🎥 KKR's Alisa Wood - innovating in private markets

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Today’s episode dives into the details of product innovation in private markets with a private equity veteran who has helped to pioneer a new investment structure and working with the wealth channel. We sat down at KKR’s Hudson Yards office with Alisa Wood, a Partner and Co-CEO of KKR Private Equity Conglomerate LLC (K-PEC). Alisa has been at KKR for over 20 years. She joined the firm in 2003 and is a Partner. She co-leads the firm’s innovative private equity open-ended, perpetual vehicles serving as the Co-CEO of KKR Private Equity Conglomerate LLC and as a member of the investment committee for the KKR Private Markets Equity Fund. She was previously the Global Head of the Private Markets and Real Assets Strategies Group and looked after private equity, infrastructure, energy real assets, real estate, impact, growth equity, and customized products. She sits on a number of the firm’s management and leadership committees, including the Risk & Operating Committee, the Democratized Private Equity Committee, the ESG Committee, and the Geopolitical Governance Committee. Alisa and I had a fascinating and thought-provoking conversation about private markets and working with the wealth channel. We discussed: * Why and how KKR came up with the Conglomerate structure. * Why the devil is in the detail when evaluating evergreen fund structures. * Why dealflow is essential if a firm wants to have an evergreen strategy. * Why education is so critical when working with the wealth channel. * How investors can balance evergreens and closed-end funds. * The skillsets required to manage evergreen structures. * Why culture is so critical when building a high-performing and consistent investment business. * The role that private markets can play in a portfolio and why that matters in today’s markets. Thanks Alisa for coming on the podcast to share your wisdom and expertise on private markets. Clip #1: Resonating with the wealth channel and a port in the storm. Clip #2: The winning formula. A word from AGM podcast sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus Fund Solutions, a leading full-service fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace. In an increasingly sophisticated financial marketplace, investment managers must navigate a growing array of challenges: elaborate fund structures, specialized strategies, evolving compliance requirements, a growing need for sophisticated reporting, and intensifying demands for transparency. To assist with these challenging opportunities, more and more fund sponsors and asset managers are turning to Ultimus, a leading service provider that blends high tech and high touch in unique and customized fund administration and middle office solutions for a diverse and growing universe of over 450 clients and 1,800 funds, representing $500 billion assets under administration, all handled by a team of over 1,000 professionals. Ultimus offers a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the ever-changing regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors. Ultimus provides comprehensive operational support and fund governance services to help managers successfully launch retail alternative products. Visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com to learn more about Ultimus’ technology enhanced services and solutions or contact Ultimus Executive Vice President of Business Development Gary Harris on email at [email protected]. We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream. Show Notes 00:00 Introduction and Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus 01:55 Welcome to the Podcast 02:07 Introducing Alisa Wood 03:48 KKR's Office and Culture 05:10 The Importance of Culture and Collaboration at KKR 06:12 Alisa's Early Career in Private Equity 07:02 Evolution of Private Equity 08:41 Strategic Moves in Private Equity 13:02 Managing Evergreen Structures 13:07 Operational Complexity in Evergreen Funds 13:43 Deal Flow and Investment Strategies 19:38 Alignment and Collaboration at KKR 22:29 Evergreen Structures and Institutional Experience 25:35 Sales Cycle and Investor Relations 28:54 Employee Equity and Financial Literacy 31:03 Human Capital and Leadership 31:37 Empathy in Leadership 32:06 Building a Community 32:21 Building Community at Scale 33:07 Understanding Investor Needs 33:17 Facilitating Connections 33:35 Addressing Hard Topics 34:04 KKR's Approach to Community Building 34:23 Evolution of KKR's Business Strategy 35:38 Importance of Learning from Mistakes 37:23 Integrating Macro Perspectives 39:18 Strategic vs. Tactical Approaches 39:38 Innovating Portfolio Construction 40:01 Challenges in Private Markets 42:25 The Role of Evergreen Structures 43:10 Balancing Manager Selection and Scale 46:08 Family-Owned Businesses and Evergreens 49:16 Success in the Wealth Channel 50:50 Investor Psychology and Evergreen Funds 54:00 Growing the Evergreen Business 55:02 Diversification and Accessibility 56:03 Future Innovations in Evergreen Space 56:45 Importance of Education and Community 57:54 Industry-Wide Collaboration 58:51 Educating on Private Markets 01:00:58 Personal Reflections on Private Equity 01:01:42 Real-World Impact of Private Markets 01:02:40 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant. Join over 10,600 thought leaders from top private markets firms and wealth management like Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, KKR, Carlyle, Blue Owl, CVC, TPG, Brookfield Oaktree, EQT, Vista, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, Nuveen, Hg, Permira, Hightower, Focus Financial, Cerity Partners, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com