'I'm playing to change the industry,' says fintech CEO

'I'm playing to change the industry,' says fintech CEO
InvestmentNews Awards 2024, CEO of the Year Excellence Awardee: Matt Brown, CAIS.
JUN 11, 2024
By  Josh Welsh

Before Matt Brown became a financial advisor and founded CAIS, a technology platform, he likely would have found himself in the director’s chair – or another starring role in the film and television industry. Being a storyteller is where he says his true passion lies.

“Telling the right stories is very important,” he says. “If you can be inspiring with the stories you tell, that helps a lot of people. You might see a movie or two out of me before this whole thing's over.”

Brown’s lightbulb moment to create CAIS in 2009 came from a deep passion to address problems that stemmed from the global financial crisis.

“We saw that advisors who didn't have access to alternative investments didn't do as well to withstand volatile markets and they didn't have the tools to be able to recover quickly and take advantage of opportunities that were created by dislocation,” Brown admits. “We stepped in to build the universal platform for the wealth channel, and truly democratize access to alternative investments.”

Brown wears several hats at CAIS. Not only is he founder, CEO and chairman of the NYC-based firm, but he also launched CAIS Solutions last year, a new SaaS platform that uses the power of CAIS technology to centralize and streamline alternative investment funds. You’ll also find him spearheading several CAIS-sponsored events.

Brown’s leadership at CAIS and passion for the industry are just a few reasons why he’s being recognized as an InvestmentNews Awards 2024 Excellence Awardee, with the winners announced on June 20 at 583 Park Avenue, New York City in a glitzy, red carpet ceremony. Click here to register to attend.

What makes Brown a standout leader in the industry, he says, is aspiring to be something bigger than “playing to make the numbers of a company look better. I'm playing to change an industry.”

“We're not done yet,” he added. “We're constantly evolving in what is an evolving market. That's going to require us to be even more creative and come up with better solutions for the advisor and asset management community but we’re up to the task.”

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