Biodiversity fund to target high-net-worth investors, family offices
The Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework is to biodiversity what the Paris agreement is to climate change, and local investment firm Skjander aims to ride its growing investment appeal across the globe.
Escala doubles-down on alternatives
Escala Partners, one of Australia’s leading private wealth investment and advisory groups, is strengthening its commitment to alternative investments.
Can liquid alternatives truly diversify in a crisis? A manager comparison across real market stress
In a world of higher volatility and less reliable diversification from traditional asset classes, liquid alternatives have become an essential component in portfolio design. But do they actually diversify in a crisis — when it matters most?
Assetora builds a platform for growth in alternatives
With a couple of difficult years receding in the rearview mirror, reconstituted investment platform company Assetora is enjoying having only the normal challenges of business, says chief executive Darren Younger.
Investors to benefit from private credit safety net
The global ratings agency Moody’s and the index provider MSCI have joined forces to create a first-of-its-kind solution to help assess risk for this burgeoning asset class.
Picking winners: How StepStone Group and LGT Crestone think about venture capital
The conversation on venture capital at the Investment Leaders Forum held at Crystalbrook in Byron Bay pulled no punches. StepStone Group’s Phillip Cummins and LGT Crestone’s Kevin Wan Lum offered delegates a rare window into how venture capital is evolving — and why access, diversification and discipline matter more than ever.
In private equity, it’s best to be swimming with the tide
Nick Miller prefers swimming with the tide. He definitely realised this when swimming around Hong Kong Island as part of a six-person relay team that set a world record for that feat; but in practice, it guides his private equity (PE) investment philosophy.
Evergreen secondaries exposure striking a chord with advice market
The secondaries market for private credit and private equity is finding growing appeal from an advice industry constantly searching for yield plays in the alternatives space.
Delving further and deeper in the PE ocean improves the catch
When Tyler Jayroe told a friend he was visiting Australia for The Inside Network’s Alternatives Symposium, the friend – a marine life enthusiast – told him how envious he was, as he has always wanted to experience Australia’s rich sea-creature endowment. The friend gave Jayroe the perfect private equity analogy to use for his Australian audience.
The alternative asset class that can change people’s lives
Healthcare and life sciences is emerging as an economically resilient alternative asset class, given that the industry has huge tailwinds in the form of the demographic force of an ageing population around the world. Plus, there is the growing demand from lifestyle diseases – illnesses that arise from day-to-day life habits of an individual – and the expansion on the back of digital health and AI.
Helping portfolios weather the storm: the many attributes of ILS
If the holy grail of investing lies in the concept of non-correlated return streams with which to build truly diversified portfolios, insurance-linked securities (ILS) should emerge as one of the options for investors; but they are still not well-understood. That was the message that John Wells, co-founder and chairman of London-based Leadenhall Capital Partners, had for The Inside Network’s recent Alternatives Symposium.
‘Monumental’ task has private infrastructure poised to surpass real estate in value
Private markets is clearly a rapidly growing part of the investment ecosystem, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) recently citing data showing global private capital assets under management (AUM) having tripled over the past decade, to reach an estimated US$14.6 trillion ($23.2 trillion). And within that, infrastructure is the asset class that is streeting all others in terms of growth, driven by a colossal and...
Quiet-achiever asset class gets on with the job
The Australian image of the taciturn farmer, hard at work completely out of the spotlight, carrying a large part of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) on the shoulders of resilient rural families, has a similar feel to the investment performance of the land on which they work. Agricultural land is the quiet achiever of the Australian investment landscape.
Deploying alternatives: A practical framework for advisers
In an evolving investment landscape, alternative assets are no longer a fringe consideration—they have become an essential component of a well-structured portfolio. Advisers are increasingly looking beyond traditional equities and fixed income to seek diversification, uncorrelated returns, and improved resilience.
Cautionary tales on thematic investing in alternatives
Thematic investing has long been a source of fascination for investors, offering the promise of outsized returns driven by major structural shifts. Yet, as three seasoned professionals—Jamie Nemtsas of Wattle Partners, Will Hamilton of Hamilton Wealth Partners, and Peter Johansson of JCE Advisory—discussed, the reality is far more complex.
Navigating market extremes: Looking beyond the conventional
Equity markets continue to defy expectations, but investors face mounting risks as valuations stretch to historical extremes. Hugh Selby-Smith, co-CIO of Talaria Capital, recently presented his insights at The Inside Network's Alternatives Symposium, warning that today’s market environment demands a critical reassessment of diversification strategies.
The ART of deploying alternative investments
Institutional investors have increasingly turned to alternative assets as a means of improving portfolio resilience, managing risk, and capitalising on opportunities unavailable in public markets. Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has been a key participant in this shift, developing a strategic approach to investing in unlisted assets that balances risk and opportunity.
An alternatives lens: What to do with a problem like liquidity
The world of alternative investments is at a crossroads. As markets defy expectations and liquidity concerns take centre stage, investors find themselves forced to rethink how they deploy capital in an increasingly complex environment.
Alternative allocations: The insiders community analyses the trade-offs in 2025
Bringing together our insiders community to share perspectives, debate strategies, and refine their approach to portfolio construction is always an enlightening exercise.
Rethinking Diversification: Foreign Exchange as Portfolio Protection
For decades, advisers have relied on bonds as the go-to counterweight in a balanced portfolio. But as the correlation between bonds and equities turned positive in 2022–2023, shock ensued; and many investors are rethinking what they thought was a truism.
