This edition of the Investments Roundup features CAIS launching an alternative investments marketplace, Robinhood rolling out new financial services, BlackRock’s new public-private model portfolios with GeoWealth and iCapital, HFR expanding hedge fund classifications and adding sub-strategies, State Street funding Ethic’s platform, Precidian debuting currency-hedged ETFs, Oppenheimer partnering with GBI on precious metals access, World launching a managed account platform, Janus Henderson partnering with Guardian, Lazard introducing active ETFs, BlackRock projecting growth in outcome ETFs and Schwab debuting an alternative investments platform.
Larry's Take
Markets move so fast that anything past the two-year view on a financial chart feels like ancient history. But if we look back just three years to 2022, we see (and remember with some emotion) stocks and bonds did what they’re not supposed to do – decline together. At the time, alternative investments gained many new adherents and alts managers looked like prophets.
Now we’re getting a taste of that again: The current bout of high volatility in both stocks and bonds leads clients to ask about alternatives. Its time for alts to display again why they have earned a place in portfolios. This month, CAIS and Schwab are announcing alts services, BlackRock is increasing access to private markets and Oppenheimer is bringing gold to their clients.
These developments weren’t in response to tariff announcements – they took time to put in place. Instead, they sprang from the confidence that alts are here to stay. Alts often provide ballast in stormy markets, and with a choice of platforms backed by increasing technology, advisors shouldn’t overlook their role in portfolios.
If you would like to discuss this Larry’s Take further, including how these trends might impact your business, please contact me at larry.roth@rlrstrategicpartners.com.
CAIS Launches Alts Model Marketplace For Advisors
New York City-based alternative investments firm CAIS Group launches CAIS Models Marketplace, which is designed to streamline access to alternative investment model portfolios. The new marketplace allows financial advisors to host and access multi-asset and multi-manager alternative investment models, according to the firm.
CAIS Models Marketplace offers three multi-asset and multi-manager model portfolio configurations: Wealth firm model portfolios tailored to clients’ goals; asset manager model portfolios that provide an additional way to access alts manager funds (with model portfolios from Ares Management, BlackRock, Blue Owl, Carlyle, Franklin Templeton and KKR); and CAIS advisors models featuring alts available on the CAIS Marketplace, launching in the second quarter.
The models “already launched for a subset of platform clients and will be rolling out to broader network in the coming weeks,” Neil Blundell, Chief Investment Officer at CAIS Advisors and Head of Investments at CAIS, told WSR. “CAIS Models Marketplace is available to registered investment advisors and home offices to streamline access to alternative investment model portfolios.”
Robinhood Rolls Out Wealth Management, Banking And AI Investment Tools
Robinhood introduces three new services that will also include perks, like tax planning, for Robinhood Gold subscribers. The three offerings are: Robinhood Strategies, Robinhood Banking and Robinhood Cortex.
Robinhood Strategies is a wealth management service, providing advice and access to stocks and ETFs. Its 0.25% annual management fee is capped at $250 for premium subscribers. Robinhood Banking will launch checking and savings accounts later this year, with private banking style benefits such as money transfers in over 100 currencies, cash deliveries, estate planning and tax advice. Robinhood Cortex, also coming this year, is an AI-based investment tool designed to provide market analysis and insights.
“When building Robinhood Strategies we realized the existing digital advisory model was broken, with limited features and fees that grow as you do better,” said Steph Guild, President, Robinhood Asset Management and Senior Director of Investment Strategy at Robinhood Financial. “We designed Robinhood Strategies to give everyone incredible service and low fees with a cap, meaning you don’t have to pay more to invest more.”
BlackRock Launches Public-Private Model Portfolios With GeoWealth And iCapital
BlackRock launches a model portfolio within a UMA that has access to both private and public market assets. It is the first model portfolio within a UMA to include private market access, the firm said. The models are supported by technology from GeoWealth and iCapital.
BlackRock says custom models, accounting for $50 billion in new assets over the past five years, are the fastest growing segment of its approximately $300 billion model portfolio business. The firm expects managed model portfolios to roughly double in assets to a $10 trillion business over the next four years.
“This launch represents a significant step forward, helping advisors allocate across both public and private markets all in one unified, professionally managed portfolio,” said Jaime Magyera, Co-Head of BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Advisory Business. “BlackRock’s mission is to make investing easier and help more people access the full power of capital markets. Through our partnership with GeoWealth and iCapital, we are doing just that, helping advisors deliver differentiated service and outcomes for their clients across their whole portfolio.”
