Partner perspectives

MS: I'm Madeleine Sinclair, Head of Private Wealth Distribution of Blue Owl Capital, and I'm joined today by Lisa Detanna. Welcome, Lisa.

LD: Thank you. Nice to be here.

MS: We are so thrilled to have you. Before we jump in, I want to talk about alternatives and your practice, but first, could you tell us how you came to be a financial advisor?

LD:  Sure, when I was young, I loved helping people. My mother passed away early on at 50, and me and my grandma raised my little sister. So, I had to learn about finances and kind of sift through all the paperwork, because it was unexpected, of my mom's estate, and that really made me realize that helping people didn't have to be a physician, doctor, or lawyer. It could be in the finance industry, which I believe is a noble profession as well.

MS: Well, you have been an early adopter of alternatives. They're a big part of your practice now. Do you have clients asking you for a private markets allocation, or do you find that you're the one introducing them to it for the first time?

LD: I think for most clients, we're the ones introducing it to them for the first time. The financial planning piece, knowing the objectives, time frames, and risk tolerance of, let's say, the matriarch and patriarch that created the wealth in the family. But, as you're a multigenerational planner and start working like most of us with two generations up, two generations down in the family, you sort of understand and learn what makes people tick and what they're interested in.

MS: You have certainly differentiated yourself in your practice with the management of a multi-generational approach. When you have that first conversation with clients and position an allocation to private markets, what does that sound like for advisors who are thinking about just getting started?

LD: Well, I like to take them through sort of the Harvards, let's call it the Ivy League, right? Foundations or university funds, and say that those allocations to alternatives or other types of investments are really robust. As an individual wealthy family, we don't want to be 40% or 60% in that space, but it really is a good diversifier and allows us to do some very unique things. It doesn't have to be solely in real estate or credit; it can be what is appropriate for the time.

A lot of business owners, which are the bulk of our practice and my team's practice, understand from their own business that they created that there's a huge opportunity potential there that maybe a public market transaction, stock, bond, or traditional lane doesn't have. It has a little more risk, a little bit more illiquid, but in the right percentage or mix or assortment, it can be a great addition for the overall return of the portfolio.

MS: I know that education is near and dear to you, particularly financial literacy. You even wrote a book – I think a children's book.

LD: I did. It's called Treasures in the Winter Vault. It's about a dancing elephant who thinks the world owes her a living, and a bunch of squirrels who always save for the winter, who rescue her. It's told through the eyes of Grandma and Grandpa, reading a book to their grandson Bobby. It's really teaching them the skills to take the wealth that the matriarch and the patriarch have earned and properly enable them to carry on, grow it, and pass it on to the next generation.

MS: I always say, when you're one that educates, sort of opens the door into new topics and shows the way, a lot of times you become that key steward influencer for the better part of someone's life. So, congratulations on that impact, and that's just so neat.

I have one final question for you. You look at projections for what I call the feminization of wealth, $30 trillion in the hands of women by 2030. How are you set up in your practice to meet that opportunity?

LD: It's been a long time coming for us ladies. I think we all know the stats. We live longer, we've cared for the family just by way of having children a little bit more than men. We tend to be caretakers, and really, all the team – we try to create a situation for our clients where if we can take some of the heavy load or lifting. If someone in the family is having cancer treatments and wants a chemo cap so their hair doesn't fall out, or needs meals on wheels and the family has to do more important things, we have people on the team that actually love helping clients like that and do that.

MS: Well, thank you, Lisa. It's been a delight.

LD: Thank you very much, pleasure.