Alternative investments – including private equity, private credit and hedge funds – sit outside the traditional listed universe. Their appeal lies in their ability to behave differently across market cycles, offering return streams that are less correlated with equities and bonds.
This diversification can help smooth portfolio performance over time, while also providing access to sectors, strategies and opportunities not available in public markets.
Yet for many investors, accessing these opportunities has historically been difficult. Minimum investment thresholds are often high, requiring substantial capital to build a diversified allocation across managers and strategies. At the same time, many alternative investments are inherently less liquid (harder to convert into cash quickly), with capital typically committed over longer time horizons.
These constraints have meant that alternatives have largely remained the preserve of institutional and ultra-high net worth investors.
The SPW Global Alternatives Fund has been designed specifically to address these challenges. By pooling capital into a single structure, the fund provides a streamlined access point to a curated selection of leading global alternative managers – removing the complexity, high minimums and administrative burden that would otherwise apply at the individual investment level.
The rationale for launching this fund is straightforward: to enhance the portfolios we construct for our clients. We are continually assessing how to improve long-term outcomes, and a key part of this process is identifying asset classes with different sources of return. Alternatives offer precisely this – exposure to opportunities that respond differently to economic and market conditions, ultimately contributing to more diversified portfolios with improved risk-return characteristics.
Access and liquidity
Two defining features set this solution apart: access and liquidity.
On access, the fund opens the door to institutional-grade opportunities that would typically require significant capital commitments – offshore alternative managers often impose prohibitively high minimums per investment. By aggregating client capital, the fund enables participation in a diversified portfolio of best-of-breed global managers through a single investment.
On liquidity, the structure has been carefully designed to balance the inherently long-term nature of certain alternative assets with the practical needs of private clients. By blending less liquid exposures such as private equity and private credit with more liquid strategies such as hedge funds, the fund seeks to manage liquidity prudently.
For clients, the benefits are clear. As part of a well-structured portfolio, the fund offers access to opportunities typically unavailable through conventional routes, enhanced diversification and the potential for improved long-term outcomes within a single, integrated solution. Importantly, it provides private client access to an institutional-grade portfolio, and is available only through Sanlam Private Wealth.
A proven foundation
At Sanlam Private Wealth, we’ve been active in the alternatives space for several years – incorporating private equity, private credit and hedge fund strategies into selected client portfolios. This experience is complemented by the deep expertise of the Sanlam Investments multi-manager, which undertakes rigorous due diligence across investment teams, processes, operations and legal structures.
The SPW Global Alternatives Fund combines institutional-level global manager selection by the multi-manager with our own centralised portfolio construction capabilities, allowing us to build a solution that is both robust and tailored to the needs of private clients.
The fund is available only to qualifying investors, either through an existing managed portfolio with Sanlam Private Wealth or with a minimum investment of US$100,000.
Visit sanlamprivatewealth.com to schedule a private client consultation.
Reginald Labuschagne is head of product and strategy at Sanlam Private Wealth.
Important information:
This article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or an offer to invest. Investors should consult their Sanlam Private Wealth portfolio manager or a licensed financial services provider to determine whether the investment is appropriate for their individual circumstances.
The SPW Global Alternatives Fund is a foreign collective investment scheme approved for distribution in South Africa by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) under Section 65 of the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act. The fund is classified as a Qualified Investor Hedge Fund and is only available to investors who meet the applicable eligibility requirements. Investments in alternative assets involve specific risks, including limited liquidity and the potential for periods of underperformance. The fund does not provide liquidity guarantees. Any return objectives or targets are not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Capital is at risk.