All Things Fundraising

We cover job changes across the endowment, pension, and family office space, including moves at Brandeis University Endowment, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, and Georgia Tech Foundation. On the RIA/M&A front, we highlight Wealth Enhancement's acquisition of Cloud Investments, an advisor duo's move from Cetera to LPL, and a new independent RIA launch in Durham, NC. We also share upd...

In Episode 46 of the Emerging Manager Growth Show, Gui Costin is joined by Dakota President Rob Robertson to break down how emerging managers can do more with less. They cover the fundamentals: running a consistent quarterly webinar, structuring cold outreach to keep five cities active on the calendar, and warming up cold emails through research. They also discuss lesser-used channels like bank pl...

Welcome to the Dakota Events Playbook — a new series on how Dakota builds the in-person events (Dakota Cocktails, Dakota Conferences, and Data Summits) that drive real relationships with investors and allocators. In this first episode, Dakota's two in-house events experts, Catherine and Dominique, break down the roadblocks that keep firms from ever getting an event off the ground: Answering &...

We cover job changes across the endowment, pension, and family office space, including moves at Brandeis University Endowment, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, and Georgia Tech Foundation. On the RIA/M&A front, we highlight Wealth Enhancement's acquisition of Cloud Investments, an advisor duo's move from Cetera to LPL, and a new independent RIA launch in Durham, NC. We also share upd...

We cover new RIA launches as well as RIA M&A activity, including OneDigital's acquisition of Rosenthal Wealth Management Group and LPL's full acquisition of Good Life Advisors, plus Moors & Cabot's addition of the Coker & Palmer team. We also share updates on commitments from the Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System, the Delaware Public Employees' Reti...

In this episode of Dakota Insights, Chris and Alex unpack GP stakes investing — buying minority equity interests in the management companies that run alternative asset funds, rather than in the funds themselves, and what that means for both allocators and fund managers. They cover how a typical deal is structured (10–30% stakes, priced at 10–15x management company EBITDA), the market's evolut...

Master sales with four game-changing principles: Focus on what matters, target the right people, craft the perfect pitch, and follow up like a pro. Packed with actionable tips, this guide helps you turn meetings into deals—fast! 💼🔥

In this episode of the Dakota Insights Manager Interview Series, hosts Chris LeRoy and Alex DeMarco sit down with Stephen Otter, Managing Director and Global Head of Private Markets Royalties at Partners Group. Otter traces his career from energy M&A in London to energy royalties in Switzerland, before joining the Partners Group founders' family office in 2021 to build a cross-sector roya...

In Episode 45 of the Emerging Manager Growth Show, Gui Costin and Tim Dolan focus on family offices as an increasingly accessible channel for emerging managers. They trace the channel's growth to 15 years of private equity, private credit, and alternatives expansion, which has produced a wave of first-generation family offices run more like RIAs, actively seeking deal flow and new managers. G...

We cover new RIA launches as well as RIA breakaways, including the departure of Michael "Mike" Ellis from Sowell Management to launch Ellis Wealth Advisors, and Apella Wealth's split from Symmetry Partners following an ownership change. We also share updates on commitments from the Los Angeles Water & Power Employees' Retirement Plan and the Texas County & District Reti...

In this episode of the Dakota Insights Interview Series, hosts Chris Leroy and Alex DeMarco sit down with Marius Vigantis and Richard Banks, founding partners of Soling Partners, a boutique advisory firm focused exclusively on the Middle East. Together, Marius and Richard bring over 50 years of combined experience in the region, and they walk through everything a fund manager needs to know before...

Master sales with four game-changing principles: Focus on what matters, target the right people, craft the perfect pitch, and follow up like a pro. Packed with actionable tips, this guide helps you turn meetings into deals—fast! 💼🔥

In this episode, we cover new RIA launches as well as RIA acquisitions, including the acquisition of Mill Creek Capital by Pathstone and the acquisition of Jackson Wealth Management by Carson Group. We also share updates on commitments from the Firefighters' Retirement System of Louisiana, Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System, and Monroe County Employees Retirement System. On t...

