Published on
Alternative investments are increasingly reshaping investment portfolios, bringing both significant opportunities and new complexities to the wealth management industry.
At AddeConf25, Addepar’s Vlad Rav (Senior Director, Alts & Data Management R&D), Diana Turbayne (Senior Manager, Alts Data Management Product R&D) and Rajiv Sharma (Director, Navigator R&D) sat down to discuss the seemingly unrelenting appeal of alternative investments, how firms are navigating the operational challenges they bring, and how Addepar’s platform is evolving to provide greater transparency to the entire investment cycle — allowing firms to manage alternative investments with ease.
We caught up with them after the session to revisit the conversation.
What’s driving the rapid growth of alternatives?
Rajiv: Over the last decade, the alternatives market has expanded at an extraordinary rate. Alternative assets under management have grown from $7.2 trillion in 2014 to an estimated $18.2 trillion in 2024.1 Institutional allocations to alternatives have also risen sharply — 86% of institutional investors now allocate to alternatives, with an average allocation of 23%.2 What was once a small corner of institutional portfolios is now a fundamental part of investment strategy for a much broader range of investors.
This general shift towards alternatives is being driven by a number of macro and structural factors. Public companies are staying private for longer. At the same time, traditional banks have reduced direct lending, leading to a significant growth in private credit. Investors are also increasingly drawn to assets like infrastructure, which can offer stable, inflation-linked income streams — particularly appealing in volatile markets.
The appetite for alternatives is not just about performance, it’s also about diversification, income and exposure to a different set of economic drivers.
Where do you see the alternatives landscape headed next?
Rajiv: We’re in the middle of what we see as a once-in-a-generation transformation. The momentum in alternatives is being shaped by two powerful forces: the expansion of the investor base and the rapid advancement of technology, especially AI.
Historically, alternatives were largely the domain of institutional investors. That’s changing. More family offices, RIAs and high-net-worth individuals are seeking exposure to these strategies.
Technology is playing a major role here. AI, automation and data infrastructure are beginning to unlock new possibilities — from better forecasting and benchmarking to more efficient data extraction and analysis. This evolution is enabling wealth managers to operate at scale, while offering the level of insight and customization that modern investors demand.
How is the rise of alternatives impacting advisors and their firms?
Rajiv: The growing interest in alternatives is really changing the way advisors work — it’s adding a layer of complexity that wasn’t there before. Unlike traditional public securities, alternative assets often come with illiquid structures, bespoke terms and a lack of standardized reporting.
Plus, in practice, many firms still rely on manual processes: downloading capital call notices, interpreting PDFs, entering distribution data by hand and maintaining spreadsheets across teams. It’s time-consuming, prone to error and difficult to scale.
Meanwhile, clients are expecting more from the wealth management experience. They want to understand how their capital is being deployed, they want forward-looking views on liquidity and they want to see how their alternatives exposure compares to peers — not just in terms of returns, but also pacing, risk and strategy alignment.
Addepar takes a layered approach to managing alternative investments. Can you walk us through what that means and what each layer offers?
Vlad: At Addepar, we’ve designed our platform specifically for the complexities of alternatives, built on three connected layers: data, intelligence and solutions.
The data layer transforms unstructured fund documents into structured, connected data. Our financial graph links everything — from manager to fund to underlying asset — while subscription documents, capital calls and notices are all accurately tied to their positions. Automated checks combined with human review ensure data accuracy.
On top of that is the intelligence layer. AI is natively built on the platform, powering projections, capital flow modeling and calculations across the platform. It draws insights from historical flows, market assumptions and related documents, going beyond data extraction to interpret complex tables and offer new insights.
Finally, the solutions layer turns this into action. It connects workflows, aligns teams and speeds up data issue resolution.
How do Addepar products — particularly Navigator, Alternatives Data Management and Private Fund Benchmarks — connect to offer solutions to alternative investments?
Diana: These three products are designed to work together seamlessly across the alternatives investment cycle — from pre-investment planning to post-investment evaluation.
Before investing, Navigator helps clients research and simulate allocations with private fund cash flow forecasts driven by real, anonymized data. This lets investors anticipate capital calls, project J-curves and understand liquidity impacts before committing capital.
Once invested, Alts Data Management automates the collection and processing of fund documents, reducing operational burden and boosting data quality. Navigator continues supporting cash flow management for ongoing strategy adjustments.
Post-investment, Private Fund Benchmarks provides access to anonymized, stratified data across private funds, enabling performance evaluation and benchmarking.
What sets Addepar apart from others in this space?
Vlad: What makes Addepar unique is our platform. We’re not just offering tools — we’ve built a single, unified stack that connects everything from raw, unstructured data all the way through to actionable insights and workflows.
By centralizing the many layers of information required to manage alternative investments, we give advisors the holistic picture they need to evaluate portfolio performance and make smarter investment decisions.
Vlad: Looking ahead, our goal is to give clients greater transparency — to help them understand private investments with the same clarity they expect from public ones.
Diana: Ultimately, we’re building toward something bigger — positioning Addepar as the operating system for private markets. That means applying AI in powerful ways, delivering data-driven insights and expanding our ecosystem. Addepar already has a strong multi-product foundation for alternatives — and through partnerships with select providers, we’re delivering end-to-end solutions across the entire space.
References
An Introduction to Alternative Investments, CAIS, April 2025.
Risk Taking Rises With Inflation Expectations, Fidelity Institutional Insights, 2022