Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode dives into an important and growing part of the private markets ecosystem: how investors can access and invest into alternatives through their retirement funds.

We have Eric Satz, the Founder & CEO of Alto, a self-directed IRA custodian, with us today to discuss how he’s on a mission to provide everyday Americans with the same investment opportunity long favored by institutional investors.

Alto provides custody for a wide array of alternative assets, including private companies, real estate, crypto, loans, and securitized collectibles. Alto has streamlined the process for companies, funds, and SEC-registered investment platforms to include IRA investors in their offerings. They’ve partnered with firms across the alts space, including AngelList, Coinbase, EquityZen, Republic, Masterworks, and others, to enable investors to invest into private markets with their IRA.

Eric is a serial entrepreneur and former investment banker. He worked at DLJ / Credit Suisse First Boston before co-founding Currenex (acquired by State Street for $564M), Plumgood Food, and Tennessee Community Ventures. His passion for entrepreneurship led him to serve on the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority from 2015 to 2018 and he teaches an entrepreneurship class to high school students.

On today’s podcast, Eric teaches us all about the merits of a self-directed IRA. We had a fascinating discussion about why and how it makes sense to use an IRA to invest into private markets investments and how he’s taking lessons learned from prior IRA businesses to build Alto.

We discussed:

* Rethinking retirement investing.

* The evolution of the self-directed IRA market.

* Alto’s vision: TurboTax for IRAs.

* Structural challenges with using IRAs for private markets investments.

* The role of technology with streamlining retirement investing.

* The evolution in investor awareness of retirement investing.

* The importance of duration matching.

Thanks Eric for coming on the show to share your knowledge and passion for alternatives.

Clip #1: What's the reasons why more people haven't put private markets investments in their self-directed IRAs?

Clip #2: How and when do investors start thinking about using a retirement account to invest in private markets?

Clip #3: Unlocking private market access to the wealth channel with a self-directed IRA.

Clip #4: Working with the financial advisor.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast

00:51 Diving into Private Markets with Eric Satz

01:22 Alto's Mission and Partnerships

01:33 Eric Satz's Entrepreneurial Journey

01:57 The Merits of Self-Directed IRAs

02:01 TurboTax for IRAs

02:05 Retirement Accounts and Private Market Investments

02:29 Welcoming Eric to the Podcast

02:37 The Evolution of Private Markets and IRAs

02:52 The Beginnings of Alto

03:14 Challenges in Self-Directed IRA Investing

05:12 Matching Long-Term Assets with Long-Term Savings

05:53 Growth of IRA Accounts

06:52 Private Market Investments in IRAs

07:53 Barriers to Private Market Investments

08:09 Psychological and Structural Challenges

09:22 The Role of Technology in IRA Investments

09:31 AngelList Partnership and User Experience

10:43 Investor Journey in Private Markets

11:24 Educating Investors and Advisors

14:03 The Evolution of Financial Advisors

15:03 The Importance of Illiquidity in Investments

18:30 Current Income and Tax Advantages

18:58 The Younger Generation and Volatile Investments

19:39 Compounding Returns in Private Markets

20:22 Asset Management and Diversification

21:36 The Role of Infrastructure Solutions

25:38 Alto's Marketplace and Crypto IRA

27:41 Friction in IRA Investments

29:49 Success of Alto's Technology

30:56 Partnerships with Major Asset Managers

31:43 The Growing Wealth Channel

32:41 Direct to Consumer vs. Intermediary Models

34:12 Educating Financial Advisors

34:42 Boots on the Ground Education

35:13 The Role of Financial Advisors in Private Markets

36:46 Unlocking Retirement Funds for Private Investments

37:45 The Role of Asset Managers in Education

39:05 Brokerages and Private Market Investments

41:06 Challenges in Asset Review

42:17 Future of Private Market Investments

43:12 Alto's Vision for the Future

44:46 The Role of Defined Contribution Plans

45:52 Legitimacy and Participation in Private Markets

46:13 Private Equity in Retirement Solutions

47:11 Diversification in Public vs. Private Markets

48:02 Borrowing Against Private Market Holdings

48:44 Regulatory Differences in 401k’s and IRAs

51:20 Common Sense in Investment Regulations

52:41 Exciting Future Investments

53:56 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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

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🎥 Alto's Eric Satz - retirement assets: the next frontier for private markets?