Fidelity Investments is aiming to give financial advisors the tools to navigate the burgeoning alternative investment space.
The investment management giant says it is expanding its research and thought leadership on alternatives for advisors as they seek “additional resources” to evaluate such investment opportunities.
The push comes at a time when only 26% of advisors have exposure to alts products, compared to 86% of institutional investors, according to Fidelity.
Surveys by the firm also indicate that some 54% of advisors view investment manager research as “the most important attribute to begin or expand usage of alts.”
Meanwhile, more than half of advisors cite due diligence of underlying strategies and managers as “barriers” when investing in alts assets that are illiquid or offer intermittent liquidity.
“Alternative investments are becoming more widely accessible, but many advisors lack the resources to determine how to incorporate them in their portfolios,” said Darby Nielson, chief investment officer within the Fidelity Institutional group.
“Fidelity is committed to providing advisors with the tools and resources they need to make informed decisions and excel in the alts space, helping investors reach their financial goals.”
Fidelity says it has launched a proprietary research portal on third-party registered alternative investment strategies, available through its Wealthscape platform for advisors.
Users will be able to review research on various private credit, private real assets and private equity funds to evaluate and compare a wide range of alts investment strategies.
Fidelity says it is also bolstering its library of alts thought leadership and insights for wealth management firms with the release of a white paper entitled “Evaluating Alternative Investment Strategies.”
The publication is the latest in a series of alts-focused content that discusses the manager due diligence process for alternative investments, highlighting how it differs from evaluating traditional strategies, the group said.