Making Private Markets Native To Brokerages
Ben Haber, CEO of Monark, on building the DTCC for the private markets
This is really a distribution strategy, not just a product expansion story. Brokerages are trying to become the one place where a customer can hold cash, buy stocks, trade futures or crypto, and now add private assets, because once all of a customer’s money and activity sits in one app, that app becomes much harder to leave. Monark fits into that push by making private markets look less like a separate website and more like another tab inside the existing brokerage workflow.
-
The concrete setup is API first. Monark plugs into the brokerage’s existing app and back office so users can browse an offering, pass suitability checks, subscribe, move money from their existing brokerage cash balance, and later see positions and reporting without opening a separate account.
-
The economic reason matters as much as the product reason. Public trading commissions were compressed by zero commission brokerage and PFOF. Private offerings bring back upfront fees, often around 3.5% to 5%, which can be split with the distribution platform and create a much richer revenue line than ordinary stock trading.
-
This mirrors a broader unbundling and rebundling pattern across investing. Robinhood offers futures and event contracts, SoFi has added alternative investment funds, and eToro has been expanding derivatives, crypto, and money features, all pointing toward a single account that keeps absorbing more asset classes.
The next step is for private assets to stop feeling special operationally. As custody, reporting, and secondary trading get pulled into the same brokerage account experience, the winning platforms will look less like marketplaces for one asset class and more like financial operating systems, with private markets becoming just another shelf on the menu.