Alterative Asset Classes
Alterative Asset Classes Beyod the three primary asset classes stocks, bods ad cash may other types of ivestmets ca be used to diversify ivestmet portfolios. The term alterative assets is highly flexible. It may iclude specific physical assets, such as atural resources or real estate, or methods of ivestig, such as hedge fuds or private equity. I some cases, eve geographic regios, such as emergig global markets, are cosidered alterative assets. WHAT ARE ALTERNATIVE ASSET CLASSES? Alterative assets ofte are highly depedet o ovel ivestig strategies or idividual skill i selectig specific ivestmets. For example, hedge fuds (see page 3) exist to pursue ivestig strategies that ofte rely o the maager s judgmet ad that may be difficult or impossible for a mutual fud; with collectibles such as art or atiques, the value of your ivestmet depeds o the properties of a specific work. As a result, eve if you are very kowledgeable about a specific asset class, you might do well to seek out expert advice ad guidace whe selectig alterative assets for iclusio i your portfolio. WHY INVEST IN ALTERNATIVE ASSET CLASSES? Their lack of correlatio with other types of ivestmets may help icrease or stabilize portfolio retur Part of soud portfolio maagemet is diversifyig ivestmets so that if oe type of ivestmet is performig poorly, aother may be doig well. Both istitutioal ad idividual ivestors have icreasigly begu to explore alterative assets i recet years as a way of tryig to icrease returs ad/or diversify risk. I a global ecoomy, traditioal asset classes such as stocks ad bods are icreasigly liked. However, i may cases, a alterative asset s performace is ofte highly depedet o the qualities of the idividual ivestmet, as opposed to beig highly correlated to a overall market. I other cases, such as precious metals, the asset class as a whole may behave differetly from stocks ad bods. May alterative ivestmets attempt to achieve their returs ot from the activity of the market, but by usig uique ivestig strategies to exploit market iefficiecies that the markets have t perceived. As a result, alterative assets ca provide a additioal layer of diversificatio ad complemet more traditioal asset classes. However, diversificatio aloe caot guaratee a profit or esure agaist a loss. While alterative assets offer potetial for returs that are t highly correlated with other markets, their uique properties also mea that they ca ivolve a high degree of risk. They ca take advatage of differet or looser regulatory provisios Hedge fuds have greater latitude tha mutual fuds i pursuig ivestig strategies ad have had to provide less disclosure to ivestors. This greater freedom gives them capabilities that may be off-limits to other ivestmet compaies, such as sellig securities short. It also reduces the chace that a proprietary strategy may be adopted by competitors or become so widely kow that it loses ay market advatage. They may provide pride of owership I additio to their ivestmet value, some alterative ivestmets, such as art, atiques or gems, may simply be a pleasure to ow. Also, certai types of alterative assets, such as reveue from timber harvests, receive favorable tax treatmet. TRADE-OFFS Alterative assets ofte are less liquid tha stocks or bods Depedig o the alterative asset, you may or may ot be able to fid a willig buyer whe you re ready to sell. Also, some hedge fuds may require ivestors to stay ivested for a certai period of time. 2 ATLANTICTRUST.COM
Alterative Asset Classes Accurately assessig values ad risks may be difficult The performace of a alterative asset ca be challegig to research, price ad uderstad. You may ot have access to a give ivestmet Uless you meet suitability requiremets for ivestig, icludig icome level ad miimum ivestmet, you may ot be permitted to ivest i a hedge fud. ivestmets are ot listed or traded o a public market or exchage, ad private equity firms ofte are more directly ivolved with maagemet of the busiess tha the average shareholder. Private equity ofte requires a log-term focus before ivestmets begi to produce ay meaigful cash flow if ideed they ever do. Private equity also typically requires a relatively large ivestmet ad is available oly to qualified ivestors such as pesio fuds, istitutioal ivestors ad wealthy idividuals. Private equity ca take may forms. The followig are some examples: Greater ivestig freedom ca icrease potetial for mismaagemet or loss from sector exposure Because they are subject to less regulatio tha may other ivestmets, there are fewer costraits to prevet potetial maipulatio or to limit risk from highly cocetrated positios i a sigle ivestmet. Also, hard assets such as bullio, atiques, art or gems are subject to physical risk ad may ivolve special cosideratios such as storage ad isurace, while timberlad may be subject to atural disasters. HEDGE FUNDS Hedge fuds are private ivestmet vehicles that maage moey for istitutios ad wealthy idividuals. They geerally are orgaized as limited parterships, with the fud maagers as geeral parters ad the ivestors as limited parters. The geeral parter may receive a percetage of the assets, additioal fees based o performace or both. Hedge fuds origially derived their ame from their ability to hedge agaist a market dowtur by sellig short. Though they may ivest i stocks ad bods, hedge fuds are typically cosidered a alterative asset class because of their ability to implemet complex ivestig strategies that ivolve may other asset classes ad ivestmets. PRIVATE EQUITY Like stock shares, private equity represets a owership iterest i a compay. However, ulike stocks, private equity Agel ivestors are idividual ivestors who provide capital to startup compaies ad may have a persoal stake i the veture, providig busiess expertise, idustry experiece ad cotacts, as well as capital. Veture capital fuds ivest i compaies that are i the early to midgrowth stages of their developmet ad may ot yet have a meaigful cash flow. I exchage, the veture capital fud receives a stake i the compay. Mezzaie fiacig occurs whe private ivestors agree to led moey to a established compay i exchage for a stake i the compay if the debt is ot completely repaid o time. It is ofte used to fiace expasio or acquisitios ad is typically subordiated to other debt. As a result, from a ivestor s stadpoit, mezzaie fiacig ca be rewardig because the iterest paid o the loa ca be high. Buyouts occur whe private ivestors ofte part of a private equity fud purchase all or part of a public compay ad take it private, believig that either the compay is udervalued or that they ca improve the compay s profitability ad sell it later at a higher price. I some cases, the private ivestors are the compay s executives, ad the buyout is kow as a maagemet buyout (MBO). A leveraged buyout (LBO) is fiaced ot oly with ivestor capital but with bods issued by the private equity group to pay for purchase of the outstadig stock. ATLANTICTRUST.COM 3
