some asset managers that RIAs under $1 billion in AUM aren't "worth" the significant investment. Firms like Goldman Sachs Asset Management seem to be doubling down of their RIA sales efforts, while many others put a line in the sand at $1B and up. The common rationale? Scale, efficiency, product sophistication and the focus on larger AUM gains. But the data paints a vastly different, and frankly, more compelling picture. 🫵 Here's why asset managers should care deeply about this overlooked segment, and why it's not just a nice-to-have, but a strategic imperative: The Sheer Volume & Future Pipeline: ASSETLINK's analysis shows there are over 15,000 unique RIA firms. 11,400 are currently below the $1B threshold, but they represent the vast majority of where new growth is happening. 🚀 Explosive Growth Potential: We've seen examples of firms like Detalus $928M exhibiting a growth rate of 425%. That's not an anomaly; it's a testament to the aggressive growth velocity some smaller, agile RIAs are achieving. Ignoring them means ignoring the next generation of billion-dollar clients that are currently scaling at unprecedented rates. 🤵‍♀️👨‍💼 The Next-Gen Advisor Preference: 31% of next-generation financial advisors are actively choosing the RIA model. These are the advisors building the firms of tomorrow, prioritizing independence, fiduciary duty, and cutting-edge tech. 💨 Wirehouse Exodus: The continuous migration of advisors from wirehouses to the independent RIA channel directly inflates this "sub-billion" pool. These aren't just small practices; they're often highly experienced advisors bringing substantial books of business with them, poised for rapid organic growth in their newfound independence. The Verdict? If your strategy only targets existing billion-dollar RIAs, you're competing for a shrinking pie. The real growth, the emerging powerhouses, and the future of wealth management are being built, brick by brick, by these under-$1B RIAs today. What's your take? Is your firm truly engaging with the full spectrum of RIA growth? #WealthManagement #RIA #AssetManagement #FinancialAdvisors #FutureOfFinance #GrowthStrategy #InvestmentManagement #Distribution #GTM

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The controversial, but necessary, congestion pricing has gone into effect this week in NYC. While the first day was not without hiccups, it’s a relief to see the implementation of this program after months of delays. The new program charges drivers a toll during peak driving times and will not only help alleviate congestion but generate needed funding for NYC’s public transit. MTA says the new toll will result in at least 80,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone every day. Programs like this can and should be replicated across the country as one funding avenue for our nation’s aging infrastructure. The bottom line is that if we fail to fund our infrastructure, our infrastructure will fail to serve us.   https://lnkd.in/eSfH66Mu

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Andy Jassy’s below quote from Amazon’s recent shareholder letter reinforces our view on the continued need for capital to fund the increasing demand for compute power within the AI sector. Blue Owl’s Real Assets platform remains well-positioned to meet the capital needs for these hyperscalers. "We continue to believe AI is a once-in-a-lifetime reinvention of everything we know, the demand is unlike anything we’ve seen before, and our customers, shareholders, and business will be well-served by our investing aggressively now.” – Andy Jassy  

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During the SEC roundtable yesterday Paul Atkins said a few extremely bullish things for a future of onchain programmable finance - especially at a time when the percent of crypto economic value happening in DeFi is growing dramatically and businesses like Blackrock, Robinhood, Apollo, and others are now actively engaging with or talking about engaging with onchain finance. 👇 1/ "The right to have self-custody of one’s private property is a foundational American value that should not disappear when one logs onto the internet. I am in favor of affording greater flexibility to market participants to self-custody crypto assets, especially where intermediation imposes unnecessary transaction costs or restricts the ability to engage in staking and other on-chain activities." 2/ "The idea of self-executing software code that is accessible to everyone, but controlled by no one, and that enables private, peer-to-peer transactions may sound like science fiction. But, blockchain technology makes possible an entirely new class of software that can perform these functions without an intermediary. I do not believe that we should allow century-old regulatory frameworks to stifle innovation with technologies that could upend and most importantly improve and advance our current, traditional intermediated model." 3/ "I have directed the staff to consider a conditional exemptive relief framework or “innovation exemption” that would expeditiously allow registrants and non-registrants to bring on-chain products and services to market." A significant amount of financial activity is coming onchain through stablecoins and tokenization - and the trend is only accelerating.

