In recent years, alternative investment platforms have been growing in popularity due to the lucrative returns offered by alternative investments. With rising inflation, more and more investors are looking at alternative assets as a way to beat inflation and build wealth.
Although there are many different types of alternative investments, only some can be accessed easily online. Alternative investment platforms give you the option to invest into assets that would otherwise require large amounts of money, such as art, rare collectables, and more.
My goal today is to provide you with a list of platforms that each offer the option to invest in different alternative assets so you can choose the one that is best for your portfolio and diversification goals. This list is in no particular order.
1. Yieldstreet
Asset Type: Various alternative assets
Minimum Investment: $2,500
Yieldstreet is one of the best alternative investment platforms available as they allows you to invest in a large variety of alternative assets. You’re able to invest in multiple deals that you may otherwise not have direct access to such as private equity deals, real estate, debt and structured notes, artwork and even new cryptocurrency projects. There are no other alternative investment platforms available that offer the same level of variety in the assets you can invest in.
If you want to be exposed to all of these alternative assets, you can invest in Yieldstreet’s Prism Fund which is a portfolio that holds many of the investment options. The minimum required investment into this fund is a steep $2,500. Make sure you do your research and determine that this is a good option for your investment strategy before investing in this fund.
Without investing into Yieldstreet’s Prism Fund, you are required to be an accredited investor to invest individually in the majority of the alternative asset classes available.
Yieldstreet does charge a 2.5% annual management fee for their portfolio, however, this is not unusual for alternative asset portfolio management.
2. Masterworks
Asset Type: Artwork
Minimum Investment: $20
Masterworks has grown tremendously in popularity as an alternative investment platform over the last few years, primarily due to sponsoring popular finance and investing podcasts and YouTube channels. Masterworks is an artwork investing platform that allows you to buy “shares” in popular works of art. You are even able to buy shares of artwork made by famous artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, and Banksy. You can start purchasing shares of these masterful works of art with just $20.
The way this system works is quite simple. Masterworks acquires popular artwork with a history of maintaining or growing in value. Once the artwork is acquired, they will securitize it and sell shares of the artwork to its users. Masterworks’ investment horizon is 3 to 10 years, obviously with the goal of selling the art for a major profit.
Masterworks does charge a 1.5% fee, however, that is on top of the fact that they take 20% of the profit of any artwork sold with the rest of the investors splitting the remaining profits. The profit sharing system is quite harsh and some may say it’s excessive, but the platform is providing users the opportunity to invest in pieces of art that they otherwise would likely never be able to purchase. You can think of the fee as the cost of diversifying your portfolio.
3. Fundrise
Asset Type: Real Estate (REITs)
Minimum Investment: $10
Fundrise is a popular alternative investment platform that allows you to invest in real estate with as little as $10. Fundrise works as a crowdfunding platform that gathers the funds of multiple individual investors to invest into large real estate deals. As a shareholder, you will earn quarterly dividends as well as capital appreciation from your investment.
Fundrise has historically returned 8-9%, which is better than most high-yield savings accounts, even with today’s high interest rates. Fundrise does charge a 1% annual fee, however, that fee is much smaller than other alternative investment platform fees.
Apart from their real estate deals, Fundrise has recently expanded their alternative asset investing options for their users. Fundrise has added private credit and venture capital deals to their asset classes, allowing you to partake in deals that you may not have access to otherwise.
4. Collectable
Asset Type: Sports Collector Items
Minimum Investment: $5
Collectable is one of the best alternative investment platforms for sports fanatics. Collectable allows you to invest in rare sports memorabilia such as signed jerseys, sneakers, balls, and trading cards. Collectable functions similar to Masterworks in that they allow their users to buy shares of the memorabilia.
The benefit of using Collectable is that you now have the option to invest in collector’s items without the huge investment requirement. Popular sports memorabilia can sometimes be worth thousands, even millions of dollars, which is unattainable for most people. You can now share in the appreciation of these assets by owning a fraction of them and getting a return through the profit made when the item is sold in the future.
Collectable charges a 1% trading fee for each transaction. Meaning you will pay 1% to Collectable for buying or selling shares of these items.
Although sports memorabilia can be a great alternative asset, it doesn’t come without risks. These items may be difficult to sell, meaning there is low liquidity in these assets. Additionally, it is possible that these assets won’t appreciate in value over time. Overall, these investments can be risky, but they can help diversify your portfolio if you allocate a small amount to these items.
