Thalēs, a financial services firm specialising in institutional placement and derivatives brokerage, has appointed Michael McGrath as Executive Vice President to run the firm’s newly created Private Client Solutions Group.
Based in New York, McGrath will develop distribution partnerships with institutional asset managers in both the alternative and traditional asset management space to access, expand, and diversify their client base within the US private client market.
McGrath says: “I am thrilled to be joining Thalēs and I look forward to working closely with hedge funds and asset managers to create effective partnerships with Financial Intermediary Distribution Platforms, which will make institutional investment strategies available to many more private individuals.”
Thalēs, which already has an established capital introduction and capital raising practice in the institutional investor market, will now offer a flexible and effective solution for asset managers to cover the financial intermediary market in the US, a segment estimated to represent over USD60 trillion in investable assets. There are currently close to 200,000 financial advisors working with private clients in the US including Wirehouse Platforms, Regional and Independent Broker-Dealers, as well as RIAs, making this market both extremely attractive for asset managers but also quite challenging to cover due to its highly fragmented nature. The newly formed group will rely extensively on technology to generate significantly more interactions with financial advisors than the traditional wholesale model but also to better target potential buyers leading to higher sales conversion rates.
Marc Cohen, CEO of Thalēs, says: “We are pleased to have a senior professional of Mike’s calibre lead this new initiative which will expand our capital raising offering beyond the institutional channel. We look forward to leveraging his vast experience in helping our clients deliver institutional quality products to this very substantial market segment.”
