AI native brokerages on private rails
Ben Haber, CEO of Monark, on why 2026 is the year of alts
The real opening for AI native brokerages is not cheaper trading, it is removing the paperwork and decision friction that still makes private investing feel like a side quest inside most wealth products. Monark already abstracts accreditation checks, trade execution, money movement, and reporting into an API that plugs into existing apps, which means a new brokerage can focus on a cleaner front end, faster guidance, and personalized discovery while still relying on shared infrastructure underneath.
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This is the same pattern public markets followed. Apex and other clearing providers made it possible for Robinhood, Betterment, and newer fintech apps to compete on user experience while outsourcing the hard back office work. Monark is trying to play that role for private assets, across brokerages, RIAs, and clearing partners.
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Incumbents are moving in house at the top end, not eliminating the category. Schwab completed its Forge acquisition on March 2, 2026, Morgan Stanley announced its EquityZen deal on October 29, 2025, and Robinhood launched Robinhood Ventures Fund I in March 2026. That validates demand, but it still leaves a long tail of platforms needing turnkey rails.
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The concrete UX gap is easy to see. In Monark powered flows, investors can use cash already sitting in a brokerage account, review a private deal, complete suitability and accreditation steps, subscribe, and later see the position on normal statements. AI can compress the search, education, and eligibility steps that still slow this workflow down.
Over the next few years, the winning brokerage products are likely to look less like marketplaces full of menus and more like guided investment copilots sitting on top of standardized private market rails. As more private funds and pre IPO offerings become available through APIs, the main differentiation will shift to who can make discovery, suitability, and execution feel as simple as buying an ETF.