iCapital CEO Lawrence Calcano discusses building his firm into a trillion-dollar alternative investment platform and the evolving role of technology in democratizing access to private market assets.

Key Points

• Lawrence Calcano founded iCapital in 2013 to provide independent advisors with a technology-driven platform for accessing alternative investments.
• The platform currently services over $1 trillion in client assets, offering tools for diligence, subscription, and post-investment reporting.
• Calcano emphasizes that iCapital operates on a B2B2C model, partnering with financial advisors to help them integrate private equity, credit, and real estate into client portfolios.
• The firm has completed 24 acquisitions to expand its capabilities, including recent moves into the annuities and structured investments sectors.
• Calcano highlights the importance of transparency and education regarding the illiquidity inherent in private market products.

Why it Matters

As private markets grow to rival the scale of institutional wealth, iCapital’s technology stack is bridging the gap between complex alternative products and the independent wealth management industry. By automating manual workflows and providing educational resources, the platform enables advisors to offer sophisticated investment strategies that were previously difficult to manage at scale.