5. Rally Rd.
Asset Type: Collectable Items
Minimum Investment: $5
Rally Rd. is an alternative investment platform like Collectable, but with assets outside of sports. Rally Rd. allows you to invest in items like cars, comic books, and NFTs. Unlike Collectable, Rally Rd. offers a wide variety of collectable items to invest in. The process, however, is identical to that of Collectable’s in that you buy shares of these items and you can make a return when it is sold in the future.
Rally Rd. doesn’t charge a typical fee. Rally Rd. only charges an “IPO fee” when a new item is launched and shares can be purchased. After the IPO fee, Rally Rd. does not charge any fees for buying and selling shares of these items.
Similar to Collectable, these items may be illiquid and they may not appreciate in value. Investing in niche collector items can be a risky investment. Make sure you only allocate a small percentage of your portfolio to this alternative asset class and only invest money you are willing to lose.
Rally Rd. also offers a great user-friendly app that makes buying and selling shares of these items easy.
6. Mainvest
Asset Type: Small Business Debt
Minimum Investment: $100
Mainvest is a unique alternative investment platform that specializes in small business debt. With Mainvest, you are able to earn passive income by funding small American business debt. By funding this debt, business owners are required to pay you back the principal, plus interest, regularly over the term of the loan until it is paid back in full.
Mainvest has a huge selection of small businesses to invest in. Most of these businesses are restaurants, coffee shops, food trucks, and even dispensaries! To get started, you must invest at least $100. Mainvest’s return target are between 10-25% for its investors, which is a great return on your capital. The best part about Mainvest is that it does not charge a fee since the business owners pay Mainvest for the access to capital.
Of course, investing in small business debt can be incredibly risky. The primary risk is that the business does not perform well and they default on their payments, meaning they can’t afford to make the payments on their debt. In that case, you would lose your investment entirely unless the sale of the business’ assets can cover the full amount of the loan.
7. Vinovest
Asset Type: Fine wine
Minimum Investment: $1,000
Vinovest is a unique alternative investment platform that allows wine fanatics to invest in worldwide fine wine and whisky portfolios. Vinovest offers many portfolios with different expected returns and investment requirements to match your investing goals and risk tolerance. This type of alternative asset is definitely unique and requires some knowledge on the wine and whisky industry.
Vinovest’s AI-powered portfolios require a minimum investment of $1,000 which can be quite an investment for most people. If that investment is too large for you, they also offer the option to invest in individual bottles of wine and whisky with many options under $150. Vinovest does charge an annual management fee between 2.25% and 2.85% depending on your investment amount.
Vinovest claims that fine wine and whisky has returned 10.6% over the last 30 years. Investing in wine and whisky is very unique, making it a great option for diversification as the market does not correlate with the economics or markets of any particular country.
8. Arrived
Asset Type: Residential Real Estate
Minimum Investment: $100
Finally, the last alternative investment platform on our list is Arrived. Arrived, similar to Fundrise, allows you to invest in REITs, specifically residential real estate. Arrived’s platform allows their users to invest in fractional shares of single-family homes with just $100.
Recently, Arrived has expanded their investment options to include vacation rentals, funds, and real estate debt, each with their own risks and returns. Arrived’s platform is very user-friendly. You are able to browse through a large selection of homes and vacation rentals and choose the ones you would prefer to invest in. You can diversify within the platform by investing in homes located in different parts of the country.
Similar to Fundrise, Arrived charges a 1% annual management fee. Arrived has historically returned 3.2% to 7.2% in annual dividends to its investors without including property appreciation. This is a great option if you would like to invest in real estate but you do not have the funds to purchase an entire home yourself.
Best Overall Alternative Investment Platform
My favorite alternative investment platform is Yieldstreet. I like Yieldstreet because it offers so many different asset types to invest in. You are able to diversify your standard portfolio and within the same platform, you can also diversify your alternative asset investment portfolio.
Of course, as with any investment, these alternative investments come with risks. Some argue that alternative assets come with more risk than typically assets such as stocks, bonds, gold, and silver due to a lack of liquidity. In many of the alternative asset platforms listed above, there is a chance that the investment fails and you lose your money. That risk is present in any investment, but it is more pronounced with these asset classes.
Only invest a small fraction of your overall investment portfolio into alternative assets and only invest money you are willing to lose entirely if things go wrong.
I hope this list was helpful and good luck with your investments!