Hayes Wants Interval Funds Pitched as Offering a “Defined Exit Path”

Madison Hayes wants to change how the industry talks about liquidity in alternative investments. 

Rather than calling interval funds and other evergreen vehicles “semi-liquid,” Hayes, vice president of product and platform management at Independent Financial Group, encourages industry insiders to describe their redemption windows as a “defined exit path.” The framing, she believes, better reflects how these structures are designed to work and helps advisors set clearer expectations with clients. 

Hayes brings more than 15 years of experience in alternative investments to the role. She has worked in wholesaling, acquisitions and dispositions, and due diligence, managed the alternative investment product shelf for an independent broker-dealer, and now oversees the firm’s entire broker-dealer product platform. 

She sees two primary reasons investors turn to alternatives. Some decisions are event-driven, such as 1031 exchanges and other tax-mitigation strategies. Others are asset allocation decisions, driven by the diversification private markets can offer. 

Hayes recently led a reorganization that split the firm’s wealth management department into two areas: product and advisor consultancy. As head of product, she reworked the framework for bringing alternative investments before the firm’s investment committee. The new process uses a scoring matrix that weighs qualitative and quantitative factors for both the sponsor, through operational due diligence, and the product itself, through investment due diligence. 

The initiative formalized and strengthened the firm’s diligence process and streamlined the approval of alternative investment programs. 

In her previous role as manager of alternative investments, Hayes increased alternative investment sales by more than 30% and boosted related firm revenue by more than 50% in one year through platform expansion and advisor education. 

Colleagues describe her as a hands-on leader who takes time to understand the work she asks of her team and makes herself available to colleagues whenever they need support. 

Hayes is also involved with the firm’s foundation and its Impact for Good initiative, encouraging her team to participate. She supported the program’s decision to direct funds to the ALS Foundation of San Diego, a cause important to a colleague. 

Within the industry, she serves on several boards and speaks on industry panels.