The New Private Market Playbook: How Tech is Unlocking Elite Investments

CINCINNATI, OH – June 23, 2026 – The once-impenetrable walls surrounding private markets—the exclusive domain of institutional giants and the ultra-connected—are beginning to crumble. A quiet revolution, powered by technology and a new breed of advisory firms, is democratizing access to the asset classes that have long fueled outsized returns. A prime example of this shift is the recent $25 million final close of DayMark Fund I, a sophisticated private markets vehicle created by DayMark Wealth Partners in a landmark partnership with the tech-driven platform Opto Investments. This collaboration isn't just about a single fund; it's a blueprint for how modern wealth management is evolving to meet the demands of a new generation of affluent investors.

The New Blueprint for Affluent Investors

For independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), the challenge has always been how to scale access to complex, illiquid assets without the sprawling back-office infrastructure of a wirehouse. DayMark Wealth Partners, a firm that has seen explosive growth since its 2022 founding—rocketing from $1.4 billion to over $6 billion in assets under management—is tackling this challenge head-on. The firm, which serves high-net-worth families and business owners, has built its reputation on delivering sophisticated, customized financial planning. The launch of DayMark Fund I is a natural extension of that ethos.

The fund is designed to provide diversified, growth-oriented exposure to private markets through a single, streamlined investment. It employs a "barbell approach," a sophisticated strategy that balances risk and reward. On one end, it anchors the portfolio with established, top-tier private equity managers, providing a stable foundation. On the other end, it allocates capital to a broad mix of emerging venture capital managers who are at the forefront of innovation in sectors like artificial intelligence, defense technology, biotechnology, and enterprise software. This gives DayMark’s clients a stake in potentially high-growth, next-generation companies that are typically out of reach for individual investors.

"At DayMark, we lead with a point of view, not a product," said Robert Prangley II, a founding partner at the firm, in a recent announcement. This philosophy underscores the firm's commitment to proactive, tailored advice. "Private markets have become an increasingly important allocation for the multigenerational families and business owners we serve, but building a program that is both highly selective and scalable requires deep sourcing, rigorous due diligence and strong operational support." The partnership with Opto, he noted, provides precisely that combination.

The Tech Backbone Remaking Private Markets

The engine enabling this new model of access is Opto Investments. Founded by Joe Lonsdale, the serial entrepreneur behind data analytics giant Palantir and wealth management platform Addepar, Opto was built to solve the operational headaches that have historically plagued private market investing. Lonsdale’s experience in leveraging technology to wrangle complex data systems is evident in Opto's mission: to engineer a future where investing in private markets is as seamless for advisors as buying a public stock.

Opto’s platform is an end-to-end solution that automates the entire private markets lifecycle. It starts with sourcing and diligence, where the company deploys "proprietary, cutting-edge analytical tools with AI-driven workflows." This includes an AI-powered due diligence tool that helps sift through thousands of potential fund managers to identify top-quartile talent, a task that would otherwise consume thousands of man-hours. From there, the platform streamlines fund formation, investor onboarding, capital calls, and tax reporting—all the paper-intensive processes that create friction and drive up costs. The result is a dramatic compression of timelines; what once took many months can now be accomplished in a matter of weeks.

"DayMark identified a need for a private markets program tailored to its client base," explained Nick Gerace, senior director at Opto Investments. "We are proud to have supported the sourcing, diligence and execution of DayMark Fund I." This support allows firms like DayMark to focus on what they do best—advising clients—while Opto handles the complex operational machinery in the background.

Aligning Interests in an Opaque World

Beyond technology and access, the DayMark-Opto partnership addresses a more fundamental issue in the investment world: alignment of interests. DayMark Fund I was deliberately structured with a performance-weighted fee model. The firm earns its carried interest—a share of the profits—only after its clients have achieved a specified Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) threshold. This "client-first" structure ensures that DayMark is rewarded for delivering strong returns, not simply for gathering assets.

This philosophy is mirrored in Opto’s own business model. The company was founded to be "free from the faulty incentives on which private markets investing is built." Critically, Opto is not compensated by investment managers for featuring their funds on its platform. This removes the potential for conflicts of interest, ensuring that the investment opportunities it surfaces are based on merit, not on back-end placement fees. This commitment to unbiased guidance, inherited from Lonsdale’s vision, provides a layer of trust and transparency in an industry often criticized for its opacity.

For DayMark’s clients, this translates into access to a curated portfolio of elite opportunities. The venture capital sleeve of DayMark Fund I, for instance, includes exposure to Opto’s own recently closed AI-focused fund. This provides indirect investment in some of the most talked-about companies in Silicon Valley and beyond, with representative holdings including Elon Musk's xAI, defense tech innovator Epirus, and next-generation energy company Exowatt. These are precisely the kinds of exclusive, high-conviction bets that define modern wealth creation.

A Widening Trend Reshaping Wealth Management

The collaboration between DayMark and Opto is not an isolated event but rather a powerful signal of a broader industry transformation. The demand for private market access among affluent investors is surging, and technology is finally providing a scalable solution. Opto has forged similar strategic partnerships with other major RIAs, including Mercer Advisors and EP Wealth Advisors, demonstrating the widespread appeal of its platform-based approach.

Simultaneously, the independent RIA channel itself is undergoing a period of rapid maturation and consolidation. DayMark's own trajectory is a testament to this. As a member of the Dynasty Financial Partners network and a recipient of a strategic investment from Constellation Wealth Capital, the firm is part of a new guard of well-capitalized, technologically adept advisories that are competing directly with the largest institutions. They are proving that independence does not mean sacrificing scale or sophistication.

By leveraging technology to dismantle operational barriers and embracing client-aligned fee structures, firms like DayMark are not just enhancing their value proposition; they are fundamentally reshaping the landscape of wealth management. The line between institutional and individual access is blurring, creating a more dynamic and equitable ecosystem where the next generation of exclusive opportunities is available to a wider circle of discerning investors.