Doug Krupa, Managing Director and Head of Global Wealth Solutions in the Americas at KKR, joined Julie Cooling, Founder and CEO of RIA Channel, to discuss the importance of private markets for RIAs and their clients.
KKR has placed a strategic priority on the private wealth channel, seeking to raise 30% to 50% of new capital from this sector in the coming years. Over KKR’s five decades of asset management, asset flows have largely come from institutional investors, such as pensions, whose investments ultimately benefit individual investors. Today, KKR services all wealth channels to help individual investors access private markets. This includes private banks, wirehouses, independent wealth advisors, and RIAs, which is the fastest-growing channel.
KKR believes that private markets can help generate better outcomes, which can include higher returns, better diversification, inflation protection, or income generation. Krupa notes that investors who don’t allocate to private markets are missing a large part of the investable universe. Over the last 25 years, the number of publicly traded companies in the U.S. has declined by half. Additionally, over 85% of lending to support mergers and acquisitions is sourced through the private credit market.
KKR has experience and scale across private markets, including private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate. The firm has a large, global group of investment professionals, complemented by substantial support and operations staff. This includes macroeconomists and geopolitical experts, including General David H. Petraeus (U.S. Army, Ret.), Partner and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute at KKR, who help investment teams evaluate and navigate individual transactions and contextualize world events and market developments with insightful thought leadership. A team of operations experts also works with investment teams to create value at KKR portfolio companies — what the company calls “making good companies great.”
KKR’s suite of evergreen products provides access to private markets for accredited investors, allowing advisors to scale across their book without focusing solely on qualified purchasers. KKR’s evergreen products invest in the same deals found in the firm’s institutional funds.
Resources:
KKR K-Series: Evergreen Solutions for Private Market Investors: Learn more about the full breadth and depth of KKR’s capabilities across private equity, infrastructure, credit and real estate.
KKR Alternatives Unlocked: Explore KKR’s education platform, designed to empower advisors with the knowledge to confidently explore new ways to diversify portfolios and enhance return potential for clients.
KKR’s Digital RIA Hub: Built for RIAs. Backed by KKR. Explore a centralized hub for timely insights, practice management tools, and dynamic content—built to support your growth and client relationships.