In this month’s roundup, Franklin Templeton launched private markets model portfolios and partnered with Ritholtz on equity SMAs, Janus Henderson released findings on AI, MyVest added Separately Managed Models, Morningstar shared findings from global asset owners, Opto closed an AI-focused venture fund, VanEck launched a U.S. spot BNB ETF, Altruist added alternative assets to its platform, Wellington agreed to buy Hartford Funds, Simon Quick launched a private equity fund, HFR reported May hedge fund gains, RFG partnered with iCapital, and Natixis and Loomis Sayles launched a credit interval fund.
Editor in Chief's Take:
The question for alternatives and private markets used to be how to provide access to diverse opportunities for a broader range of investors. Now the central theme is how to provide better execution on these investments. This month, several firms announced initiatives for alts and private markets designed to improve and streamline workflows. Better execution aids advisory firms in two ways: reduced costs and improved client service.
– Julius Buchanan, Editor in Chief, Wealth Solutions Report
Franklin Templeton Adds Private Markets Models, Partners With Ritholtz
Franklin Templeton launched Private Markets Model Portfolios with Corastone and separately partnered with Ritholtz Wealth Management on Porterhouse, an equity SMA strategy available exclusively to Ritholtz clients. The private markets portfolios use an SMA-style, single-subscription structure designed to help advisors implement diversified private markets exposure, while Porterhouse is an active, quantitatively managed equity SMA using Franklin Templeton’s Canvas platform.
The Private Markets Model Portfolios combine Franklin Templeton’s public and private markets capabilities with Corastone’s infrastructure for subscription processing, rebalancing, portfolio administration and ongoing management. The Ritholtz Porterhouse strategy is built from large-cap equities in the top 50% of the Russell 1000 Index, screening for momentum and fundamental factors including earnings and cash flows. Ritholtz said it oversees more than $7.6 billion in assets.
George Stephan, Chief Operating Officer, Global Wealth Management Private Markets at Franklin Templeton, said, “By supporting a single-ticket, SMA-style structure, these model portfolios are designed to help reduce operational complexity and improve scalability, while enabling advisors to implement diversified private market exposure within a professionally managed portfolio framework.”
Janus Henderson Survey Tracks Investor Views On AI
Janus Henderson Investors released its 2026 Investor Survey on AI, finding that 61% of investors expect AI to have a positive long-term impact on markets, while 90% have at least some concerns about investing in AI. The survey also found that 67% of investors are concerned about a potential AI bubble or AI-driven market correction in the near term.
The survey, conducted by 8 Acre Perspective from March 5 to March 24 among 1,000 investors with $250,000 or more in investable assets, found investors want transparency from advisors using AI. Seventy-nine percent said they would be upset if their advisor used AI without disclosing it, while 85% said their advisor is ultimately responsible for AI-generated advice or materials.
Matt Sommer, Head of Specialist Consulting Group at Janus Henderson Investors, said, “The industry faces challenges when it comes to using AI for advice, client communications, and investments. While it has the potential to be a valuable tool for advisory practices, advisors will need to deploy AI in a strategic, thoughtful manner. The bottom line is that the demand for human-led decision making and personal connection will not be displaced by artificial intelligence; in fact, AI may actually increase the value investors place on those qualities.”
MyVest Adds Separately Managed Models To Its Strategic Portfolio System
MyVest added Separately Managed Models (SMMs) to its Strategic Portfolio System (SPS), giving wealth management firms a way to incorporate different portfolio management rules for separate sleeves within a unified, centrally managed portfolio. The capability allows advisors or internal investment teams to manage a sleeve, such as a core equity model, while the rest of the client portfolio remains under centralized management.
The company said each SMM can be treated as its own security inside an account, allowing MyVest’s SPS to evaluate SMM sleeves alongside other securities when raising or deploying cash. The capability also allows each SMM to have its own rebalancing rules, including different risk and rebalancing methods and materiality thresholds, while SPS evaluates models, pooled products and individual securities across the household portfolio.
David Costain, Director of Product Management at MyVest, said, “Incorporating Separately Managed Models into MyVest’s Strategic Portfolio System represents a major step forward in how firms can deliver personalization at scale. We have heard our clients’ wishes for a simpler way to separate management duties without disrupting household-level oversight. Unlike a traditional SMA, SMM models are fully aware of the investor’s restrictions, tax budget, and cash needs.”
