Key Takeaways
- • Opto Investments appointed Justin Mills as Principal Product Manager and Rachel Hallock as Head of Design to expand its private markets technology platform for wealth managers, family offices, and institutional investors.
- • Mills spent 15 years at Quellos Capital Management, later acquired by BlackRock, where he led risk, research, and quantitative analytics products supporting more than $80 billion across hedge funds, private equity, and real assets.
- • Hallock brings more than 14 years of product design and fintech experience, including Director of Product Design at Carta, where she led design for the Fund Administration portfolio as the business grew from about 300 firms to 4,000.
- • Opto positions its platform as a private markets outsourced CIO offering that automates the operational work between an investment decision and capital deployment.
- • CEO Ryan VanGorder said the hires bring senior talent to capture expected growth, with Opto backed by investors including 8VC and Michael Dell's DFO Management.
Summary
Opto Investments has appointed Justin Mills as Principal Product Manager and Rachel Hallock as Head of Design, according to the company's announcement. The hires are intended to help Opto simplify, speed up, and personalize its platform as advisors and chief investment officers scale private markets programs. Opto describes itself as a private markets outsourced chief investment officer that provides technology to help firms build, execute, and service private investment programs.
Mills will lead efforts to streamline and advance Opto's technology products, with an initial focus on extending the core platform to simplify client onboarding and tailor the experience to the requirements of different firms. He spent 15 years at Quellos Capital Management, 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 its 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. Previously she worked at DesignMap before joining Carta, where she served as Director of Product Design and led design for the Fund Administration portfolio as the business expanded from roughly 300 firms to 4,000.
The announcement comes as alternative investments become a larger part of client portfolios and wealth firms face more complex requirements across due diligence, onboarding, execution, and ongoing reporting. Opto aims to automate much of the operational work between an investment decision and capital deployment, freeing wealth management teams to focus on client relationships and portfolio decisions. Opto was founded by Joe Lonsdale and is backed by investors including 8VC and Michael Dell's DFO Management. Dan Piehler, Head of Product at Opto, said Mills understands 'the complexity of getting a client from interested to invested' and that Hallock 'has designed fund software used by thousands of firms.' CEO Ryan VanGorder said, 'We're bringing on senior, seasoned talent to take advantage of the growth that's ahead of us.'
Mills will lead efforts to streamline and advance Opto's technology products, with an initial focus on extending the core platform to simplify client onboarding and tailor the experience to the requirements of different firms. He spent 15 years at Quellos Capital Management, 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 its 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. Previously she worked at DesignMap before joining Carta, where she served as Director of Product Design and led design for the Fund Administration portfolio as the business expanded from roughly 300 firms to 4,000.
The announcement comes as alternative investments become a larger part of client portfolios and wealth firms face more complex requirements across due diligence, onboarding, execution, and ongoing reporting. Opto aims to automate much of the operational work between an investment decision and capital deployment, freeing wealth management teams to focus on client relationships and portfolio decisions. Opto was founded by Joe Lonsdale and is backed by investors including 8VC and Michael Dell's DFO Management. Dan Piehler, Head of Product at Opto, said Mills understands 'the complexity of getting a client from interested to invested' and that Hallock 'has designed fund software used by thousands of firms.' CEO Ryan VanGorder said, 'We're bringing on senior, seasoned talent to take advantage of the growth that's ahead of us.'
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