Alterative Asset Classes REAL ESTATE You may make either direct or idirect ivestmets i buildigs either commercial or residetial ad/or lad. Direct ivestmet ivolves the purchase, improvemet ad/or retal of property; idirect ivestmets are made through a etity that ivests i property, such as a real estate ivestmet trust (REIT). Real estate has a relatively low correlatio with the behavior of the stock market ad is ofte viewed as a hedge agaist iflatio. NATURAL RESOURCES Most ivestmets i atural resources such as timber, oil or atural gas are doe through limited parterships. I some cases, such as timber, the resource repleishes itself; i other cases, such as oil or atural gas, the resource may be depleted over time. Timberlad produces icome from the trees harvested, but may also grow i value ad be coverted for use as a real estate developmet. ART, ANTIQUES, GEMS AND COLLECTIBLES Some ivestors are draw to ivestmet-grade collectibles because they may retai their value or eve appreciate as iflatio rises. If you are a kowledgeable collector or have expert advice, they may geerate high returs. However, their value ca be upredictable ad ca be affected by supply ad demad, ecoomic coditios ad the coditio of a idividual piece or collectio. GOLD AND PRECIOUS METALS Ivestors have traditioally purchased precious metals such as gold, silver, platium ad palladium because they believe that precious metals provide security i times of ecoomic ad social upheaval. Gold, for istace, has historically bee see as a alterative to paper currecy ad therefore a hedge agaist iflatio ad currecy fluctuatios. If paper currecy becomes worth less ad less because of iflatio, ivestors perceive that gold will retai its value. As a result, gold prices ofte rise whe ivestors are worried that the dollar is losig value. However, the price of gold is volatile; its value may rise ad the fall quickly. I recet years, the price of gold has bee particularly difficult to predict ad has show little correlatio with iflatio. There are may ways to ivest i precious metals. I additio to buyig bullio or cois, you ca also ivest i futures, shares i miig compaies, sector fuds ad exchage-traded fuds. COMMODITIES AND FINANCIAL FUTURES Commodities are physical substaces that are fudametal to the creatio of other products or to commerce geerally. Ulike most other products that are bought ad sold, a commodity is basically idistiguishable from ay other commodity of the same type. Examples of commodities iclude oil ad atural gas; agricultural products such as cor, wheat ad soybeas; livestock such as cattle ad hogs; ad metals such as copper, ickel ad zic. Commodities are typically traded through futures cotracts. Futures are cotractual agreemets that promise future delivery of somethig upo a certai date, at a specified price. For example, a commodities futures cotract might ivolve wheat, cor, oil or atural gas, amog others. Futures cotracts also are available for fiacial istrumets, such as a stock idex or a currecy. Futures cotracts are stadardized ad are traded o orgaized exchages. Although the futures market was origially created to facilitate tradig amog idividuals ad compaies who produce, ow or use commodities i their busiesses, the market has expaded to iclude idividuals ad compaies that buy ad sell futures cotracts as a way of ivestig. Like optios, futures are cosidered derivatives because their value is based o some other security. Futures allow a ivestor to leverage a relatively small amout of capital. However, they ca be highly speculative ad are ot suitable for all ivestors. NOTE: This paper does ot costitute a recommedatio of the suitability of ay ivestmet strategy for a particular ivestor. 4 ATLANTICTRUST.COM
Atlatic Trust Private Wealth Maagemet, a CIBC compay, icludes Atlatic Trust Compay, N.A. (a limited-purpose atioal trust compay), Atlatic Trust Compay of Delaware (a Delaware limited-purpose trust compay), ad AT Ivestmet Advisers, Ic. (a registered ivestmet adviser), all of which are wholly-owed subsidiaries of Atlatic Trust Group, LLC. This documet is iteded for iformatioal purposes oly, ad the material preseted should ot be costrued as a offer or recommedatio to buy or sell ay security. Cocepts expressed are curret as of the date of this documet oly ad may chage without otice. Such cocepts are the opiios of our ivestmet professioals, may of whom are Chartered Fiacial Aalyst (CFA ) charterholders or CFP professioals. Chartered Fiacial Aalyst ad CFA are trademarks owed by CFA Istitute. The Chartered Fiacial Aalyst (CFA ) desigatio is a globally recogized stadard for measurig the competece ad itegrity of ivestmet professioals. Certified Fiacial Plaer Board of Stadards Ic. ows the certificatio marks CFP ad CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER i the U.S., which it awards to idividuals who successfully complete CFP Board s iitial ad ogoig certificatio requiremets. There is o guaratee that these views will come to pass. Past performace does ot guaratee future comparable results. The tax iformatio cotaied herei is geeral ad for iformatioal purposes oly. Atlatic Trust does ot provide legal or tax advice, ad the iformatio cotaied herei should oly be used i cosultatio with your legal, accoutig ad tax advisers. To the extet that iformatio cotaied herei is derived from third-party sources, although we believe the sources to be reliable, we caot guaratee their accuracy. Approved 932-15. For Public Use. Ivestmet Products Offered are Not FDIC-Isured, May Lose Value ad are Not Bak Guarateed. ATLANTICTRUST.COM