US-based wealth management firm Mercer Advisors has set up a new platform to expand access to private markets.

The financial planner with $60bn (£47bn) in client assets has launched Aspen Partners, which will provide a curated portfolio of investments including private debt and equity to Mercer’s qualified clients.

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The platform was built in partnership with private markets platform Opto Investments. Both firms are backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

“As one of the world’s largest private markets investors, we recognize how important private assets can be to long-term portfolio outcomes. We are thrilled to partner with Mercer Advisors and Opto Investments to help make institutional-grade private investing available to individual families,” said Eric Wilmes, president and head of private equity, Americas at GIC.

Donald Calcagni, chief investment officer at Mercer Advisors, commented: “It’s clear to me that limited access, high fees and investment minimums, opaque reporting, and arduous administration have made private markets investing difficult and unattractive to many high-net-worth (HNW) investors and the advisory firms who serve them.”

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The Aspen Partners platform will offer investments with low minimums and lower portfolio-level costs, according to the statement.

“Aspen Partners is built to bring a fiduciary-centered approach to private markets by providing investors access to selectively chosen private managers. Just as we’ve used our institutional buying power in public markets to minimize expense ratios for clients, we’ve now focused our buying power on private markets to make it easier for our qualified clients to invest alongside leading private investors,” Calcagni added.

Mercer Advisors is planning to launch several funds for clients to build a diversified private markets portfolio.

At the same time, Mercer Advisors has expanded its leadership team, with Bob Burlinson taking on the role of senior director in private markets, joined by Will Rockett, who will be a senior director in the investment strategy group.

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