For virtually all investors, 2022 has been a challenging and frustrating year. Persistently high inflation has resulted in an environment of quickly rising interest rates, leading to a “double-whammy” of twin selloffs across both stocks and bonds. After increasing more than 31% in 2019, 18% in 2020, and 28% last year, the S&P 500, an often-cited proxy for the stock market, has declined more than 20% year-to-date in 2022 (as of 9.23.2022). And to make matters worse, the bond market, as measured by the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, has suffered through declines not experienced in more than 50 years. Put differently, investing in conventional stock and bond asset classes has not worked very well so far in 2022. Not surprisingly, these declines have led to an increase in demand for “supplemental” investment opportunities outside of these traditional areas, and have led more and more people to inquire about alternative investments. Put simply, an alternative investment is any financial asset that does not classify as a traditional stock, bond, or cash. While they can vary widely in their accessibility and structure, alternatives can provide an opportunity to 1.) boost returns, 2.) generate income, 3.) provide potential tax benefits, and 4.) reduce risk in a portfolio. Institutions like pension funds and endowments have been utilizing them for years, and today, more and more individual investors are questioning why they have no alternative investments, and whether they should change their plan to include them. Watch this video to learn answers to the following questions: * What are alternative investments? * Is it important to have exposure to “alts” in your current portfolio? * Is it bad if you do not own any alternatives? * I heard alternative investments can be expensive – is that true? Does it matter? * What are the risks and benefits of adding alts to your investment strategy? 0:00 Start 1:22 Introduction to the program 8:15 Christian Lena First Trust Private Equity advisor—introduction 9:10 Steven Krull First Eagle Investment Management Alternative Credit Market—introduction 10:45 Augie Diffenderffer from Eaglebrook Advisors—Crypto expert introduction 12:45 Why do alternative investment strategies make sense right now? 14:50 What does "illiquidity premium" mean? 16:15 What does exposure to an alternative asset give an investor? 18:15 What is the significance of the duration of the Bear market? 18:22 What are "skill-based returns"? 19:00 Will this volatility in the market persist? 19:24 What massive implications does the Fed response have for risk assets, equities, and bond prices? 20:43 What is Private Equity and why consider it for your portfolio? 22:10 What's the value of Private Equity under management? 23:19 Why does giving up liquidity help an investor's return? 24:11 Are there retail-friendly structures for investing in Private Equity? 25:10 What's driving the innovation in alternative investments? 27:40 What do you really want to do when everyone is panicked and selling bank loans or equities? 31:20 What's the Club Market? 32:40 What is the relative value between bank loans and private credit transactions? 34:30 What is going on in the cryptocurrency universe? Why should investors embrace it now? 40:15 Why should everyday investors be adding crypto to their portfolio? 41:50 What does government regulation do to the digital currency asset class? 43:52 What are the best opportunities for investment right now? 47:15 Is private credit less affected by what's happening in Sept. 2022 with the Fed than traditional bonds? 50:00 Interest rate selection is a key component on underwriting standards and portfolio positioning. 51:25 Why is it worth pursuing alternatives with higher costs, as opposed to more traditional that are lower cost? 53:25 Is it too late to rethink and reshape our asset allocation? 56:00 Are there opportunities out there to buy cheap assets?