Episode Details

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives into how data and market structure are shaping private markets.

We sat down in MSCI’s New York office with Luke Flemmer, the Head of Private Assets at MSCI to discuss how standardization and normalization of data can help bring efficiency, transparency, and liquidity to private markets.

Luke brings a unique perspective to private markets. He was previously Managing Director, Head of Digital Strategy for Alternative Investments at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and was Co-Founder and CEO of Lab49, a global solutions provider of investment and risk technology to asset managers and investment banks.

When the ION Group acquired Lab49, Luke became Co-Head of ION’s Capital Markets Division, delivering software and solutions to the group’s global financial services customer base.

Earlier in his career, Luke worked in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. He is a CFA charterholder.

Luke and I had a fascinating conversation about private markets market structure and how MSCI is playing a role in driving standardization, normalization, and transparency of data in private markets. We covered:

* Parallels to market structure evolutions in equities, fixed income, FX, and derivatives.

* Tradeoffs of transparency for private markets participants.

* What it will take to build transparency and price formation in private markets.

* Where investors will still be able to find durable alpha.

* What standardization and normalization of data means for secondary markets.

* Analogies between Greek mythology and private markets.

* How secondaries has gone from a trade to a portfolio management tool.

* How index creation will impact private markets.

Thanks Luke for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion at the intersection of private markets and market structure.

Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work - writing and podcasting about the convergence of private markets and private wealth since December 2020.

A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

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We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:30 Welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast

01:07 Sponsor Intro: Ultimus Fund Solutions

02:09 Meet MSCI’s Luke Flemmer

05:38 Wall Street Lessons: Fixed Income’s Electronification

07:00 From FX to Private Assets: The Data-Rich Value Chain

08:01 Harmonized Data → Liquidity

09:35 The Tr