Firms such as iCapital, along with CAIS in the US and Moonfare in Germany, are widening access to private markets' assets and hedge funds, changing the way that wealth managers, family offices and banks access these areas.

Leon Capital Group, a family office – also calling itself a family holding company – overseeing $10 billion of private capital, is collaborating with iCapital. The tech platform, headquartered in New York, gives wealth managers, private banks and others access to alternative investments such as private equity and hedge funds. 

“This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Leon, which until recently primarily utilized its balance sheet and only allowed co-investment from fellow single-family offices,” Leon said in a statement yesterday. 

The family office, based in Amarillo, Texas, said it is seeking to reach an audience of advisors, investors, and partners to share and grow its investment network. 

“By opening its investment vehicles to third-party investors, the company seeks to expand access to investments that maximize alignment of interest via an outsized general partner (“GP”) capital commitment to each investment vehicle,” it said. 

The iCapital partnership allows financial advisors and qualified investors to access Leon Capital’s portfolio of funds through iCapital’s platform. 

Leon Capital operates assets in the financial services, healthcare, real estate, and technology industries, conceiving, developing, owning, and operating businesses. The firm started as a privately-owned real estate development company in Texas and became a holding company.

iCapital, founded in 2013, is now international in scope. For example, in April it said it was launching “iCapital Marketplace” in Hong Kong and Singapore. The offering is billed as “a one-stop-shop connecting wealth managers and advisors with a broad menu of alternative investment opportunities across private equity, private debt, infrastructure, real assets and hedge funds.”

In March this year, JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), which has $213 billion in alternative assets under management globally, announced that it was partnering with iCapital to open up access for Asia-Pacific wealth managers and their clients to JPMAM’s private market investment capabilities. JP Morgan became a strategic investor in iCapital in 2018. In December 2023, iCapital partnered with investor services group IQ-EQ.