IKapital hires 100 new technologists despite cuts on Wall Street

• Alternative investments fintech iCapital hires 100 new employees in its technology department.
• The 10-year-old startup is looking to add talent to its New York, Greenwich and Lisbon offices.
• iCapital CEO Lawrence Calcano told Insider that “great people are always in demand.”

An alternative investment technology firm with deep ties to Wall Street’s top firms plans to boost its headcount at a moment when many firms are pulling back on recruiting and even alternative money managers more insulated from market turbulence are facing challenges.

iCapital is adding 100 new employees to its technology team across its offices in New York City, Greenwich, Connecticut and Lisbon, Portugal by mid-year.

Fintech, which was founded in 2013, operates a marketplace where investors and firms can get an overview of alternative investments such as private equity and hedge funds. Its hiring plans come amid a wave of layoffs at top financial services and technology companies such as Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and Google.

A spokesperson for iCapital said it has not reduced staff numbers or frozen hiring. The company has increased the number of employees in the past year, from around 700 employees at the end of 2021 to 1,050 today.

Lawrence Calcano, iCapital’s chairman and CEO, told Insider that while more people will be in the market for new roles due to recent cuts, “it’s always hard to hire great people because it’s always in demand.”

“We think there is a great opportunity to continue to accelerate even though the market has been broadly challenged in recent months,” Calcano added. “Long-term, there are still strong trends with advisers recommending higher allocations to alternative investments. So in that context, we want to further invest in our business and ensure that we can accelerate the development of the infrastructure that we believe is critical to helping advisers to have this access.”

iCapital’s employment plans

iCapital is backed by or has a partnership with nearly every major US bank, asset manager and private equity firm, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Blackstone and BlackRock. Bank of America joined as a backer in June 2022 when it made a strategic investment for an undisclosed amount.

The fintech has raised around $750 million and was last publicly valued at $6 billion after raising $50 million in December 2021.

Startups across the alternative investment ecosystem such as iCapital, CAIS, YieldStreet and Moonfare have emerged in the years since the global financial crisis as institutional investors, individual investors and their advisors have looked for higher returns outside what were until recently the public markets. a world of almost zero interest.

Under Calcano, a former investment banker, iCapital has been a notable beneficiary of this boom, winning support from virtually all of Wall Street and making acquisitions along the way. It bought Wells Fargo’s and UBS’s feeder fund platforms for alternative investments and the companies Artivest, Simon Markets and AI Insight.

Alternative assets have not been immune to market problems. Money managers Blackstone, KKR and Starwood Capital recently limited redemptions from property funds as investors have pulled out. Meanwhile, analysts expect defaults in private credit portfolios to rise as economists anticipate a recession in the United States.

Still, iCapital is expanding. It is now looking for experienced candidates – those who have worked in technical departments in financial institutions or for technology companies – for a wide range of roles, including positions in product management, user experience and software development. Fintech wants to continue building out its infrastructure and technology offerings with an expanded workforce.

Approximately 40% of iCapital’s employee base works across products and technologies, and this round of hiring will bring that number closer to 50%. The company has around 400 technologists.

iCapital has already started the hunt for talent. While most will end up in the New York, Greenwich and Lisbon offices, some may be added to iCapital’s other 10 offices spread across the U.S. and overseas, according to Calcano.