Alternative Investments

Three-quarters of the way through 2018, money flowing into private funds dedicated to credit, property and other real assets is on track to top last year while hedge funds and actively managed mutual funds are sliding backward.

Nasdaq lures retail advisors at Schwab’s annual IMPACT conference with introduction of so-called “auction funds,” which let investors trade private equity-type funds that eliminate the hassles of other retail-facing alternatives.

Funds that track indexes are coming increasingly close to owning a majority of shares in eight real estate property owners and managers

With a near decade-long bull market in equities, an allocation to alternatives has been a performance drag for most investors. Don’t expect that to change even as the bull market ends.

It isn’t so much sentiment that drives the metal’s value. Passive products dictate, rather than track, performance.

The potential for tapping new data sets is enormous, but the track record is mixed.