Morningstar Shares Asset Owner Survey Findings
Morningstar shared qualitative findings from its Asset Owner Perspectives Survey, based on interviews with 25 large institutional asset owners from North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The interviews, conducted by Morningstar Indexes and Morningstar Sustainalytics in March and April, focused on global investment outlooks, private markets, sustainable investment strategy and AI, among other topics.
The findings showed concern about concentration risk in U.S. markets and the Magnificent Seven stocks, but also the view that asset owners must remain invested in U.S. markets despite policy uncertainty and geopolitical volatility. Morningstar said asset owners are increasing diversification across asset classes, including infrastructure, real estate, private credit and private equity, while using AI mainly for internal efficiency rather than strategic decisions.
Lindsey Stewart, Director of Institutional Insights at Morningstar, said, “Asset owners act as stewards for some of the largest pools of global capital and as fiduciaries for a wide range of beneficiaries and key stakeholders. As a result, they often find themselves on the forefront of shifts in the market environment, global investment strategy, and regulatory standards and policy. This year, we’ve seen plenty of changes across all of those factors, so the conversation with this cohort has brought several important issues and pressure points to the surface.”
Opto Closes AI-Focused Venture Fund
Opto Investments closed an AI-focused venture fund designed to give RIAs and family offices exposure to private companies and funds tied to AI infrastructure, developer tools and specialized frameworks. The AI Fund uses a multi-strategy approach, combining fund investments with direct and co-investments sourced through Opto’s research network and diligence process.
Representative direct and co-investments include xAI, Epirus, ExoWatt and Higgsfield, while portfolio funds include Fusion Fund IV, Neo Fund 4.0 and Zero Prime Ventures Fund II. Opto said the vehicle is part of its broader effort to build thematic private markets funds for RIA and family office partners that may find such opportunities difficult to source, diligence and execute independently.
Matt Malone, Head of Investment Management at Opto, said, “Opto sees opportunity in active, selective investing that separates signal from noise. We built our AI Fund to give our partner RIAs’ clients exposure to the companies actually putting AI to work. These RIAs came to us seeking a smarter way to access AI—not just the largest, high-valuation names everyone already knows.”
VanEck Launches Spot BNB ETF
VanEck launched the VanEck BNB ETF, ticker VBNB, which it described as the first exchange-traded product in the U.S. designed to provide spot exposure to BNB. The firm said VBNB shares are physically backed by BNB held in cold storage with a qualified custodian.
VanEck said BNB is among the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and among the top three based on daily active users, citing Artemis data as of May 26. The firm said VBNB expands its spot crypto exchange-traded product lineup, which includes the VanEck Bitcoin ETF, and sits alongside digital asset-related funds such as the VanEck Digital Transformation ETF and VanEck Onchain Economy ETF.
Patrick Bush, Senior Investment Analyst at VanEck, said, “BNB has been one of the most resilient major cryptocurrencies through the recent market cycle, roughly flat over the past year while most Layer 1 peers experienced significant drawdowns. This is partly due to the fact that BNB is one of the most actively used blockchains in the world, processing over 14 million transactions per day and supporting more than 2.5 million daily active users.”
Altruist Adds Alternatives, Margin And Options
Altruist expanded its platform to include alternative assets, margin, options and faster money movement for independent advisors. The firm said its alternatives marketplace launches with strategies across private equity, real estate and infrastructure from Blackstone, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, KKR and Pantheon, with advisors able to prepare documents, route them for client review and signature, and manage reporting and billing in the platform.
The platform displays alternative strategy data alongside traditional client assets and investments, and Altruist said it will charge no custody fees for partner funds at launch. Later this year, the firm plans to add margin loans for liquidity, options for income generation and expanded money movement capabilities, including direct deposit, physical checkbooks and third-party digital check distributions.
Jason Wenk, Founder and CEO at Altruist, said, “Advisors are competing for clients who want access to private markets, more personalized strategies, and flexible ways to manage liquidity. Until now, delivering that access often meant working across multiple systems and inefficient workflows. We’ve built these capabilities directly into the Altruist platform so advisors can run their best practice in one streamlined experience.”
Wellington To Buy Hartford Funds
Wellington Management and The Hartford entered into an agreement for Wellington to acquire Hartford Funds from The Hartford in a transaction the firms said is valued at a net present value of about $1.9 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, and Hartford Funds will be integrated into Wellington’s U.S. Wealth business after closing.
The Hartford will receive $300 million in cash at closing and additional payments based on available after-tax cash generated over seven years after closing by Hartford Funds’ business and Wellington’s business supporting Hartford Funds. Wellington currently sub-advises 83% of Hartford Funds’ approximately $160 billion in assets, supported by a client-facing team of more than 160 people. The firms have worked together since 1978.
