Why 'Curation Over Accumulation' Is the New Private Markets Playbook for Advisors with Frank Burke of PPB Capital Partners

Frank Burke, Chief Investment Officer at PPB Capital Partners, joins Mike Langford to unpack why private markets are having such a moment for financial advisors right now. Frank has been at PPB since 2017, helping RIAs across the country build custom private fund structures and get curated access to alternative investment strategies — and he brings a rare vantage point on what's actually driving client demand for alts today.

The conversation starts with the "SpaceX effect" — how high-profile IPOs like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are pulling client attention toward private markets, often years after the real opportunity has already played out. From there, Frank and Mike dig into his framework of "curation over accumulation," why building a proprietary, white-labeled fund structure has become one of the clearest ways advisors can differentiate in a commoditized business, and the liquidity education gap that's catching more advisors off guard than most would admit.

Frank also shares a genuinely overlooked alt asset class — legal settlement finance, where investors provide capital against law firm cases that have already settled and are sitting in escrow — along with how AI's exploding energy demand is quietly creating new private credit opportunities in power infrastructure. They close with Frank's 10-year outlook on where private markets access is headed for retail and IRA investors.

And yes, there's a little Sixers-Celtics trash talk to open things up, because Frank's a Sixers fan and Mike can't help himself.

🔗 Connect with Frank Burke on LinkedIn or visit PPB Capital Partners

🔗 Connect with Mike Langford on LinkedIn

Chapters:

00:00 — Cold Open

00:19 — Intro & Welcome

01:31 — Sixers-Celtics Trash Talk

04:08 — Frank's Elevator Pitch: What PPB Capital Partners Does

06:43 — Pull vs. Push: What's Driving Advisor Interest in Private Markets