Fidelity has launched a new research portal of registered third-party alternative investment strategies. The research is now available through Wealthscape, Fidelity's platform for advisors.
Research covers private credit, private real assets and private equity funds, enabling advisors to evaluate and compare alternative investment strategies.
Fidelity cited recent surveys it conducted of the alternative investment adviser segment, which found that investment manager research and due diligence are the top barriers to adviser adoption of alts products. According to its surveys, more than half of advisors cite due diligence of underlying strategies and managers as barriers when investing in perpetually liquid (53%) and illiquid (55%) stocks.
“Alternative investments are becoming more accessible, but many advisors lack the resources to determine how to incorporate them into their portfolios,” Darby Nielson, chief investment officer within the Fidelity Institutional group, said in a statement. “Fidelity is committed to providing advisors with the tools and resources they need to make informed decisions and excel in the alts space, helping investors achieve their financial goals.”
It's just the latest move into the alts space for Fidelity. In November, it launched 14 collective investment trust investment vehicles that include 5% exposure to direct real estate and have the option to include other alts assets. Last year it also launched Fidelity Multi-Strategy Credit Fund, a closed-end fund, as well as its first business development company, Fidelity Private Credit Fund. In 2022, it launched Fidelity Protected Equity Fund (FEQHX), Fidelity Macro Opportunities Fund (FAQAX) and Fidelity Risk Equity Fund (FAPSX)three liquid alts mutual funds available to individual investors and advisors.
Overall, Fidelity has more than $70 billion in alternative investment assets under management, and its platform includes integrations with third-party alts platforms CAIS and iCapital.