Michael Kelly – Democratizing Access to the Middle Market at Future Standard (EP.473)

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert

Investing, Capitalallocation, Business

4.8 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Our continuing exploration of the intersection of private wealth and alternatives takes us to Future Standard, one of the largest distribution platforms bringing the wealth channel exposure to the middle markets.

Michael Kelly is Co-President and Chief Investment Officer of Future Standard, a $90 billion alternative asset manager focused on private middle-market strategies for the wealth channel. Michael has been in the alternatives industry for three decades, starting as an analyst under Lee Cooperman and Julian Robertson, helping build FrontPoint Partners, which began the institutionalization of hedge funds, serving as CEO of ORIX USA, where he led the acquisition of $250 billion global asset manager Robeco, and for the last decade turning to the democratization of alternatives.

Our conversation covers Michael's path from working in hedge funds to building alternative asset businesses, including lessons about incentives, leadership, and culture. We then discuss his pivot from the institutional market to the wealth channel, and the growth from a single strategy at Franklin Square with $12 billion in assets to a full suite of strategies under the rebranded Future Standard with $90 billion across private credit, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing. Michael also shares his views on performance expectations and what the flood of new capital means for the institutional market.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com ⁠)

Transcript

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0:00.0	The days of financial engineering, your way to higher returns, in my view, are over, where you're really going to see the outperformance in private equity are going to be faster revenue growing companies, lower multiple entry points, more fragmented ecosystem private companies, and where you can add operational value.
0:20.4	That just simply tends to be more
0:22.1	in the middle market than in the large and mega cap private company market.
0:26.7	Franklin Square, the analogy I use is Netflix. They were packaging and distributing other people's
0:32.5	contents, in this case, GSO's middle market lending practice for BDCs. It's a little bit like red envelopes
0:38.5	and DVDs. They had built this incredible distribution engine and pipes into all of these
0:44.3	individual investors through the broker-dealer market. It had been my background to build out
0:48.9	asset management companies, and I thought, well, just like Netflix eventually came the
0:53.3	conclusion that building your own TV and
0:55.0	movie studio and putting it through your own pipes might be a good idea as long as the quality
0:58.8	content is high. I thought we can do that here.
1:05.8	I'm Ted Sides and this is Capital Allocators.
1:13.8	Our continuing exploration of the intersection of private wealth and alternatives takes us to Future Standard, one of the largest distribution platforms bringing the wealth channel exposure to the middle markets.
1:26.6	My guest is Mike Kelly, co-president and chief investment officer of Future Standard,
1:31.8	a $90 billion alternative asset manager focused on private middle market strategies for the wealth channel.
1:38.6	Mike has been in the alternatives industry for three decades, starting as an analyst under
1:43.3	Lee Cooperman and Julian Robertson,
1:45.5	helping build front point partners, which began the institutionalization of hedge funds,
1:50.6	serving as CEO of Orix USA, where he led the acquisition of $250 billion global asset
1:57.0	manager Rubico, and for the last decade, turning to the democratization of alternatives.
2:03.0	Our conversation covers Mike's path from working and hedge funds to building alternative asset
2:07.7	businesses, including lessons about incentives, leadership, and culture.
	...

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