Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode is with a founder who is building mission-critical valuation and portfolio monitoring software for alternative asset managers.

We are joined by Yann Magnan, the Co-Founder and CEO of 73 Strings, to discuss how valuation work and portfolio monitoring is moving from manual to automated and why that’s so important for the industry. 73 Strings has leveraged AI and automation to more seamlessly and cost-effectively extract data, monitor portfolios, and streamline middle-office processes for valuations. 73 Strings works with a number of the industry’s top alternative asset managers and has received investment from Blackstone, Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Hamilton Lane, Golub, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, and Broadhaven Ventures, amongst others.

Yann has brought his experience as a senior member of the Duff & Phelps team, where he was EMEA Market Leader and member of the Global Operating Committee and as a Partner at EY’s Transaction Advisory Services to help bring valuation and portfolio monitoring solutions into the mainstream.

Yann and I had a fascinating conversation about how technology innovation and AI are impacting private markets and perspectives on valuation work today. We discussed:

The challenges with manual valuation services businesses.

How to create uniformity and standardization with private markets fund performance data.

How AI is changing private markets post-investment reporting processes.

Does automation in private markets help big funds or small funds more?

The evolution of post-investment private markets market structure.

The biggest technology innovation still missing from private markets.

Why the growth of the wealth channel and evergreen funds increases the need for more streamlined reporting and valuation solutions.

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

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: ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.

Show Notes

00:00 AI Since Day One

01:06 A Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus

02:02 Introduction to Yann Magnan

04:15 Valuations: From Manual To Automated

06:47 Evergreen Funds Shift

08:25 Valuations Now Drive Trades

13:12 Transparency And Liquidity

16:20 Evergreen Ops Requirements

18:35 Tech Leverage In Valuation

21:02 Data As The Single Source

22:45 Why Valuations Differ

23:31 Consistency In Valuations

24:10 Humans Versus AI

26:00 No Single Best Method

26:56 Educating Wealth Investors

28:15 GP Valuation Uniformity

29:27 Global Tech Adoption

30:33 Why Tech Helps Fundraising

31:30 Data Extraction And Insights

34:35 Standardizing Portfolio Data

36:11 Scale Versus Expertise

38:22 AI Agents In Valuation

40:37 Governance And Explainability

44:00 Digital GP LP Data Sharing

45:29 Trust And Closing Thoughts

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

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