Alternative investment platform Alto has launched a program that will give investors access to several alternative investment funds available through its registered broker/dealer affiliate, Alto Securities LLC. The funds represent what Alto Securities CEO Scott Harrigan calls “historically difficult-to-access private investments.”
Called Alto Marketplace and initially geared toward investors with accredited, qualified purchaser and qualified client status, the program includes funds focusing on farmland (Farmland LP’s Vital Farmland Fund III) and whiskey (Vinovest Capital Whiskey Fund SPV).
Currently, investment minimums for these funds range between $10,000 and $50,000. Later in the year, Alto hopes to add registered funds with lower minimums that would be accessible to retail investors, according to Alto founder and CEO Eric Satz.
“The mission is creating access for everyone,” he said. “So, while we are starting with investment opportunities that are geared toward the investor who has already accumulated a certain level of wealth and/or is earning a certain income today, the idea remains to bring deals to the marketplace that are accessible for all and help diversify portfolios.”
The funds currently included in the Marketplace were selected based on Alto’s long-term relationships with their GPs and the firm’s comfort level with their track records, said Satz. Alto plans to add funds focusing on private debt and art, as well as additional real estate and venture capital funds to the program in the future.
Satz estimates that approximately 95% of the investments already flowing into the program are coming from Alto’s self-directed IRA accounts. Since the funds on the Marketplace are primarily illiquid, long-term investments, they work well with longer-term payout horizons, Satz added.
“The idea here is to have a thesis to make an investment and see it out,” he said. “This is about true alternative assets and making long-term investments with long-term investable dollars. That’s why using your retirement money makes so much sense here because you can’t touch your retirement money for a long period of time anyway. You may as well get the benefit of an illiquidity premium while investing.”