Displaying items by tag: alternatives

Alternative investment platform CAIS recently announced that Graham Capital Management, L.P., a global alternative investment firm with approximately $17.9 billion in assets under management is adding select alternative investment funds on the CAIS Marketplace. Graham specializes in providing quantitative and discretionary macro strategies. The announcement coincides with positive performance across macro strategies over the last year. The Graham fund currently listed on the CAIS marketplace has undergone a third-party due diligence process conducted by Mercer and will be made available to thousands of RIAs and independent broker-dealers who oversee more than $3 trillion in assets. As part of the announcement, Brian Douglas, Chief Executive Officer of Graham, stated, “2022 was a strong year for macro and a reminder of the importance of portfolio diversification. We are optimistic that the opportunity set for our strategies will continue to be strong, so we are particularly excited about the timing of our partnership with CAIS.” While the private wealth channel has historically been under-allocated to alternatives compared to institutional investors, a recent CAIS-Mercer survey found that nearly 88% of advisors intend to increase their allocations to alternatives over the next two years. This follows news in January when CAIS announced that its platform is adding Reverence Capital Partners funds.

Finsum:Due to rising demand for alternative asset classes, CAIS announced that Graham Capital, which specializes in discretionary macro strategies is adding select funds to the CAIS marketplace.

With clients pulling an estimated $130 billion in assets from Janus Henderson since 2017, the fund firm’s new boss is looking to revive the company by leaning into active management and pushing into alternative investments such as hedge funds and private credit. Ali Dibadj, who took over as CEO in June, acknowledged the firm’s difficulties and laid out a turnaround strategy, which includes pushing into some of the most competitive areas of the market to stop the bleeding. A committee of 40 senior staff members met for months to understand what clients want and then created a revival strategy. At the root of the plan is a bet on active management. The firm believes that active management can bring the best returns to investors. In addition to active funds, Janus is looking to focus on liquid alternatives, for which it currently has $20 billion under management. While the division hasn't received much attention, it houses several hedge funds. Last year, the unit had net inflows of $2 billion into products including multi-strategy hedge funds and equity- and commodity-enhanced index funds. Dibadj is also looking into illiquid alternatives. The firm is considering using private credit to augment its fixed-income unit and products tied to mortgage-backed and high-yield securities. Dibadj said the “move stems from client demand for such products.”

Finsum:After seeing $130 billion pulled from its funds, new Janus Henderson CEO Ali Dibadj is looking to stem the bleeding by betting on active management and moving into alternatives such as liquid alternatives and private credit.

Realized Financial recently announced a series of enhancements to its real estate solutions. The company provides real estate wealth solutions to individuals and families that own legacy investment properties and other appreciated financial and capital assets. The new features, which include predictive statistical analysis, rely on expanded levels of commercial-grade data and technology to help create more informed decisions when constructing customized portfolios of commercial real estate (CRE) investments. While alternative investments such as commercial real estate are projected to reach $23 trillion by 2026, technology has been slow to provide the transparency or customization. The new platform enhancements include customizable portfolio inputs like property types, location, or deal length, a partnership structure that can help investors’ accounts actively reflect their ongoing portfolio goals and objectives, a Confidence Score that provides an analysis of the likelihood a Sponsor will reach the projected income distributions outlined in their Private Placement Memorandum (PPM), and White Labeled Investment Plans and Investor Portals that allow advisors to apply their unique information and company branding to both Realized investment plans and the client portal. As part of the announcement, Stephanie Elliott, president at Realized Financial, stated, "Our guiding principle is enabling individuals and their advisors to manage investment property wealth with the same discipline as other traditional asset classes. These latest enhancements seek to deliver new levels of insight, control, and assurance when constructing and managing passive CRE investments."

Finsum:Realized Financial, which provides real estate wealth solutions to individuals and families recently announced a series of enhancements amid increased demand for alternative investments.

According to data compiled in late December and early January by Devin McGinley, director of InvestmentNews Research, advisors are showing an increasing interest in alternative investments. McGinley’s survey of more than 200 advisors and financial professionals revealed that 43% of advisors plan to add exposure to at least one alternative asset class this year, while 46% anticipate increasing their average allocation to alternatives over the next three years. The survey also revealed that advisors said their average allocation to alternatives over the next three years is expected to rise to 15% from a current average of 12% of client portfolios. McGinley explained that an uncertain economic outlook and a recognition of the long-term benefits of diversification are driving the increasing appeal of alternatives. While it’s the responsibility of advisors to navigate client portfolios, McGinley is also seeing increasing pressure from investors. For instance, more than a third of advisors surveyed said they’ve had clients asking about alternative investments over the past six months. When discussing alternatives, the two biggest investor concerns were down markets and inflation. McGinley said that “Clients are asking about alternatives because they’re nervous.” More specifically, his research found that clients are asking about the following asset classes in order: real estate, gold, private equity, liquid alternatives, cryptocurrency, structured notes, and private debt.

Finsum: Based on recent research by InvestmentNews, advisors are showing an increasing interest in alternative investments due to client pressure, an uncertain economic outlook, and the long-term benefits of diversification. 

According to a Natixis Investment Management survey of fund selectors globally, self-reported use of third-party managers grew from 11 percent in 2021 to 24 percent in 2023. This was partly due to the demand for model portfolios as 72 percent of respondents reported that their firm offers some sort of model program. Natixis surveyed 441 professional fund selectors managing over $30 trillion in total client assets at wealth management, private banking, and insurance platforms globally, including 43 based in Asia. The survey also revealed that in Asia, fixed income is a highly favored asset class due to the strong demand for yield. Sixty-three percent of fund selectors in the region say they will increase investments in government bonds, while 54 percent will increase allocation to investment-grade corporate bonds. Another area of focus in the survey was alternatives. Six in ten respondents in Asia say they are recommending increased allocations due to greater market risks. Within this asset class, fund selectors are most likely to increase allocations to infrastructure at 60 percent, private equity at 32%, absolute return strategies at 32%, and commodities at 32%. ESG investing is expected to see the largest allocation boost with 61 percent of fund selectors seeking to increase allocations and 77 percent seeing increasing demand for impact investments.

Finsum:According to a new study from Natixis, self-reported use of third-party managers grew from 11 percent in 2021 to 24 percent in 2023 partly due to an increased demand for model portfolios.