Bank of America's Mark Sutterlin - why being a good investor in private markets is table stakes

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s conversation provides a fascinating window into the world of how one of the industry’s largest wealth managers approaches private markets.

We sat down with the man who holds the keys to the kingdom.

Mark Sutterlin is the Head of Alternative Investments within the Investment Solutions Group at Bank of America. He leads the firm’s strategy and platform development across hedge funds, private credit, private equity, physical precious metals, and real estate, delivering a broad spectrum of institutional-grade investment solutions to advisors and their clients.

Mark brings the advisor’s perspective to bear as he builds the alternative investments menu for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank and helps educate advisors and clients on how and where to thoughtfully and appropriately include private markets in portfolios.

Mark and I had a fascinating discussion. We covered:

How GPs can work with private banks.What one of the largest private wealth allocators looks for in GPs.How Merrill approaches different product structures to deliver solutions across the wealth client spectrum.What constitutes a manager’s edge.

I loved this conversation with Mark, who takes such a thoughtful approach and brings a true passion to helping clients and advisors build and protect wealth.

Thanks Mark for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion on private markets and private wealth.

Show Notes

00:00 Investor Edge Beyond Returns

00:32 Sponsor Message from Ultimus

01:41 Meet Mark Sutterlin

04:15 Advisor Trust and Responsibility

04:24 Penetration Across Wealth Tiers

04:38 Scaling Alts Across Books

04:49 Evergreen to Drawdown Spectrum

05:12 Building the Shelf Challenge

05:32 Evergreen Role in Portfolios

05:42 Serving Broad Client Needs

06:06 Optionality Not One Product

06:20 Diligence as Core Identity

06:48 Nuance in Private Credit

07:27 Long-Term Themes Overlay

07:56 Core and Satellite Question

08:28 Drawdown vs Evergreen Tradeoffs

08:48 Advisor Client Feedback Loop

09:25 Evergreens Now Dominate Flows

09:49 Evergreen Growing Pains

10:14 Education and Expectations

10:42 Rotation Within Evergreens

11:11 Who Can Run Evergreens Well

11:35 Scale Deal Flow Allocation Policy

12:29 Post Sale Servicing Matters

12:52 How Managers Should Service

13:23 Transparency Builds Loyalty

14:03 Vetting Managers for Private Banks

14:45 Investor Skill Is Table Stakes

15:22 Thousand Funds Deep Diligence

16:07 Unpacking Firm DNA

16:23 Private Wealth Is High Touch

16:53 Eyes Wide Open Expectations

17:14 Best GPs Listen and Adapt

18:12 Customization Versus Scale

19:13 Specialists and Custom Funds

19:57 Proposal Tools for Advisors

20:43 Menu Design From Client Needs

21:25 Differentiation in UHNW

22:31 Co-Invest and Capacity Access

24:43 Tech DLT and Streamlining

25:38 Biggest Blocker Education Gap

26:45 Misconception Complexity

27:52 Alts Invitationals Bootcamp

29:45 Where Advisors Are Today

30:16 What Why How Framework

31:32 Implementation Needs Support

31:51 Scaling the Alts Business

32:45 Open Architecture Platform

33:01 Lifecycle Ops Risk Controls

33:40 Where to Invest Next

33:53 Infrastructure and DLT Readiness

34:42 Future Growth Sources

35:37 Advisors Yet to Adopt

36:00 Balanced Growth Outlook

36:58 Client Sentiment Today

38:11 Patience and Long-Term Adoption

38:51 Next Gen Investor Mindset

40:43 Defining a Manager’s Edge

41:23 Specialization and Storytelling

42:31 Building a Menu of Edges

42:47 Business Plan Plus Open Mind

43:44 Advice for GPs Pitching Merrill

44:39 Platform Differentiation and Exclusivity

46:47 What Worries Mark Today

48:19 Excited About AI and Infrastructure

50:42 Wrap Up and Thanks

A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.

That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.

Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

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