Opto Investments has appointed Justin Mills as Principal Product Manager and Rachel Hallock as Head of Design as the private markets technology company continues expanding tools for wealth managers, family offices, and institutional investors.
The appointments are intended to help Opto make its platform simpler, faster, and more personalized as advisors and chief investment officers scale private markets programs.
Opto operates as a private markets outsourced chief investment officer and provides technology designed to help firms build, execute, and service private investment programs.
Mills will lead efforts to streamline and advance Opto’s technology products. His initial focus will be extending the company’s core platform to simplify client onboarding and tailor the experience to the specific requirements of different firms.
He brings decades of experience across technology and alternative investments. Mills spent 15 years at Quellos Capital Management, which was later acquired by BlackRock, where he was responsible for risk, research, and quantitative analytics products supporting more than $80 billion across hedge funds, private equity, and real assets.
He later built product and program teams at Smartsheet during the company’s high-growth period.
Hallock will lead design across Opto’s platform, including the applications used by CIOs and advisors to bring clients into private markets and the internal systems used by Opto’s investment team.
She brings more than 14 years of product design and financial technology experience.
Hallock previously worked at DesignMap before joining Carta, where she served as Director of Product Design and led design for the company’s Fund Administration portfolio as the business expanded from approximately 300 firms to 4,000.
The hires come as alternative investments become a larger component of client portfolios and wealth firms face increasingly complex operational requirements spanning due diligence, onboarding, execution, and ongoing reporting.
Opto aims to automate much of the operational work that occurs between an investment decision and capital deployment, allowing wealth management teams to spend more time on client relationships and portfolio decisions.
The company was founded by Joe Lonsdale and is backed by investors including 8VC and Michael Dell’s DFO Management.
KEY QUOTES:
“Justin has spent years building technology for investment firms and deeply understands the complexity of getting a client from interested to invested. Rachel has designed fund software used by thousands of firms and knows how to make complex financial information feel simple.”
Dan Piehler, Head Of Product At Opto Investments
“We’re bringing on senior, seasoned talent to take advantage of the growth that’s ahead of us. Firms come to Opto for investment experience backed by technology that handles the operational work.”
Ryan VanGorder, CEO Of Opto Investments