Peter Weiss

Don't get "stuck in the middle." A recent Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) white paper highlighted the tensions and concerns that institutional LPs are having over the race for "retail" by alternative asset managers. Balancing the needs and demands of both institutional and wealth channel LPs is a question that’s moving to the forefront of conversations between GPs and LPs as the industry evolves to cater to the needs of the new, relatively untapped LP: the wealth channel. Institutional LPs are wondering how GPs that decide to work with the wealth channel will handle the influx of capital from private wealth and what that means for their own relationships with GPs. Scott Ramsower, Head of Private Equity Funds at the $221B AUM Teacher Retirement System of Texas, said this topic is “is top of mind for limited partners.” Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) then said the quiet part out loud. "More pointedly, ILPA elevates these issues at a time when the underlying mix of investments of these products may exacerbate a strategy-structure misalignment ..." Reorienting an asset manager to be able to properly serve the wealth channel requires capital, commitment, and comprehension. Perhaps the most important “c” for firms to internalize? Comprehension. Asset managers will do well to comprehend the nuances of balancing the needs of both the wealth channel and their long-standing existing customers, the institutional LPs. EQT Group CEO Per Franzen said it well when he remarked recently that responsible growth is critical: “If I had a magic wand, I would use that and make sure that every larger player in the private markets industry pursues that opportunity in a long-term responsible way.” Responsible is the keyword here. With people’s retirements hanging in the balance, it’s never been more important to get retail right. If asset managers — and the industry — want to be successful, they can’t afford to get “stuck in the middle” of not serving either institutional or wealth channel LPs well. Read on for more👇 This week's Alt Goes Mainstream's AGM Alts Weekly, brought to you by Nomura Capital Management, covers: 🗂️ AGM Index, an index that tracks the leading publicly traded alternative asset managers. 💻 Who is hiring: Senior-level positions from companies Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Inc., Blue Owl Capital, Franklin Templeton, iCapital, Goldman Sachs, Partners Group, Ultimus Fund Solutions, Allocate, SageSpring Wealth Partners, MSCI Inc. Subscribe👇 to see the latest trends & navigate this rapidly changing landscape as alts go mainstream. https://lnkd.in/ehsbjSBA

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Where should investors focus when reviewing a Quality of Earnings report? Elliott Holland, founder of Guardian Due Diligence, educates us about: - How a Quality of Earnings (QoE) report protects buyers and investors from bad deals. - Where investors should start when reviewing a QoE. - Red flags that could indicate serious issues. - Why independent QoEs are critical and how they prevent conflicts of interest. For SMB investors, searchers, and sponsors, these insights are crucial to avoiding costly mistakes. 🎥 Watch the full interview here → https://lnkd.in/e7sDJrnX Follow our podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for more conversations about SMB investing and acquisition strategies. 🎧 Listen here: 🔹 Spotify → https://lnkd.in/ekqykR-P 🔹 Apple Podcasts → https://lnkd.in/eSHfpq8p

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Institutional Investor reports: "The buyout industry has some $1.2 trillion in unspent capital, so-called dry powder, and 24 percent of that total has been held for four years or longer, according to consultant Bain & Co.” “Buyout funds are also having trouble selling the companies they already own. There is a “towering” $3.6 trillion of unrealized value in some 29,000 unsold companies in the funds’ portfolios…And while buyout funds are holding twice the assets as they did in 2019, Bain said the total “exit value is at about the same level.”   So, what does this mean?    1) GPs are not deploying capital fast enough, so investors have capital inefficiently allocated to investments that aren’t working for them. 2) And investors are not getting money back from the investments that were deployed. GPs aren’t returning capital, so investors can’t redeploy capital, capture returns, diversify, etc. Bain says, “The overhang comes at a time when distributions as a portion of net asset value last year sank to 11 percent, the lowest rate in a decade, and which is leading investors to slam shut their pocketbooks to new funds.”   Well, Tide Rock is still growing and consistently raising new money because our returns are top decile AND we give investors liquidity every quarter through our distributions. So, our investors get attractive IRR and DPI, and they get capital back on a regular cadence to re-invest/compound with Tide Rock or to redeploy into new investments. Quarterly distributions. Top decile returns. Real liquidity. No debt. #unleveredbuyout https://lnkd.in/g98f_cbC

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Seed Stage Venture Debt? Most early founders think venture debt is something you raise at the Series B or later. It is seen as something you layer on once the business is fully “bankable” and later stage. But what if this paradigm is limiting growth for early stage companies? And what if founders can utilize a flexible product at the early stages to reduce dilution? At Top Corner we see it differently: - We underwrite The Founder and to enterprise value, not formulaic metrics - We believe debt can work much earlier, typically right after product-market fit (Seed/Series A) - Our debt is designed to support founders, not constrain them - Our structures are flexible, with none of the traditional debt mechanics that weigh down early stage founders (financial covenants, MAC defaults or investor support clauses) - Our process is fast (think weeks, not months) - Our capital is significantly less dilutive than equity, but can be used just like a dollar of equity: to hire, build, experiment and scale When used for growth, debt can help teams hit more milestones and empower founders to raise their next round on stronger term, all while preserving meaningful ownership for both founders and early investors. A recent example: Top Corner partnered with NxLite in February 2025, providing Seed stage debt capital that allowed the company to acquire critical equipment and fully prepare its 45,000 squarer foot production facility prior to raising additional equity. NxLite produces advanced coatings for windows and transparent barriers that dramatically reduce energy consumption and support a more sustainable built environment. With this early capital, NxLite achieved production capacity to serve a strong roster of Fortune 500 enterprises, creating a strong foundation for its next phase of growth. NxLite closed a $9.2M Series A in September 2025 at a meaningful valuation increase. We’re excited to support David Mather and the NxLite team as they build on this momentum. https://lnkd.in/g-Fipd9K

