Alternatives are having a historic run. Since 2010, they’ve tripled as a share of AUM and are projected to hit $25 trillion by 2028. Interval funds and non-traded products are flooding the advisor channel, and hundreds of asset managers have joined the major platforms to compete.
Although there is a strong demand for alternatives, when every asset manager launches their own fund, distribution loses its edge—and to succeed brands need to create differentiation.
The knowledge gap is a bigger problem than you realize.
As many as 77% of wealth managers plan to increase alternatives allocations. Advisors know they need to move clients into alternatives, but when it comes to explaining it to their clients, too often they fumble the conversation, water down the pitch, and undersell alternatives relative to what the opportunity demands. As a result, only 38% of HNW investors say they fully understand what their advisor is recommending.
That’s an education problem, and it lands squarely on asset managers who fail to arm advisors with clear, accessible tools. They end up losing both the mindshare and the allocations that follow.
The stakes are even higher for smaller and mid-size managers. Without wholesaler reach or established brand equity, they’re effectively invisible—even when their product is superior.
The managers gaining ground are investing heavily in advisor-facing content, education platforms, and co-branded materials. Every manager has a fund. The ones advisors allocate to have a story.
Here are four things asset managers can do right now:
1. Make enablement a core strategy
Alternatives are a genuinely complex category, and that complexity creates friction at the exact point of decision. Plain-language explainers, client-ready one-pagers, and clear portfolio frameworks signal that you’re their partner, not just someone selling a product.
We saw this opportunity firsthand when we developed a new alts-centric wealth experience strategy for Brookfield following their partial Oaktree acquisition in 2019. The premise was simple: turn enablement into a brand play. The result was Demystifying Alternatives, a brand platform anchored by the Alts Institute. It guides advisors through an overwhelming category and builds the kind of brand equity no media buy can manufacture.
2. Pick your corner and own it
Managers who try to be everything to every advisor are memorable to none. You need to plant a clear flag before building a narrative.
Rather than positioning your offering as “a full-suite of alternatives,” if you instead say you’re “the private credit firm for the wealth channel,” you’re likely to see stronger recall and preference among advisors.
Let’s take Blue Owl as a proof point. They’ve built deliberately around permanent capital and direct lending—not the full alternatives spectrum. That discipline has made them the default name when advisors think private credit. Specificity wins recall.
3. Prioritize thought leadership over performance marketing
The managers winning advisor mindshare aren’t running million-dollar ad campaigns. They’re publishing the most useful ideas in the market. Thought leadership, when executed with intent, isn’t a soft metric—it’s a compounding asset.
We’re seeing this play out in a current engagement with a top 10 financial institution, where we’re rethinking how advisors evaluate alternative investment opportunities. The work examines clients’ holistic financial health and long-term goals to support more durable, conviction-driven allocations.
4. Turn wholesalers into brand ambassadors
In alternatives, the wholesaler isn’t just a sales role—they’re the living expression of your brand.
Blackstone’s operations are the benchmark. They have opted for standardized talk tracks, objection-handling guides, co-branded materials, and consistent messaging training that turns wholesalers into genuine brand ambassadors. Nuveen (TIAA) runs a dedicated wholesaler content program tied directly to their broader responsible investing positioning—the external brand and the field voice say the same thing.
The alts market is enormous and still expanding. But scale creates noise, not signal. In a channel crowded with credible products, the managers who win will be defined by brand clarity and advisor enablement—not the product alone.