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A great deck by Apollo Global Management, Inc.'s Chief Economist was released this morning on "The Growing Role of Private Credit". There's lots to be excited about on the potential of the private capital market, but with some new caveats - key takeaways and link below. Key Trends: 🏦 Private market TAM is massive: comparing private vs public US companies, their share of capex is 5.6x larger, and number of $100m+ revenue companies is 6.7x larger 📈 Private markets are still in their infancy: global private capital AUM (both equity + credit) is at $14.5T vs $115.0T for global public equity (not including bonds, etc.) 🚀 Private credit has room to grow: US private credit share of debt outstanding grew 4x from 2003-2023, yet still only makes up 6.6% of the market of US debt outstanding ⚠️ IG spreads have spiked recently: bid-ask spreads for off-the-run (less liquid) IG bonds have spiked due to high economic uncertainty from tariffs, loan issuances are down too We serve over 80+ originators and two dozen institutional investors in the alternative credit / private asset-based finance space on our tech platform. If you're looking to learn more about the market or for support on deals, please reach out!

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You won't be successful as GP if your not listening intently right now. Large institutional LP's are quickly changing course but many may miss this shift. Based on dozens on LP conversations in the last few weeks it’s clear that private markets are at an inflection point. I'm paraphrasing the themes of what I am hearing: LP's on BIG GP's: - LP’s are thinking: ‘When they (GP’s) get too big they stop caring about me and I will not get what I need from them, I am just a number' LP's SMALL GP's: - ‘When they (GP’s) are too small, I’m too important (aka too big relative to their fund size) to them and thus I can’t invest’ LP's on MEDIUM SIZED GP's: - ‘They (GP’s that are allocators not operators) are generalist and don't have the scale advantage of the big GP's nor the flexibility and local knowledge of the small ones' If your like me, this makes your head explode. 🤯 It would seem we are stuck. Institutional LP's are searching for new ways to invest. - Seek alpha through go direct with 'institutional quality' GP's that are vertically integrated and have local market knowledge - Push into adjacent asset classes, some feel more like PE than CRE where operational excellence is the driver of returns, not just the real estate value - Tap new channels for capital where the requirements are more in line with current products (i.e. private wealth and core/opportunistic products) If your a GP: It's hard to not feel stuck If your a LP: It's hard to not feel unimportant - Inst LP's will seek new GP relationships. Maybe just a few but better than none. - GP's will seek new capital sources We will see a reversion to diversification: - New investment structures - New relationships and capital sources - New products, structures and terms This dynamic will force GP's & LP's to work together to innovate. Underpinning all of this is the need to keep an open mind and stay curious. Solving for these problems will be a great unlock. This is the most exciting time to be in private markets. It's messy but the changes underway are transformational.

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We’ve just dropped the 2025 Foundation Model Market Report. My partner Davis Treybig put together a sharp analysis of where the space stands today. The pace is wild.. the range of tasks a model can perform is doubling every 7 months. Top models now cost over $300M to train and only stay on top for a few weeks. FM-native apps are already generating billions, and the center of gravity is shifting from model training to infrastructure, evaluation, and real product design. If you’re building or investing in AI, this is the best primer on the topic out there. Report: https://lnkd.in/gadcNNcF Live talk: https://lnkd.in/gXTQRkD5

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The biggest risk to venture capital isn’t governance. It’s the absence of ethics, accountability, and oversight. We’ve already seen what happens when investors ignore those responsibilities. FTX collapsed without a Board. Investors looked the other way. The fallout was inevitable. Now, with AI fueling another blitzscaling cycle, I worry the same patterns are creeping back in. Growth first, ethics later. That mindset threatens the long-term trust that innovation depends on. Boards of Directors are not optional. Transparency is not a distraction. Ethical standards are not a barrier to innovation; they are what make durable innovation possible. 🔗 The Solution for Declining Venture Capital Ethics https://lnkd.in/eMEdGK9F #venturecapital #ethics #governance #innovation