HFR Expands Hedge Fund Classifications, Adds New Indexes For Cryptocurrency
Hedge fund analysis firm HFR launches expanded classifications for hedge fund and alternative investment strategies, adding 11 sub-strategies in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector. The new classifications cover more than 145 funds and will improve analysis and research of the evolving market, according to HFR.
The move comes as the HFR Cryptocurrency Index, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, has increased nearly 700% in the five-year period ending February 2025. The sub-strategies are: Cryptocurrency - Arbitrage, Cryptocurrency - Fundamental, Cryptocurrency - Market Neutral, Cryptocurrency - Passive Multicurrency, Cryptocurrency - Passive Single Currency, Cryptocurrency - Quantitative, Cryptocurrency - Volatility, DeFi (investing in decentralized finance transactions), Infrastructure, Multi-Strategy, and Fund of Funds - Cryptocurrency/Blockchain.
“HFR’s powerful expansion of the Cryptocurrency and Blockchain sub-strategies constitutes a defining inflection point in the historic evolution of the global hedge fund industry, capturing the specialized detail and explosive growth of the space, and delineating a modular, cohesive framework for investors to increase their understanding and awareness of these high-growth strategies for investment and benchmarking purposes,” said HFR’s President, Ken Heinz.
State Street Stakes Ethic Asset Management Platform
State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) makes an equity investment in Ethic, the developer of a technology-driven asset management platform that provides personalized, values-aligned and tax-smart investing services for financial intermediaries. The announcement said SSGA led Ethic’s recent $64 million Series D funding round.
The State Street asset management division and Ethic also said they entered into a strategic partnership to deliver customized investment solutions at scale to SSGA’s institutional and financial intermediary clients. The State Street-Ethic partnership includes the creation and management of customized SMAs, model portfolios and UMAs, the firms said.
“We see our role as empowering intermediaries to help their clients invest in the future that they want to see,” said Doug Scott, CEO and Co-Founder of Ethic. “With this new funding round and strategic partnership, we’re excited to be accelerating the adoption of personalized, values-aligned, and tax-smart investing.”
Precidian Investments Adds Currency-Hedged ETFs
New York-based Precidian Investments launches four new currency-hedged ETFs. Branded as ADRhedged ETFs, three of the offerings provide exposure to leading European semiconductor manufacturers STMicroelectronics, Arm Holdings and ASML Holding. The fourth one is Precidian’s first Japanese offering, providing currency-hedged exposure to Toyota Motor.
After launching its first products in October, Precidian now has a total of 11 ETFs on the market. In January, it introduced four products providing exposure to the software, energy and pharmaceutical industries in Europe and the U.K.
“International equities provide investors access to world-class companies, but many investors, and even financial advisors, purchasing these names through American Depositary Receipts may not realize they are also taking on an additional variable of currency exposure,” said Stuart Thomas, Founding Principal at Precidian Investments. “While currency fluctuations can impact performance in either direction, the ultimate challenge has been that this risk has largely been unaddressed. Our strategies aim to solve this through a simple, cost-effective way delivering hedged exposure to some of the most in-demand names outside of the U.S.”
Oppenheimer Partners With GBI On Gold And Silver Access
Oppenheimer and GBI, a platform for precious metals investments, announce a partnership to allow Oppenheimer clients to invest in gold, silver and other precious metals through GBI’s platform integrated into their Oppenheimer accounts. Founded in 2009 by Steven Feldman and Dan Tapiero, GBI is an institutional platform for precious metals with over $4 billion in assets under administration. Its platform enables clients to trade in physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium through their brokerage accounts.
“The integration of the GBI Platform reflects our ongoing dedication to expanding and diversifying the investment options available to our clients,” said Robert Lowenthal, President, Oppenheimer & Co. “We are pleased to provide our clients with seamless access to physical precious metals through GBI, enhancing their ability to build diversified portfolios and capitalize on alternative investments.”
World Launches Investment And Portfolio Platform For Advisors
World Investment Advisors launches an open-architecture, multi-custodial investment and portfolio management platform, called World Managed Account Platform (WorldMAP). The model program includes strategies created and managed by World’s investment team as well as models offered by other strategists and SMA managers. Advisors managing their own models will be able to put them on the platform.
