Joan Kehoe - Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Alchelyst

0:07Joan Kehoe: Hi, I'm Josh and welcome to another episode of the LSE Focal Point podcast. Today we are delighted to be joined by Joan Kehoe. Joan is the founder and CEO of Alkalist, which provides the operational infrastructure behind private markets funds, from fund administration and reporting to investor servicing, so that fund managers can focus on investing and scaling. Backed by MOTIV Partners with Apollo as anchor client, the firm launched in its current form in March 2026 following the completion of Alkalist's merger with Lyra Client Solutions, spun out of Apollo. Joan has spent more than 40 years building and running businesses in the funds and investment services industry, with a consistent focus on alternatives.

0:53Joan Kehoe: She started her career at the Investment Bank of Ireland before joining Morgan Grenfell and then PFPC International, a major fund administration business in Dublin, where she rose to become CEO and grew the business to over€120 billion in assets under administration. In 2006, she founded Quintillion, a privately owned hedge fund servicing business which she built to approximately$20 billion in assets before successfully selling it to US Bancorp in 2016. She then served as managing director and Global Head of Alternative Investment Services at JP Morgan, where she led the transformation of the business before founding Alkalist in 2023.

1:34Joan Kehoe: Joan, thank you very much for taking the time. We are thrilled to have you on the podcast. Thanks, Charles. Truly happy to be here. That took you a while. I've been around a bit. Interestingly, you grew up on a farm in Southeast Ireland as the eldest of eight siblings and have said you had no idea what you wanted to do with your life at 18. And you then fell into fund administration at the very start of Dublin's financial services sector. Looking back over a career that spans more than 40 years, how much of what you have built was deliberate strategy and how much was recognising the right moment and seizing it?

2:15Yeah, I'd like to say it was all strategy. I had the whole thing well thought out. But look, truthfully, it's a bit of both and a bit of luck thrown in along the way. as you'd expect in a career like that. Being involved at the very start of the IFSC, the Financial Services Centre in Ireland, really did give me an opportunity though to grow with the industry and to learn as I grew and as I evolved through various different roles in my career. I didn't move around an awful lot. I spent quite a lot of time everywhere that I went and I think did pretty significant roles in those jobs. But it was really about learning as you're going through that.

2:53And I think you watch then the evolution, you watch how the industry is evolving and opportunities crop up. And listen, I was really lucky. Again, I worked with really smart people all the way along. And at different points, I worked with people that were smart. They knew the industry, but they also had a little bit of courage. People who had the courage to actually go for it as and when opportunities arose to do something a bit different or to take a jump and set something up and leave the easy options. So I think really it was a combination of all of the above. Definitely there was some strategy around the timing of some of the moves that I made, but really working with good people, learning and finding those opportunities.

3:37Joan Kehoe: And speaking of finding those opportunities, you left a senior position at PFPC in 2006 to found Quintilian. And as you say, I imagine taking a lot of those smart people with you because you took members of the senior management team and launched shortly before the financial crisis hit. What gave you the conviction to make that leap? So if I had known what was going to happen in 2008 with the subprime crisis, I might have stayed where I was in 2006, but I didn't. And look, at the time there were a bunch of us and we all had the senior roles in that business there, but we really felt there was an opportunity to do something interesting in the space.

4:14And it's quite similar to what's happening now in the private market space, because back then, the hedge fund business was the business that was evolving. The alternative servicing space was a growing space from a back office perspective. So moving away from traditional long short equity funds, usage funds into more alternative style assets. And look, we felt that there was a real opportunity to take advantage of that growth and use newer, smarter technology to build a service model that was tailored more towards that space. And that's really what prompted us to do that at the time. But I don't know if you're aware, but Bear Stearns was our original seed investor.

4:55So we thought, you know what, we are on the pigs back here. One of the largest prime brokers in the industry really focused on growing their business in Europe. And they didn't have a relationship with an admin business. So we were going to be the beneficiary of their growth from a back office perspective. Little did we know what was facing into us. Literally probably within 14 or 15 months of getting our license, the subprime prices hit and they were one of the first casualties there in many regards as a business. We barely clung on at that stage, but we did. We had to really focus on every cent that was coming in, using it as smartly as we could to build at the back end and then came through it, won a couple of big clients and grew the business from there.

