Pershing Streamlines Alts Offerings for Advisors

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BNY Mellon's Pershing has expanded its alternative investment capabilities by integrating them with the CAIS and iCapital Network platforms through its Application Program Interface Store.

Pershing has given advisors access to alternative investments — such as private equity, private credit, non-traded REITs, managed futures and hedge funds — through its Alternative Investment Network for over a decade. The custodial and clearing firm said Tuesday that RIA balances on the network doubled over the past three years; also, it now has more than 2,500 alternative offerings.

The company expects the integrations with CAIS and iCapital will contribute to further RIA-related growth by automating document workflows between these providers and the Pershing platform, it said, adding that it is "the only RIA custodian that serves both audiences."

"As advisors increasingly turn to alternative investments for diversification and uncorrelated returns, we are committed to streamlining the process by making it more digital and more seamless for them so they can drive greater efficiencies," said Rob Cirrotti, managing director, global strategy and product management at Pershing, in a news release.

"All integration partners are selected based on client needs after a careful due diligence process," Cirrotti told ThinkAdvisor Tuesday. "While we have a number of integration partners on our platform, our shift has been towards leveraging universal easy-to-use API capabilities in the product space," he added.

More Details

Advisors can now pre-populate required documents — including the Pershing Private Investment Form — on the alternative investment platform where the product is offered.

The completed, executed documents will then be "automatically uploaded to the Pershing platform, eliminating the need for manual uploads and reducing the potential for human errors," according to the firm.

Advisors also will be able to use e-Signature on Pershing's required form as part of the integrations.

Investment minimums start at $25,000 on the CAIS and iCapital platforms.

The custodial relationships that CAIS has with Fidelity, Schwab and now Pershing, "give us preferred access to over 15,000 advisors, who oversee" $6.3 trillion, CAIS CEO Matt Brown told ThinkAdvisor.

Resolving Challenges

"One of the major barriers to investing in alternatives is the manual steps involved in the process," Cirrotti said in the announcement.

The integrations with CAIS and iCapital "make us the first custodian to provide advisors with the ability to streamline workflows via automated document uploads," he told ThinkAdvisor.

He called the development a "critical first step in our efforts to make investing in alternatives easier, more accessible, and less cumbersome for advisors, who are increasingly turning to these investments for diversification, uncorrelated returns and to hedge against market volatility."

In addition, through Pershing's "enterprise wide capabilities, we can support clients wishing to launch their own funds and bring clients unique insights due to our extensive reach in the alternatives space," Cirotti explained.