World’s in-house models will be branded Cota Street and managed by Chief Investment Officer Nate Garrison and his team. The firm named Lauren Yeaton Hunt as Senior Vice President of Wealth Platforms and Partnerships. With more than 30 years’ experience, including at LPL Financial, Fidelity and Vestmark, Yeaton Hunt will be responsible for the WorldMAP platform.
“The launch of WorldMAP is a revolutionary step for our wealth platform, indicative of the investments we are making to create an elevated experience for our advisors and their clients,” said Troy Hammond, CEO of World Investment Advisors. “Clients today – especially high-net-worth investors – are increasingly demanding solutions tailored to their goals and circumstances.”
Janus Henderson Signs Deal To Manage $45 Billion Of Guardian’s Assets
Janus Henderson partners with Guardian Life Insurance to manage $45 billion in assets as the insurance firm’s investment grade public fixed income asset manager. The firms will co-develop multi-asset solution model portfolios for Park Avenue Securities, Guardian’s broker-dealer and RIA, which has more than 2,400 advisors and about $58.5 billion of client AUM, the firms said.
With this deal, London-based Janus Henderson will manage more than $147 billion in fixed income assets globally. The firm had about $379 billion in AUM as of Dec. 31, it said.
“This multifaceted, innovative partnership, founded on a shared set of client-focused values, leverages our complementary strengths, creates alignment for mutual growth, and intends to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for policyholders, our clients, shareholders, and employees,” said Ali Dibadj, CEO of Janus Henderson. “This strategic partnership also supports the execution of Janus Henderson’s client-led vision of amplifying our strengths in Fixed Income, Multi-Asset Solutions, and Model Portfolio.”
Lazard Launches Three Active ETFs, Its First In The U.S.
Lazard Asset Management debuted its first three active ETFs in the U.S. Trading on Nasdaq, the new ETFs focus on the investment strategies of global trends, Japanese equities and AI-driven productivity.
Lazard Equity Megatrends ETF invests in long-term technological, demographic and geopolitical shifts. Lazard Japanese Equity ETF seeks opportunities in Japan’s economic turnaround. Lazard Next Gen Technologies ETF provides exposure to global companies working on AI-driven automation.
“This launch represents a significant step forward in making Lazard’s sophisticated investment solutions accessible to more investors,” said Rob Forsyth, Global Head of ETFs at Lazard. “Today, we’re launching high-conviction, alpha-seeking ETFs managed by expert, specialized teams.”
BlackRock Sees Outcome ETFs Tripling To $650 Billion AUM By 2030, Launches Max Buffer ETF
BlackRock expects rapid growth in outcome ETFs as more advisors turn to funds with options-based strategies for goals like downside protection, income or growth. Outcome ETFs grew 58% in 2024, BlackRock said in a white paper, “Outcome ETFs: A powerful tool for a changing world.”
Although the white paper states that nearly 90% of advisors say they have never used outcome ETFs, BlackRock projects the segment will triple to $650 billion AUM by 2030. Outcome ETFs are designed to appeal to advisors and investors seeking to buy and hold funds that contain options-based strategies. BlackRock also launches its fourth max buffer ETF, iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Mar ETF, which seeks to provide 100% downside protection with a capped upside of 7.61% for the year.
“Due to the increased popularity of these strategies, we think education is critical because option ETFs are not ‘one-size fit all’ and have differing investment objectives based on the strategy,” according to a statement from BlackRock. “For example, we believe investors seeking to reduce impact of volatility may choose Buffer ETFs with targeted downside protection, compared to income focused strategies such as BuyWrite or Covered Call ETFs.”
Schwab Launches Alternative Investments Platform For Retail Investors
Charles Schwab debuts a new alternative investments platform for retail investors. Schwab Alternative Investments Select addresses increasing investor appetite for access to private markets. It is available to clients with more than $5 million in assets at Schwab.The alternative investments on the platform include private equity, hedge funds, private credit and private real estate. The firm notes that in a recent survey, more than half of its high net worth clients expected to invest at least 5% of their portfolios in alternative investments over the next three years.
“As our large and growing HNW and UHNW client base continues to turn to Schwab to meet a broad array of wealth, advice and investing needs, we are committed to continuing to expand our capabilities to serve their evolving needs and preferences,” said Neesha Hathi, Head of Schwab Wealth & Advice Solutions at Charles Schwab. “With the launch of Schwab Alternative Investments Select, we’re excited to now offer eligible retail clients access to a growing alternative investments platform, along with the specialized expertise, service and support we know they deeply value.”
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