5:41So again, I do constantly talk about you can have all the strategy in the world, but sometimes a little bit of luck is important. And you might say really bad luck with Bear Stearns, but actually in many regards, really good luck with the type of people that we had and a couple of clients who really took a punt on us and gave us big contracts to get us over that hump.

6:07Joan Kehoe: That's really interesting. Obviously, you then navigated that and sold Quintillion to US Bank Corp and then went on to lead JPM's alternative investment services business. But then in 2023, following that roller coaster of Quintillion first time round, you decided to go again with Alcolist. You've spoken before about how thrilling the early build phase can be, but also how terrifying it is. And I imagine particularly terrifying with your first experience. What pulls you back to that stage? And how do you manage the weight of it while the business is still finding its feet? Yeah, it's funny. So we did a pitch actually here recently to a manager and he stopped us in the middle of it.

6:53He goes, can I just ask you a question? What in the name of God made you think that the world needed another fund administrator? And I thought, you know, that's a good question. But I think it's quite similar to what happened in the hedge fund space in the early 2000s. Now what's happening in the private asset space, I think that evolution in that space, which is the pull, which is the push, I guess, to actually go and effect change. And then there's also the fact that we now have newer, smarter technologies. And for us, you know, that's what drove it. And you're right. Listen, it can be you use the phrase weighty.

7:33That's probably a really good word because sometimes it does. That weight does sit on you when you're the founder and I guess the person who pushes setting up a business like this. But for me, that weight is not so much about the opportunity or the stresses of building it. It's more about the human element of it because you do look for really smart people who've got really good careers to step out of their comfort zone and come and join a startup. And that is that is not for everybody. And I think it's the weight of that, certainly for me, that sits probably more than than the weight of the build or the weight of the technical stuff.

8:17Plus, you know, at that stage, when we set up Legacy Alkalist, we got funding from a small number of private family offices. Right. And again, there's a responsibility there because they're trusting you. They're trusting that you know what you're doing. They're handing over big checks, millions and millions of dollars to go and build this business. So that probably weighs on me more heavily. The fact that people trust us enough to come and work with us and trust us enough to give us their money to fund building the business. But at the same time, you also mentioned the thrill word and the excitement.

8:53And look, there's definitely something in that. I mean, there's something really tangible about building a business. And with all the ups and downs and maybe I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie because there's definitely lots of ups and downs, right? I enjoy the build, but that is not to say, and anybody I think who does something like this, who tells you that at times they're not scared or they don't second guess themselves, I would hazard to guess they're lying because that is part and parcel of doing this.

9:20Joan Kehoe: It's really interesting. I think it might be a good time to double click on Alkalist. And for listeners who may not be familiar with fund administration or GP client services, How would you describe what Alkalys does and why it matters within the private market secret system? So we describe ourselves, as you said in the intro, as a client solutions and infrastructure partner in the private asset space to asset managers and to GPs. So what does that really mean in a practical sense? It means that for GPs who are out sourcing deals and we want them to be able to focus on doing what they do. We want them to be able to focus on that and we want to take the rest of it and really deal with it.

10:06So dealing with the LPs, dealing with the valuation piece and all of the work that sits behind it. So fund administration is really the production of the NAVC valuation piece. Client servicing piece, really important. And I know one of the questions you have later is around the wealth space. So client servicing, LP servicing, really important in terms of handholding and engaging with the LPs. managed services then is a piece where if you're a GP that's just getting into that space and you don't want to build out that infrastructure even to start with in your own shop we'll do it and we'll build out that as a managed service for you another fourth piece is which is really what happened with Lyra client solutions so that was a lift out from Apollo where they had built that superior client servicing model so again we're happy to replicate that for GPs who don't want to continue to hold that on their own balance sheet and who want to build it out and grow it.

11:04So lift outs is another piece.

