The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relative to wealth advisors and their clients.

CAIS, Blackstone
CAIS, the US-based alternative investment platform, last week said that Blackstone has added offerings to the CAIS Marketplace.

Selected Blackstone strategies, which have been scrutinized by Mercer, will be made available to CAIS’ network of RIAs, independent broker dealers, and RIA aggregators.

iCapital
iCapital continues to chalk up new business partnerships as the fintech platform powers ahead with its approach to alternative investment access. 

The New York-headquartered firm – operating outside the US as well as within it – has formed a pact with Gratus Capital, an Atlanta-based investment advisory firm.

As a result, Gratus clients gain access to hedge fund strategies, iCapital said in a statement yesterday.

“This collaboration underscores our firm’s dedication to greater precision and performance in client portfolios to support personalized wealth goals and drive future planning decisions,” Hank McLarty, founder and CEO of Gratus Capital, said. “It sets the stage for what we hope will be a series of Gratus hedge fund offerings designed to enhance alternative investing opportunities in desired asset classes.”

In other developments, in April iCapital said it was launching “iCapital Marketplace” in Hong Kong and Singapore.

With so much focus on the rise of alternative/private markets' access in recent years, firms such as iCapital (US), CAIS (US) and Moonfare (Germany) have risen to widen access for wealth managers to previously hard-to-enter investments traditionally dominated by big institutions and ultra-wealthy individuals. 

iCapital’s ascent has been particularly rapid, having only been established since 2013. In March 2024, JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), which has $213 billion in alternative assets under management globally, announced that it was partnering with iCapital to open up access for Asia-Pacific wealth managers and their clients to JPMAM’s private market investment capabilities. JP Morgan became a strategic investor in iCapital in 2018. In December 2023, iCapital partnered with investor services group IQ-EQ.