Democratizing Alternatives for Family Offices | Jacob Miller, Opto

Jacob Miller, Co-Founder Opto Investments, discusses with Mark Wickersham, Host of The WealthTech Podcast, the evolving landscape of private markets and the democratization of alternative investments for wealth managers.

Drawing on his extensive background in finance—from his time at Bridgewater to co-founding Opto—Jacob thoughtfully lays out how technology is transforming the traditional world of private markets, making them more accessible and efficient. The conversation highlights the critical role of data integration, streamlined workflows, and artificial intelligence in overcoming longstanding operational friction that alternative investments causes family offices. 

Jacob discusses the founding journey of Opto, emphasizing the importance of aligning technology with client needs and the necessity of a “builder’s mentality” in scaling a company. He explains how Opto’s approach has not only enhanced portfolio construction and reporting but also simplified the administrative burdens that family offices face. Throughout the discussion, practical examples illustrate the shift from cumbersome, error-prone processes to streamlined digital solutions that empower advisors, CIOs, and operations teams alike. 

Main Topics Covered: 

·         Founding journey and startup scaling challenges 

·         Why Private Markets are Broken 

·         Private Investment Frameworks 

·         How Family Offices should be thinking about deploying AI 

·         Role of artificial intelligence in due diligence 

·         Enhancing user experience in financial platforms 

·         Three Questions that have nothing to do with Alts 

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About Jacob Miller 

Jacob Miller, is Opto’s Chief Solutions Officer and Co-Founder, a key figure in its leadership team and central to its growth strategy. He spearheads initiatives for Opto's fiduciary partnerships and the systemization of institutional-quality private markets investment techniques and programs. 

Before co-founding Opto, Miller spent nearly five years as an investor at Bridgewater Associates. 

Having managed money for family and friends since he was 16, Miller is a certified market junkie. While he has a background in macroeconomics and high-yield debt, he finds the challenges and opportunities in the private markets space far more interesting and important, both for investors and society. 

About Opto 

Opto Investments is a technology firm changing the way fiduciaries experience private markets. Opto partners with advisors, CIOs, and other fiduciaries to solve the challenges of building and distributing customized private markets solutions at scale. Intelligent workflows and elegant design simplify the private markets investment process, minimizing paperwork, saving time, and creating better client experiences. Opto was built as a fiduciary and with a fee structure that aligns with its clients. The firm does not receive co

About The WealthTech Podcast:
The WealthTech Podcast is a bi-monthly interview series hosted by Mark Wickersham. Each month we present conversations with various industry leaders that focuses on the challenges family wealth firms face with technology, people and process. The podcast is produced by Brad Oliver.

The WealthTech Podcast is brought to you by the generous support of Risclarity. Risclarity fills the technology gaps family wealth firms face when serving the complex needs of ultra-high net worth fami