Engagement completed 2025 · Client anonymized

A Late Entrant's Winning Path Into Private Markets

How Jacobs & Company helped an established wealth and asset management platform enter private markets — with a credible entry, immediate revenue, and a compounding edge.

Timing
Market reached in late 2025
Execution
3-phase entry roadmap
Scope
Full value-chain analysis

The Signal: Late to a Market Moving Fast

The client saw the shift — and saw something uncomfortable in it: they were late. The question wasn't whether to enter. It was how to enter well.

~40%
Drop in U.S. public companies since late 1990s
~20% p.a.
Compounded growth of semi-liquid structures
$Trillions
Size of private markets pool
Strategy Approach

A disciplined path into a market we reached late

01

Winning Aspiration

Enter late — but with a way to earn and to defend the core.

02

Where To Play

CORE

Own the value-chain links our strengths cover; partner the rest.

03

How To Win

CORE

Enter from existing credibility and build an edge that compounds.

04

Sequenced Plan

Phase the build to widen the opportunity and the advantage.

Where To Play

We don't need the biggest slice to win — the right ones

Mapping the value chain by economics and fit made the ownership call obvious.

Partner

Asset Management

Sourcing, product & alpha

Build Over Time

Middle Office

Makes alternatives run at scale

Own

Distribution

Advisor relationships & reach

Own

Client Servicing

The end-to-end experience

Own Build over time Partner
"The largest pool of economics wasn't ours to win — so we owned the links our strengths already covered, built toward the contested middle office, and partnered for the rest."
The Build-vs-Partner Decision

Three pathways, scored on what actually matters

A consistent scorecard turned a contentious debate into an evidence-based call.

Path 1
Fully Insource
Recommended
Path 2
Selective (Middle Ground)
Path 3
Fully Outsource
Poor Moderate Excellent
The Sequenced Plan

A phased entry that widens the opportunity — and the edge

Get a credible, revenue-generating offering to market fast — then unlock more with each phase.

Phase 1

Establish

Deliver
Lead structures inside managed accounts
Serve
Broadest advisor & client base
Requires
Managed-account infrastructure
Current Focus
Phase 2

Extend

Deliver
Additional semi-liquid structures & models
Serve
Same base, served deeper
Requires
Expanded middle-office capability
Phase 3

Elevate

Deliver
Full suite incl. higher-touch structures
Serve
Wealthiest client segments
Requires
Advanced servicing & operations
Addressable Opportunity & Competitive Advantage →
The Outcome
"The client moved from a defensive posture to a credible, revenue-generating offering in market by late 2025, supported by a scalable middle-office foundation."
What this means for you
1Where in this market do we actually play?
2How do we win given the strengths we already have?
3In what sequence do we build so the advantage compounds?
Let's Talk

Compete like a giant. Move like you.

Strategy that's rigorous where it needs to be, opinionated where it counts, and sequenced so it ships.

jacobsandcompany.biz · © 2025 Jacobs & Company

Client details anonymized; figures cited are drawn from public industry research.