11:05Joan Kehoe: Thank you. I imagine the listeners are now very familiar with what Alcance does. You touched on a question that was coming in terms of wealth and that's coming now. Obviously, private markets have historically been the domain of large institutional investors, but increasingly JPs are raising capital from the wealth channel and retail investors. And And that's obviously broadening access to asset classes that were previously out of reach most. What does that shift mean for you and the kind of infrastructure GPs need around them? So, you know, in a nutshell, what it means is that as you retailize or democratize or whatever phrase people use to describe what's happening with the wealth channels or in the wealth space at the moment.

11:46So moving from institutional investors to the wealth channel, to ultra high networks, to what they describe as the mass affluent, whatever that means when it's at home. But I think what we're talking about there fundamentally are that ticket sizes come down. OK, so when ticket sizes come down, the volumes go up and automation becomes ever more critical. So I think that as we look at what's happening in that space, we really think there's an opportunity to help GPs and really deal with the volumes that are coming down, because there is a massive difference to dealing with 100 large tickets and 10 ,000 medium sized tickets in terms of the volume of activity.

12:26And I think that many GPs and asset managers don't want to be involved in building that infrastructure themselves. So for us, we really see that focus on wealth. And therefore, the opportunity that it creates to build a more automated model is where we really naturally sit in and fit in.

12:46Joan Kehoe: You've seen it evolve from the early days of the Dublin's International Financial Services Centre through to today's private markets ecosystem, as you've laid it out for us so clearly. What has changed most fundamentally about how the industry operates and what do you think is the next major inflection point? Now, it's not going to shock you when I answer this one. AI, technology, data. That is absolutely. And you know what? That's always been a feature. Like when we set up Quintillion, we did it because we thought there's newer, smarter technologies, right? But actually now you have got to. So all of the technologies that we've picked, all the component pieces, they're API native, they're cloud native, they're AI native because they have to be.

13:35this industry now is not just about data it's about the speed and the pace at which you can process that data and feed it back either to gps or out to their lps or out to the market right but what's really interesting this to me is so interesting when i hear people talk about ai people talk about ai in a vacuum sometimes they go oh ai is the solution to everything ai this ai that the reality is what you've got to focus on is getting your data layer and your data orchestration layers absolutely spot on. Because when you do that, the agentic AI stuff can be built in, I'm going to exaggerate and say minutes, not minutes, but that can be built so fast.

14:16Once you've got everything sitting under it, actually orchestrate correctly. And that's the thing that I think is the most amazing about this industry right now. I used a tool the other day, I was looking at KPIs and something that would have taken me, like I'm going to say in the past, would have taken me three or four hours. But literally in, I'm going to say minutes, I had produced from the KPIs that I fed into it, a pretty accurate representation, bit of tweaking. I'd say the whole thing start to finish took 20 minutes. And that includes getting the first draft, asking a few more questions, getting the second draft, and then me kind of sense checking it from a business sort of real practical knowledge perspective.

14:59So there's no question. AI and data, machine learning, all of the above is where it's all at right now. That has been there for my entire career in different ways, shapes and forms. But what's really incredible right now is the pace at which it's happening right now.

15:16Joan Kehoe: Let's move away from AI. Leadership and culture, I think a striking feature of your career is that many of the same senior people have followed you across PFPC, Quintilian, JPM and now Alclist. And you've described that as a reflection of culture rather than any one individual like you being this leader that they follow. What is it about the way you build teams and cultures that keeps people coming back? And how do you think about sustaining that, particularly as Alkalist scales? Yeah, and it's a really good question. And I have been asked this before because I think maybe it's a bit unusual. there are a bunch of us that it's our fourth time building a business together.

16:01So that is probably a bit unusual. But along the way, we just keep gathering up other people who come from, you know, so some people have come from three or four firms, a bunch have come from JP Morgan, you know, some have come from different places. We've now merged with the Lyra team who are a super, super smart, super experienced team. And for me, I think a lot of it is about just being transparent and honest and open. And even when that's not easy, like there's no question when you merge any businesses together, there are questions around, oh, my gosh, who's doing what job? Who's doing that?

