MMC Marsh and McLennan Companies Inc

NEW YORK, June 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CAIS, the leading alternative investment platform for the independent wealth management industry, and Mercer, the global leader in investment consulting, have expanded their long-standing strategic relationship by adding institutional private equity to the CAIS platform.  

For over 30 years, Mercer has advised top institutions allocating more than $22 billion across private equity, venture capital and real estate investments. Now, through the CAIS platform, RIAs and family offices can access Mercer's strategy recommendations, due diligence summaries on selected funds, and an active menu of investable third party funds. Additionally, Mercer will provide access to their proprietary multi-manager fund through CAIS.

Mercer's private equity research team actively follows over 500 fund managers which represent approximately 1,200 strategies globally. Based on this research, Mercer manages a heat-map across the spectrum of opportunities, which leads to a selection of investable funds. The Mercer strategy heat-map and individual fund recommendations will be made available on the CAIS portal.

"We are pleased to expand our relationship with Mercer and offer advisors an ongoing menu of highly rated third party private equity funds," said Matt Brown, CAIS Founder and CEO. "With the experience, credibility and fund manager relationships of Mercer, CAIS intends to offer the premier private equity solution coupled with the intuitive technology advisors have come to expect from us." 

CAIS member-firms, which include RIAs and family offices, have transacted approximately $2.5 billion across the platform, in a broad array of alternative investments funds and capital markets offerings. The CAIS platform offers access to a diversified menu of private funds at lower investment minimums, with independent due diligence from Mercer, electronic subscription processing and integrated custodial reporting.

"Mercer is committed to delivering advisors the most comprehensive private equity solution available," said David Eisenberg, North America Director of Client Consulting at Mercer. "The rapid adoption of the CAIS platform by the RIA and family office community over the past five years, as well as the firm's strong commitment to technology, makes CAIS the natural choice to deliver a world class PE offering."

CAIS and Mercer are committed to democratizing access to private equity and have dedicated joint resources to educate advisors on the new offering.  The two firms are co-hosting a series of research calls, educational events and one-on-one advisor meetings.

About CAIS 
CAIS (www.caisgroup.com) is a leading financial product platform offering wealth management professionals access to a diversified menu of funds and products. CAIS provides streamlined execution to an expanding list of alternative investment funds, IPOs and follow-ons, structured notes and real assets. CAIS delivers a suite of portfolio construction and reporting tools, and complements its fund offering with independent due diligence provided by Mercer.

CAIS Capital LLC is a registered broker-dealer, member FINRA, SIPC.

About Mercer 
Mercer is a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments. Mercer helps clients around the world advance the health, wealth and performance of their most vital asset – their people. Mercer's more than 20,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries and the firm operates in over 130 countries. Mercer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), a global professional services firm offering clients advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and people. With 57,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $13 billion, Marsh & McLennan Companies is also the parent company of Marsh, a leader in insurance broking and risk management; Guy Carpenter, a leader in providing risk and reinsurance intermediary services; and Oliver Wyman, a leader in management consulting. For more information, visit www.mercer.com. Follow Mercer on Twitter @Mercer.

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SOURCE CAIS