Amerant Investments, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amerant Bank, has recently formed a strategic partnership with iCapital, a global fintech platform driving the alternative investment marketplace for the wealth management industry. The collaboration will give Amerant’s financial advisors and their clients access to private market opportunities and analytics. Additionally, the partnership will provide oversight of the entire investment and education experience via a unified technology platform and operating system.
Unicorn Strategic Partners, a distribution partner for asset managers and a strategic collaborator of iCapital in the Latin America region, is set to assume a critical function in bolstering Amerant’s distribution efforts. It also aims to educate Amerant’s network of advisors about the asset classes and investment funds available via the iCapital Marketplace. This platform features a comprehensive selection of alternative investment funds, as well as due diligence and education resources, fund subscription processing, and third-party reporting services designed to support investment decisions.
“At Amerant Investments, we recognize that private markets investments have the potential to generate higher returns and provide diversification benefits to investors as they seek to access relatively untapped opportunities,” Sergio Guerrero says, COO at Amerant Investments. “We are excited to leverage iCapital’s curated options, innovative technology, and robust educational materials to help set our financial advisors up for success.”
The focus of the menu will be on semi-liquid and closed-end funds that are available on the iCapital Marketplace. The platform’s market-leading technology and solutions have effectively eliminated the historical obstacles that wealth managers and their clients have encountered when investing in private markets by automating the subscription, administration, operational, and reporting processes for the duration of the investment.
Amerant’s partnership with iCapital provides a range of research, due diligence, and educational materials to empower Amerant’s financial advisors and investors. It includes access to iCapital’s comprehensive educational offerings, which include the AltsEdgeTM Certificate Program. iCapital and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association jointly created the initiative to help wealth managers better understand alternative investments and how to leverage them for improving client outcomes. The AltsEdgeTM program comprises ten research-based, CE-accredited modules covering various strategies and product structures, including portfolio construction and the private markets.
“Wealth managers are increasingly looking to alternative investments as a way to help their clients improve their financial outcomes,” Wes Sturdevant says, Managing Director, iCapital Enterprise Solutions. “We are proud to establish this partnership with Amerant Investments, a respected registered investment advisor and broker-dealer with wealth management expertise in the Latin America and U.S. markets, and welcome the opportunity to support their expansion into alternative investments.”
