Nomura Capital Management's Robert Stark - building a private credit business within a global bank

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives into private credit and building an asset management business inside of a leading global bank.

We sat down in Nomura’s NYC office with Robert Stark, the CEO of Nomura Capital Management LLC (NCM) and Head of Investment Management in the Americas for the Nomura Group.

Robert brings deep experience in financial services to Nomura. He was previously the Founder & CEO of Alterum Capital Partners LLC, where he focused on building an investment management business at the intersection of private markets and RIAs. Prior to Alterum, he was a Senior Managing Director and member of the Executive Committee at FS Investments, where he was responsible for Corporate Development. He also spent 7 years at JP Morgan across Asset & Wealth Management. He joined JP Morgan from Russell Investments, where he was a member of the Executive Committee. He started his professional career at McKinsey & Company, where he was a Partner serving clients in asset management, investment banking, insurance, and private equity.

Robert brings both a consultant’s analytical perspective and an operator’s practical approach to his work building the credit business at Nomura Capital Management.

Robert and I had a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion about building an asset management business in a fast-growing segment of private markets: private credit. We covered:

• The state of the private credit market.
• How to build an asset management business.
• What it takes to work with the wealth channel.
• The entrepreneurial spirit of RIAs.
• Open architecture vs closed architecture in private credit.
• Keys to success in the evergreen fund space.

Thanks Robert for coming on the show to share your wisdom and expertise on private markets and wealth management.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency.

To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products.

Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at [email protected].

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes
00:00 Message from Ultimus, our Sponsor

01:57 Welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast

02:06 Guest Introduction: Robert Stark

03:18 Building an Asset Management Business

03:42 Evolution of Asset Management Industry

04:01 Regulatory Environment and Market Structure

05:12 Challenges in Asset Management

08:24 Importance of the Right People

08:44 Private Credit Business at Nomura

09:59 Diversification in Private Credit

10:47 Secular Trends in Private Credit

11:15 Client-Centric Solutions

19:00 Origination in Private Credit

20:07 Open vs. Closed Architecture

22:45 Product Development and Client Feedback

24:22 Early Stages of Private Credit Solutions

25:43 Future of Evergreen Funds

27:29 Investor Interests and Needs

27:47 Building a Trusted Brand

28:18 Challenges of Entrepreneurship

28:46 Capital and Talent Requirements

29:23 Nomura's Long-Term Vision

30:12 Nomura's Wealth Management Legacy

30:49 Expanding in the US Market

31:32 Japanese Investment Culture

32:07 Open Architecture Strategy

32:34 Global Network and Client Access

34:32 Challenges of Working with RIAs

36:19 Fiduciary Alignment

37:04 Partnerships and Client Success

37:56 Strategic Acquisitions

39:50 Evolution of the RIA Segment

44:44 Long-Term Business Planning

46:39 Future of Private Markets

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.