16:34And to some extent, it's actually about. And I use this word advisedly, but it is about kind of putting your arms around the chaos a bit. And what I love is I love senior people. And there are a couple of them, a couple of folks in Lyra who came across into this business. And honestly, the conversation was, listen, you're really smart. You've got to you've got a contribution to make. I don't know exactly where you're going to sit right now, but you know what? Let's figure it out between us. And I love people that have the maturity and the intelligence to actually go with that and understand that that's what we're doing when we're bringing these businesses together to scale them.

17:10I do also think it's really important to, you know, you hear a lot of talk these days about bringing your real self to work until you actually do. And then there's a problem so i think i like do like to encourage a culture where i want people to work hard i want them to be committed but i never want a situation where anybody who's having issues and listen everybody has a real life everybody has real challenges real problems real things they've got to deal with from time to time during their lives and i want an environment where where we can we can work with that so for me it's that culture and one person can't make that culture you've got to rely on a team of people and then you've got to rely on that team to feed that throughout the org i just think it's being transparent it's being honest treat everybody with respect and expect respect but but i do always say and it's funny i hear companies I often hear companies, you know, talk about their family and, you know, welcome to the family and welcome.

18:17I don't use that language in our business. I tend to think about it as loyalty has to be earned and it's a two way street. Right. And I care about people who work in any business that I've been involved in, but they're not my family. And I think everybody has a real family that matters more to them than any job. And you've got to have a bit of a recognition of that. Right. so for me this culture that we're trying to build and we have done in the past i think pretty successfully is really built by everybody in the business by everybody and it gets harder as you scale and the little things cause more angst as you scale because somebody there's a perceived oh you know this person got that or that person got the other and i think it is just about trying to keep as much of that openness, transparency, honest communication going as you can, as you scale.

19:11I think there's no magic solution to it. There's no guarantee it works all the time. But that's really how we go about it here.

19:18Joan Kehoe: I'd love now to move to our final segment, which revolves around advice for students. How do you think that the skills required in financial services are evolving? and what capabilities do you think are going to matter most for students and young professionals entering the industry over the coming years? So I think first thing I would say is you own your career. No company does, no mentor does, you own it. Okay. You own it. So don't expect or feel entitled to anything. You own it. You've got to earn it. Okay. I would say in ways it's harder for you guys than it was for me or for people of my era, shall we say.

20:02I think it was easier to stand out 40 years ago. It was easier to be seen as the person who went the extra mile, did the extra bit, put their hand up a bit more often. I think that's harder now. I think that with all the things we've been talking about here around technology and data and AI and all the rest of it. I do think it's become a little bit harder to stand out. But the same old advices still work there. And they are whatever you're given to do, do it well. Put your hand up if you've got spare capacity. Don't just float around and go, you know what, that's me done for the day. You've got to make yourself a little bit more visible.

20:45Trick is doing that without making a nuisance of yourself, which is not always easy, right? You've got to find that balance. But I do think, I do think, keep learning. Do not come into any role with a sense of entitlement. Come in and commit and work hard to whatever role that you go into. Don't be arrogant. Work hard, put your hand up. And I did say in an earlier question, loyalty is a two-way street and it has to be earned. So it's not all down to the company that you join and it's not all down to you, but it is down to making both work together. And the other thing is, don't be afraid. Do not be afraid.

21:24There are opportunities out there everywhere. If a business is not for you or a company is not for you, don't spend too many years trying to make that decision. You know, my advice would always be about two years. I think give yourself two years at a college to decide whether you're somewhere you want to be and whether you're in a role that you want to be in and that you seek growth in. And the other thing is people get obsessed with, you know, with growth, the next thing, right? The next step before they've actually settled into the step that they're in. I think often kids coming out of college now actually think that's not OK.

22:01You know, they think it has to be about, oh, I got to do the next big shiny thing. If you find something you love and you're getting well paid to do it, there is nothing wrong with that. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

22:12Joan Kehoe: Thank you very much for your time and insight. And thank you to our listeners. If you enjoyed that conversation, please stay tuned for future interviews and follow LSE Focal Point on our platforms to keep up to date. Joan, thank you again for joining us today. Thanks, Josh. Cheers.