Alternative Investments

How To Invest Like The Ivy League Endowments with ETFs

Seeking Alpha published an article by Prateek Mehrotra outlining how ETFs can help investors build institutional quality portfolios diversified into liquid alternative investments designed to improve long-term risk adjusted returns. The article summary The country’s largest endowments aim to preserve capital while producing income and appreciation with less correlation to the stock market regardless of market conditions. Performance among Ivy League endowments and retirement plans that invest like them...

United States Commodity ETF files paperwork to be registered under Investment Company Act of 1940

United States Commodity Funds, the Oakland, California-based firm that did so much to popularize futures-based exchange-traded funds focused on commodities, has filed regulatory paperwork describing a broad commodity fund that qualifies for the same tax treatment as a plain-vanilla equity or fixed-income fund.   The USCF Dynamic Commodity Index Fund is being registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which means shareholders in the fund won’t have to file so-called...

Use of Liquid Alts Growing in Self-Directed IRAs

A recent article at WealthManagement.com discussed that interest in self-directed IRAs is growing.  A few reasons for this are that more people have begun to accumulate sizeable assets in their retirement plans. and are looking to diversify their portfolios beyond stocks, bonds and mutual funds.  As such, there tends to be a greater appetite for alternative assets such as real estate, precious metals, commodities, limited liability corporations and hedge funds. A...

Endowment Index^TM Asset Allocation and 10 Year Returns Compared to the Nation’s Largest Pension Fund

The nation’s largest pension fund, the California Public Employees Retirement System, better known as CalPERS has been in the news this week with an announcement that they are going to be liquidating their $4B hedge fund allocation over the next year.  Apparently, the high costs and complexities, combined with their ability to scale the asset class relative to their $300B portfolio just isn’t worth the effort. While on the surface this...

Investment News Webcast “Demystifies” Liquid Alts for Advisors

In a webcast presented by Investment News, Consuelo Mack interviewed Robert Jenkins, Managing Director/Global Head of Research for Lipper, Dr. Hossein Kazemi, Ph.D., CFA Senior Adviser to the CAIA Association’s Program, and Dennis Bowden Managing Director U.S. Research & Advisory at Strategic Insight.  The interview discussion centers around understanding and differentiating different types of alternative strategies and how they can best address a client’s needs. The webcast content also includes information on how to construct a well-diversified portfolio using liquid alternatives...

Use of Liquid Alts in Defined Contribution Plans is on the Rise

ETF Model SolutionTM’s Collective Investment Fund was mentioned today in an article on DailyAlts.com. “Last week, the Alta Trust Company and ETF Model SolutionsTM announced the launch of the Endowment CIF (Collective Investment Fund), which is designed to emulate the strategies of endowments, pension funds, and defined benefit plans. But instead of investing in illiquid alternatives like limited partnerships and private placements, the Endowment CIF will use alternative ETFs...