Alternative investments refer to investment strategies and vehicles that sit outside traditional public markets such as stocks, bonds, and cash. For family offices and institutional investors, these investments offer access to differentiated return streams, inflation protection, and broader portfolio diversification.
This category encompasses a wide range of opportunities, including private equity, venture capital, real assets, hedge funds, infrastructure, and digital assets. It may also include tangible assets like art, wine, or collectibles—particularly when part of a structured portfolio strategy.
Alternative investments often differ from traditional investments in four key ways:
- They tend to be less liquid and not easily traded on public markets.
- They typically require longer holding periods and patient capital.
- They involve more complex structures, such as limited partnerships or co-investment vehicles.
- They are generally accessible only to high-net-worth and institutional investors due to higher minimum commitments and regulatory thresholds.
While often used interchangeably, it’s helpful to distinguish between alternative investments and alternative assets. Alternative investments refer to the strategy or structure of investing outside traditional markets, whereas alternative assets describe the actual types of holdings involved.
Within a modern family office context, alternative investments are increasingly core to portfolio construction, playing a key role in risk-adjusted performance, impact investing, and long-term wealth preservation.