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What if the “perfect” grid never arrives—but the energy transition succeeds anyway? Today, companies can’t afford to wait five to eight years for utility upgrades. Manufacturing is exploding, data centers are multiplying, and the EV boom is here. The result? Grid connection delays are the new choke point for America’s industrial future. So why did DCVC back Mainspring Energy $290M Series F? Because their modular generators flip the script—delivering dispatchable, clean-capable power in months, not years. General Catalyst Tom Linebarger Genevieve Kinney Shannon Miller https://lnkd.in/ezMsK_Y4

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Bitcoin mining companies have the capacity to solve energy challenges at a nation state level. Energy today is politicized Grid architecturue is fossilized Energy distribution is centralized Renewable energy rollouts often don't deliver energy to people who need it, because of the way they're subsidized And the entire energy landscape is wasteful. Bitcoin mining makes meaningful contributions to solving all 5 issues.

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I’m back from ADFW where I was able to meet with interested investors and Input Output Group had several speaker sessions, including a keynote by our Founder/CEO, Charles Hoskinson. For me, the takeaway from his session was: We aren't just digitizing old systems; we are re-architecting global markets. From my perspective, institutional adoption now rests on three pillars: 1. Infrastructure over Hype: Tokenizing Real World Assets (RWA) is only the beginning. The real value lies in the high-throughput, compliant infrastructure that allows these assets to move at scale. 2. Settlement as Compliance: The future is "Algorithmic Law." By moving compliance into the API layer through smart contracts, we replace manual bureaucracy with instant, programmable regulation. 3. Privacy is a Prerequisite: Institutional capital requires "Rational Privacy." Using Zero-Knowledge Proofs for selective disclosure is the only way to balance regulatory needs with commercial confidentiality. The Bottom Line: The winners of the next decade will be the jurisdictions and technologies that solve the privacy-compliance paradox. At Input Output, we are focusing our due diligence on exactly that. #Web3 #DigitalAssets #Fintech #InstitutionalFinance #ADFW

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For the past few years when meeting new ambitious energy tech startups, I've been mentally classifying them into one of two groups: "wave builders" and "wave riders". Both types can build hugely impactful, generationally significant companies. But they require slightly different skillsets, and they each carry a different "what you need to believe". Anyway, Andy Lubershane finally helped me write it down, in the way only he can. https://lnkd.in/gE6KF2rf

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🚨California Takes Action with Passage of 3 Bills to Scale CDR Innovation This weekend, California made unprecedented progress in creating compliance mechanisms to help grow Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) by providing pathways for all CDR approaches to gain market traction and grow responsibly in the state: ✅ CDR is included for the first time in the Cap & Invest program via AB1207, which creates a pathway for CDR to be permanently integrated as a compliance offset category ✅ The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was reauthorized via SB804, and now includes a framework for CDR to be included in future allocations from the fund for climate tech innovation, including as part of an $85M climate tech innovation program ✅ The passage of SB643 creates a Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Program to purchase CDR credits from eligible suppliers With these actions, California has created the framework to responsibly scale CDR, creating both economic and environmental benefits for Californians. These benefits include addressing affordability by generating good paying jobs and lowering CDR technology costs, as well as deploying technologies that tackle critical challenges such as wildfire fuel load reduction (such as the pictured Charm pilot in the Inyo National Forest) and orphaned wells. In addition, this program is technology-inclusive - enabling the state to deploy a wide range of technologies that support meeting CA’s climate goals by tackling legacy and residual emissions. Over the past few years, Charm Industrial has been collaborating with legislators, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and numerous NGO, industry, and academic partners to explore these concepts - what is the right mix of technologies for California? How can CDR help plug the gaps for residual and hard to abate emissions, and what are the benefits for Californians? We are incredibly proud of this progress, and this suite of new mechanisms provides support for R&D, supply, and demand, which together will support the scaling of the CDR industry - coupled with additional resources allocated to CARB for scaling SB905, the Carbon Capture Removal and Storage bill passed in 2022, which provides the framework to support this work. This is also yet another example of California leading the nation by fully integrating responsible CDR into its programs, creating a huge opportunity for the state to lead on scaling a wide range of technologies that will not only create environmental and economic benefits, but are also critical to helping the state stay on track for net zero and reaching California’s climate goals. Thank you to our partners in the legislature and agencies for your vision and commitment to scaling these solutions, and to all of our NGO, industry, and academic partners for all of the painstaking work to come up with the right set of solutions for California. We’re looking forward to working together to implement these important programs! 

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