If you have been paying attention there has been an explosion of platforms focused on bring alternative investments to a broader audience. You name it, it’s probably been securitized at this point. From collectibles like art, cars, baseball cards to more mainstream assets like real estate and farmland.
My guess is that most investors who have ventures into these assets have done so out of some inherent interest in the asset class. A fan of collectible cars naturally gravitates to Rally. However most investors don’t know the first thing about investing in art, farmland or venture capital.
There are a couple of startups that I have heard about that are aggregating these investment opportunities in one place. They include Moneymade and Vincent which has been described as a ‘search engine for alternatives.’
A while back on financial Twitter there was running joke where people would put #timestamp in their tweets when they were making a prediction. This was to document their forecasting abilities. Eventually the #timestamp thing got out of control as people began timestamping increasingly ridiculous things. However…
#TIMESTAMP
It’s only a matter of time before someone, and it could be the companies mentioned above, begin to provide advised portfolios made up of assets across the alternative investment platforms. One-stop portfolios made up of all manner of alternatives that, in theory, make for an interesting portfolio. Someone is probably already working on this problem.
It just seems like a no-brainer. Who can possibly assess the relative merits of a Basquiat painting vs. a Ferrari Testarossa vs. a Babe Ruth-autographed baseball? The combinations and permutations are nearly infinite. In the end, it’s code. And as we all know software is eating everything, including investment management.
Someone is going to figure it out. The VCs will fund them. It will be interesting to see what kind of uptake they get from investors who have recently been spoiled by excellent public market returns.
*No position in anything mentioned above. Just watching on the sidelines for now.
