CAIS Expands Product Menu with Capital Markets Syndicate Offering

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CAIS, the leading independent marketplace providing efficient access to institutional funds and products, today announced the expansion of its product menu to include capital markets syndicate offerings. CAIS will centralize a robust menu of equity and fixed income new issues from leading underwriters and financial sponsors, providing wealth advisors the opportunity to obtain allocations of IPOs and follow-on offerings generally only made available to institutional investors.

Capital markets syndicate is the latest addition to CAIS's existing product offering, which includes top-tier hedge funds, private equity funds, structured products and precious metals. Through this offering, CAIS will continue to provide the same level of customization and intuitive technology that advisors have come to expect, including electronic order entry, customized deal notifications and a consolidated syndicate calendar featuring offerings from multiple banks. Equity and fixed income offerings will include common stock across all sectors, MLPs, REITs, BDCs, preferreds, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, 144A/private placements and closed-end funds.

"Today, we are further leveling the playing field for wealth advisors by providing unprecedented, centralized syndicate access," said Rafay Farooqui, Co-Founder and President of CAIS. "We believe that providing capital markets access is an important addition to our established product menu of alternative investments and structured products that will better enable advisors to meet their clients' growing investment needs."

Additionally, bank underwriters and financial sponsors that partner with CAIS will gain streamlined distribution into the fragmented multi-trillion dollar independent wealth management industry. In launching its capital markets syndicate access, CAIS has formed several key strategic relationships with leading banks, most recently BMO Capital Markets (NYSE/TSX: BMO). CAIS will selectively expand these relationships to ensure diversity and consistency of syndicate offerings. The CAIS model represents a reliable and centralized high-net-worth distribution point that is non-competitive with bank capital markets mandates.

All capital markets transactions executed through CAIS are cleared through Pershing.

CAIS also announced today that it has hired Scott Delgado, formerly of Morgan Stanley, as Director and Head of Capital Markets. "I'm excited to join the CAIS team and develop our capital markets business," said Delgado. "As the wealth management industry reaches an inflection point, CAIS has identified a unique opportunity to serve as the bridge between advisors seeking syndicate offerings and banks that are eager to identify new channels of capital."

Additional information about CAIS and its full menu of offerings can be found at www.caisgroup.com. 

About CAIS

CAIS is the leading independent marketplace for the global wealth management industry, providing efficient access and execution to a diversified offering of institutional funds and products. CAIS offers advisors streamlined access, information and execution to top-tier of hedge funds, private equity funds, structured products, capital markets and precious metals. CAIS complements its centralized multi-product offering with independent due diligence provided by Mercer, portfolio construction tools and electronic trade execution.

As a business-to-business service provider, CAIS avoids key conflicts of interest by not engaging in wealth management activities or managing proprietary funds or products.

To learn more about CAIS, visit www.caisgroup.com.

SOURCE CAIS