Alternative investment program

Investments in hard assets, such as gold, oil, and real property, also provide an effective hedge against inflation, which hurts the purchasing power of paper money. The non-accredited retail investor also has access to alternative investments. Alternative mutual funds and exchange-traded funds—also called alt funds or liquid alts—are now available.

These alt funds provide ample opportunity to invest in alternative asset categories, previously difficult and costly for the average individual to access. Because they are publicly traded, alt funds are SEC-registered and regulated, specifically by the Investment Company Act of Just being regulated does not mean that alt funds are safe investments.

The SEC notes, "Many alternative mutual funds have limited performance histories. Also, although its diversified portfolio naturally mitigates the threat of loss, an alt fund is still subject to the inherent risks of its underlying assets.

Indeed, the track record of ETFs that specialize in alternative assets has been mixed. Alternative investments tend to have high fees and minimum investments, compared to retail-oriented mutual funds and ETFs.

They also tend to have lower transaction costs, and it can be harder to get verifiable financial data for these assets. Alternative investments also tend to be less liquid than conventional securities, meaning that it may be difficult even to value some of the more unique vehicles because they are so thinly traded. Some investors seek out alternative investments because they have a low correlation with the stock and bond markets, meaning that they maintain their values in a market downturn.

Also, hard assets such as gold, oil, and real property are effective hedges against inflation. For these reasons, many large institutions such as pension funds and family offices seek to diversify some of their holdings in alternative investment vehicles. Regulations for alternative investments are less clear than they are for more traditional securities.

Although alternative investment vehicles are regulated by the SEC, their securities do not have to be registered. As a result, most of these investment vehicles are only available to institutions or wealthy accredited investors. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Securities and Exchange Commission. Accessed Dec. State Street Global Advisors. Alternative Investments. Alternative Investments.

Go to Course Syllabus. Speak the language of alternative investments so that you can better communicate and collaborate with your colleagues and customers Evaluate alternative investments—including private equity, private debt, hedge funds, and real estate—and identify their defining elements, such as size, risk, and liquidity Develop the confidence and ability to assess potential investment opportunities and maximize the value of investment portfolios Gain the skills and strategies to choose the right alternatives manager or become that future manager yourself.

Who Will Benefit. Early-Career Financial Services Professionals Gain a competitive edge by developing actionable skills in the alternative investments field you can leverage to advance your career. Aspiring Finance or Investment Professionals Jumpstart your career by gaining the skills and knowledge to join one of the fastest-growing fields in finance.

Program Structure Alternative Investments consists of approximately 35 hours of material delivered over a five-week period. January March June World-class faculty Edge-of-your-seat online learning Global peer collaboration and networking Real-world, case-based learning Harvard Business School Online offers a unique and highly engaging way to learn vital business concepts.

Play Participants share their experiences video. Stories from Our Learners. HBS Online was an invaluable and essential education. Alternative Investment Product Services AIP is a standardized, trading and reporting platform that links the alternative investments industry to securely and efficiently exchange data and money. AIP is advancing automation in alternatives. AIP was created with a vision to modernize the alternatives industry by introducing a centralized, universal standard for processing, reporting and settling transactions.

DTCC built the centralized AIP platform in collaboration with industry partners and designed it to be easily accessible to all alternatives marketplace participants.

The Fundamentals certificate program gives you:. Topics include portfolio construction, risk management, due diligence, hedge funds, private equity, real estate, and much more. See the full description of all 20 plus 3 bonus modules.

Corporate group rates and student rates are also available.