We cover new RIA launches as well as RIA acquisitions, including the acquisition of Mill Creek Capital by Pathstone and the acquisition of Jackson Wealth Management by Carson Group. We also share updates on commitments from the South Carolina RSIC, New York State Common Retirement Fund, and Chicago MWRD. On the search front, we highlight activity from Cook County Annuity and Benefit Fund, Los Ange...

In Episode 44 of the Emerging Manager Growth Show, Gui Costin and Andrew O'Shea explore practical, high-leverage marketing tactics for small investment firms, covering where allocator capital is flowing — hedge funds, credit strategies, active ETFs, and private markets — heading into 2027. The episode focuses on content marketing consistency, from quarterly webinars as cost-effective brand-bu...

Master sales with four game-changing principles: Focus on what matters, target the right people, craft the perfect pitch, and follow up like a pro. Packed with actionable tips, this guide helps you turn meetings into deals—fast! 💼🔥

We cover new RIA launches as well as RIA acquisitions like the acquisition of Hoff Bujnoch & Associates by MCF Advisors, Sherpa Wealth Strategies by Wealth Enhancement, and Savant Wealth Management's two latest additions. We also share updates on commitments from Mass PRIM and the Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System. On the search front, we highlight activity from the Cook County...

In this episode of The Rainmaker Podcast, Gui Costin sits down with Dan Amir, Managing Director of Investor Coverage at Crow Holdings, for a wide-ranging conversation on building a wealth distribution team, applying institutional rigor to the wealth channel, and leading a sales organization through a difficult fundraising environment. Dan grew up in New Jersey, spent the first 13 years of his care...

We cover new RIA launches as well as RIA acquisitions like the acquisition of Hoff Bujnoch & Associates by MCF Advisors, Sherpa Wealth Strategies by Wealth Enhancement, and Savant Wealth Management's two latest additions. We also share updates on commitments from the The City of Fresno Retirement Systems. On the search front, we highlight activity from the Iowa Public Employees' Reti...

In Episode 43 of the Emerging Manager Growth Show, Gui Costin and the Dakota team take on the pension channel and how emerging managers should think about Emerging Manager Programs (EMPs). Gui debunks four of the most common myths around marketing to public pensions — from track record and AUM minimums to consultant gatekeeping — and walks through how pensions actually define emerging managers acr...

In this episode of The Rainmaker Podcast, Gui Costin sits down with Dominica Ribeiro, Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, the legendary asset manager based in Boston. The conversation covers Dominica's non-traditional career path, the structure and discipline of Breckinridge's distribution team, and the leadership philosophy that has shaped how she...

We cover new RIA launches like SagePoint Capital Partners and Kintra, as well as RIA acquisitions like Fiducient Advisors' deal for Sellwood Investment Partners and Cerity Partners' acquisition of Covenant Partners. We also share updates on commitments from the City of Knoxville Pension Board, The Boston Retirement System, and The Indiana Public Retirement System (PRS). On the search fro...

We cover new RIA launches like Hesmer Wealth Management LLC as well as RIA acquisitions like Covenant Partners LLC and Corient. We also share updates on commitments from Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System (SCERS), The Virginia Retirement System, and California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). On the search front, we highlight activity from Taunton Contributory Retirement...

In this Dakota Insights interview, Chris LeRoy and Alex deMarco sit down with Ben Easterlin, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Infinity Capital Partners, to explore the firm's commercial real estate credit strategy and what makes it stand out in today's market. Infinity Capital Partners has been around since 2002, originally built as a hedge fund-of-funds platform serving RIAs,...

In this episode of The Rainmaker Podcast, Gui Costin sits down with Stephen Tiller, who joined Sterling Global Financial roughly 13 years ago after a 35-year career across some of the most respected names in real estate finance and investment banking. Sterling, founded by David Kosoy more than 50 years ago, manages roughly $7–8 billion in assets across six countries and runs a platform that includ...