Jean Hynes, CEO and Managing Partner at Wellington, said, “For more than 40 years, Wellington and Hartford Funds have partnered together in support of advisors and investors, and I’m excited about what this combination means for the future of both organizations. Together, we are building on the strengths that have defined our relationship to reinforce our commitment to the U.S. wealth market through expanded access to investment capabilities, broader distribution reach, and enhanced resources for advisors and investors.”
Simon Quick Launches Private Equity Fund
Simon Quick Advisors launched the Simon Quick Private Equity Fund I LP, its first dedicated private equity vehicle. The fund held its initial close on March 31 with approximately $60 million in commitments and is targeting $100 million by year-end, with additional closes planned through the remainder of 2026 and into early 2027.
The fund-of-funds structure allows Simon Quick’s investment team to allocate across managers and direct opportunities over time rather than requiring clients to commit on a deal-by-deal basis. Participation is available to eligible clients with a $500,000 minimum commitment and is subject to the firm’s suitability review. Simon Quick said it charges no additional management fees at the fund level above its standard advisory fee.
Christopher Moore, Managing Partner at Simon Quick Advisors, said, “Private equity has historically been fragmented and operationally burdensome for clients. We built this fund with the aim of simplifying that experience, without sacrificing access, discipline, or alignment. … This new fund allows us to be more comprehensive in sourcing, evaluating, and monitoring opportunities while consolidating capital calls, reporting, and tax documentation into one streamlined program.”
HFR Reports May Hedge Fund Gains
HFR reported that hedge funds extended recent gains in May, with the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index advancing 1.6% for the month. The firm said performance was led by Equity Hedge and Event Driven funds, helped by gains in technology equities and AI exposures, a decline in oil prices and positioning for an expected record IPO cycle in coming months.
The HFRI Equity Hedge Index rose 2.7% in May, led by the HFRI EH: Technology Index, which gained 10.6% after rising 10.5% in April. HFR said the Technology Index’s two-month return of 22.3% was the highest such period since its January 2008 inception. The HFRI Event-Driven Index climbed 2.1%, while the HFRI Macro Index gained 0.2%.
Kenneth J. Heinz, President of HFR, said, “Since the beginning of the year, hedge funds have successfully navigated a succession of intense market dislocations and reversals in equities and commodities, including in the much-vaunted technology sector. Geopolitical uncertainty and global volatility continue driving headlines, presenting dynamic trading opportunities for specialized, experienced and savvy active managers.”
RFG Advisory Partners With iCapital
RFG Advisory partnered with iCapital to expand advisor access to alternative investments and structured investment solutions through RFG’s ClickONE platform. The integration is intended to provide RFG advisors with access to private equity, private credit, hedge funds and structured investments through single sign-on access and unified visibility across investment solutions.
The firms said the integration supports RFG’s expansion across advisor channels, including breakaway wirehouse advisors and independent firms seeking broader investment capabilities, operating flexibility and platform support.
Shannon Spotswood, CEO of RFG, said, “The future of wealth management belongs to firms that can deliver institutional-caliber capabilities without creating more complexity for Advisors. iCapital has played an important role in expanding access to alternatives and structured investments, which aligns closely with RFG’s vision for the Advisor experience. Together, we are creating a more connected, intelligent and frictionless platform that helps Advisors serve sophisticated clients, operate more efficiently and focus more time on advice and growth.”
Natixis, Loomis Sayles Launch Credit Interval Fund
Natixis Investment Managers and Loomis Sayles launched the Loomis Sayles Credit Income Opportunities Fund, an interval fund spanning public and private credit. Loomis Sayles, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, said the fund seeks high total investment return through current income and capital appreciation, and Natixis Investment Managers will distribute the fund.
The fund is managed by Loomis Sayles’ Full Discretion Team, led by Matt Eagan, with Peter Sheehan, Eric Williams and Chris Romanelli also serving as Portfolio Managers. The fund may invest across corporate credit, senior loans, structured credit including CLOs, and select asset-based and private credit investments. It is intended for long-term investors and will be available in institutional and retail share classes.
Eagan said, “The convergence of public and private credit along with the paramount importance of careful credit research is creating compelling opportunities for experienced, research-driven investors. This new fund reflects our commitment to clients, bringing our team’s four decades of credit expertise into a single, flexible vehicle designed to capture value across both liquid and less liquid markets.”
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