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🚨 𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝗱𝗹𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝗦𝗧𝗚 After nearly a decade of controversy and strategy pivots, Envestnet is finally offloading Yodlee—its once-flagship data aggregation platform. 🔍 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 Envestnet acquired Yodlee in 2015 for $590M to anchor its vision of becoming a wealthtech data leader. The goal: empower advisors and institutions with financial data aggregation at scale. But instead of synergy, Yodlee brought scrutiny. It was soon mired in legal disputes—including IP clashes and a multiyear privacy lawsuit related to consumer data handling. These battles cost Envestnet over $20M from 2021 to 2023 and dragged Yodlee’s internal valuation to as low as $100M–$220M. After Envestnet sold itself to Bain Capital and Reverence for $4.5B in 2024, Yodlee’s future became a strategic liability. Prospective bidders like FNZ reportedly conditioned their offers on resolving the Yodlee issue. 📰 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 Envestnet has agreed to sell Yodlee to private equity firm STG – Symphony Technology Group. While financial terms weren’t disclosed, the deal is expected to close in Q3 2025. Yodlee will continue powering advisor data aggregation within Envestnet’s ecosystem—but now as an independent company in STG’s tech portfolio, which includes SurveyMonkey (Momentive), Trellix, RSA Security, and Wrike. 💼 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗧𝗚? STG (Symphony Technology Group) is a private equity firm focused on mid-market enterprise software, cybersecurity, and data infrastructure—not traditional wealthtech. The Yodlee acquisition marks STG’s first significant step into fintech plumbing, and signals a bet on aggregation as critical infrastructure across financial services. 💥 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 This ends one of wealthtech’s most controversial chapters. It also reflects a broader trend: PE-owned platforms are shedding complexity to focus on margin, compliance, and integration speed. For Yodlee, STG offers a reset—leaner operations, faster product cycles, and less baggage. 👩‍💼 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 RIAs using Envestnet’s tools won’t see disruption today. But over time, product direction and integration depth may shift—especially if STG pivots Yodlee toward more enterprise clients or independent monetization. 🏦 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Data aggregation is no longer a utility—it’s strategic tech. This move could reignite competition among aggregators, drive innovation, and remind vendors just how fast the ground can shift when private equity is calling the shots. #WealthTech #Envestnet #Yodlee #DataAggregation #PrivateEquity #RIA #AdvisorTech #MergersAndAcquisitions #Fintech #STG #PlatformStrategy

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The Misread Signal: Why the Labor Market Isn’t Pointing to a Recession,It’s Pointing to Something Bigger Each week, I track the intersection of markets, technology, and labor. And lately, I’ve noticed a growing disconnect: many are interpreting today’s job market weakness as a traditional recession signal. But what if it’s something else entirely? We are not in a normal cycle. This is not 2008. It’s not 2001. What we’re seeing now is the early impact of exponential innovation, AI, automation, and cognitive computing, restructuring the balance between labor and capital at a speed that is historically unprecedented. Recently, I walked past the old Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, once the site of historic labor strikes, now a gleaming hub for AI demos. The symbolism hit hard. The machines inside aren’t just replacing muscle. They’re replacing minds. This is not a downturn. This is a reordering. As capital compounds and productivity surges, labor is left waiting, retraining, reacting, and increasingly uncertain about its role. CEOs know this. The Fed is just beginning to realize it. And the public? They're looking for alternatives—like Bitcoin, like new leaders, like new systems because they no longer trust the one they were handed. In my latest Substack, I walk through this transformation and what it means for policy, markets, and the future of work through the lens of one Brooklyn landmark that tells the whole story. https://lnkd.in/eRcCiRJH

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"Carve-Outs are the BEST DEALS", said an influential PE QTC advisor to me in 2022. Three years into leading Zuora's PE Practice, I could not agree more. Carve-Outs necessitate tech decisions, and "no decision" is THE biggest competitor. PE firms will pay for flawless execution and a proven track record of executing carve-out deals. Zuora is the preferred carve-out QTR solution for enterprise B2B SaaS, packing Quote to Revenue + Consumption in an integrated platform; this neat QTR integration derisks the chance of a failed implementation that could materially disrupt execution of the value creation plan. Why gamble on four separate tools -- Salesforce CPQ (now End of Sale), Salesforce/Suite/Zone Billing, third-party metering/rating, and NetSuite ARM / Right Rev -- if you can have it all integrated in the Zuora Finance Platform? If your business has contract modifications & consumption, the A-Fore-Ment-ioN-eD stacks won't scale like Zuora's elegant Quote to Revenue solution. Hundreds of PE-backed B2B SaaS companies currently find themselves in the "Salesforce CPQ Conundrum" — why go there in 2025 unless you are forced to do so via acquired legacy systems? Small companies in a CPQ Conundrum may gamble on RCA, but $100M+ PE-backed SaaS companies aren't ready to take on the RCA risk. Selecting a fragile Quote to Revenue stack under such high stakes of carve-outs presents career risk. For these reasons, we love SaaS carve-out deals at Zuora. #ValueCreation #CarveOut #Rollup #PrivateEquity #CPQ #RCA #Zuora #Salesforce #Billing #NetSuite #QTC #Revenue #SaaS #Monetization #AI

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How will tariffs impact 2025 lower middle market M&A, diligence processes, multiples? We don't have a crystal ball either, but we interviewed a few lower middle market bankers who are actively working with affected business owners and we shared the writeup today on the Axial blog. + due diligence has changed rapidly and there are new checklists already built around this topic. Owners be ready for this. + LOIs are breaking / getting pushed out. Hopefully yesterday's announcement at least provides clarity. Markets prefer "bad news" to open-ended uncertainty. + Government Services is out of favor. Careful contrarians, this is your moment. Full write-up link is in the comments.

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