iCapital, the leading global fintech and alternative investments platform, is making it easier for advisors to scaleably diversify their clients’ portfolios beyond traditional public investments.
On Monday, the firm broke the news of a new investment suite, iCapital Model Portfolios, which aims to help advisors take their asset-allocation strategies to a new level of diversification.
“We are excited to introduce iCapital Model Portfolios, an innovative application for wealth managers to incorporate alternative investments into their clients’ portfolios,” iCapital Chairman and CEO Lawrence Calcano said in a statement.
The firm’s very first offering within that shelf, the iCapital Multi-Asset Portfolio, or iMAP for short, is a balanced strategy that draws on the quantitative analytical work of iCapital’s research and due diligence team to create an alternative asset allocation that marries income and growth.
By actively bringing together five funds from top-class managers in private equity, private credit, and real assets, iMAP is designed to produce total returns with less volatility and fewer drawdowns compared to traditional asset classes, resulting in less client stress when the market lurches.
“We believe models are a critical tool to simplify and enhance the investment experience for advisors seeking to integrate high quality alternative investment strategies into portfolios,” said Sean Connor, president & CEO Global Private Wealth at Blue Owl Capital.
Advisors may also use the portfolios in tandem with iCapital’s Architect tool, which it added to its Marketplace platform in February, allowing them to see how a dose of alternatives along with traditional assets can impact a portfolio’s performance.
Aside from helping advisors manage effectively manage clients’ emotional reactions, iCapital says its model portfolios will make things easier for advisors by taking the work of due diligence, manager selection, investment, and ongoing monitoring off their hands.
“The introduction of iCapital Model Portfolios greatly simplifies the creation of diversified portfolios with an allocation to alternatives,” Dana D’Auria, Co-CIO and group president of Envestnet Solutions, said in a statement. “This focus on asset class enables advisors to build holistic portfolios for their clients through this accessible, ready-to-use format.”
Envestnet and iCapital have a longstanding partnership in expanding the reach of alternatives across the wealth industry, including a teamup last year that unlocked iCapital’s structured investments to Envestnet’s advisor network.
iCapital says iMAP is now available to over 100,000 financial advisors on its platform in the US, with plans to roll out more portfolios in the near term.
“As demand grows, iCapital will continue to work with leading alternative asset managers to design and curate additional outcome-based models,” Calcano said.
Chicago-based Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions adds flexPATH's plan-level outsourced fiduciary book, boosting its retirement market reach to $164 billion.
Also, Raymond James's employee advisor channel adds breakaways from Wells Fargo and Stifel, while UBS welcomes an ex-Morgan Stanley duo in Indiana.
It promised guaranteed principal and 10% monthly returns. The SEC says it invested nothing.
Ten years after entering the fee-based annuity market, MassMutual Ascend says nearly half its lifetime sales came in the past two years alone – but barriers remain among fee-only advisors.
Amplify, WealthReach, Zeplyn and Zocks have unveiled partnerships aimed at automating portfolio management, content creation, account opening, and client communication.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
