11 Best Alternative Investment Platforms
A portfolio made up of only stocks and bonds is becoming outdated.
Alternative investments have exploded in popularity over the last five years, primarily because they:
- Offer diversification outside of stock and bond markets
- May be good hedges against inflation
- May generate higher returns
These characteristics have led BlackRock's portfolio advisory business to move away from the traditional 60% stock, 40% bond portfolio in favor of a 50% stock, 30% bond, and 20% alternative assets split.
Fortunately, alternative investment platforms have made private market investments much more accessible to retail investors. Investments that used to be only for the top 1% are now accessible to investors everywhere.
Are you an accredited or retail investor?
Some of these platforms are only available to accredited investors. You qualify as an accredited investor if you meet one of the following criteria:
- You have an annual income of $200,000 individually or $300,000 jointly
- Your net worth exceeds $1,000,000 (excluding your primary residence)
- You are a qualifying financial professional
If you don't meet one of these criteria, you're a retail investor.
What's an alternative investment platform?
Traditional assets are stocks, bonds, and cash, so alternative assets are any asset outside of those three. These include real estate, art, collectibles, cryptocurrency, private credit, private equity, and more.
Most alternative assets are not available on traditional investing platforms.
To access these asset classes, you need to create an account on an alternative investment platform.
The majority of these platforms specialize in one alternative asset class, though some feature more. Yieldstreet, for example, offers eleven different asset classes.
Here's my list of the best alternative investing platforms available right now.
A quick look at the best platforms
- Best overall: Yieldstreet
- Best for all real estate investors: Arrived
- Best for fine art: Masterworks
- Best accessible VC fund and real estate investing: Fundrise
- Best for investing in private companies: Equitybee
- Best for private credit investments: Percent
- Best for commercial real estate projects: EquityMultiple
- Best large commercial real estate platform: CrowdStreet
- Best traditional brokerage offering alternatives: Public
- Best for private real estate investing via REITs: RealtyMogul
- Best for farmland: AcreTrader
Keep reading for detailed breakdowns of each platform listed above.
Disclaimer: Ratings are my opinion. Actual results may vary and past performance does not guarantee future results. All investors should do their own due diligence.
1. Yieldstreet: best overall
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Real estate, art, private credit, cryptocurrencies, VC, private equity, notes, infrastructure, and a multi-asset class fund
- Accreditation requirement: Primarily accredited
Yieldstreet is the premier platform for private market investing. It offers 11 alternative assets all under a single login.
Since 2015, Yieldstreet has invested more than $4 billion on behalf of investors and has averaged 9.6% net annualized returns across all of its investments (a 60/40 stock/bond portfolio returned 6.5% annualized returns over the same period).
Yieldstreet also provides unparalleled diversification via private markets to lower your portfolio's volatility, especially during public market downturns.
Source: Yieldstreet
If you're not sure which individual deals to purchase or which alternative asset classes are right for you, the Yieldstreet Alternative Income Fund was made for you.
This income-focused fund invests across multiple asset classes and is professionally managed, so you get all the benefits of private market diversification without all the work.
Source: Yieldstreet
The best part: the Alternative Income Fund is available to all investors, not just accredited investors.
If you're looking for diversification outside of public markets, then there's no better platform than Yieldstreet.
Primary benefit: More private market asset classes than any other platform.
2. Arrived: best for all real estate investors
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Single-family homes
- Accreditation requirement: Any investor
Arrived is a real estate crowdfunding platform that serves all investors, both accredited and non-accredited.
Arrived is solely focused on single-family homes. It purchases properties for both long-term rentals and short-term (vacation) rentals. Like all real estate investments, Arrived investors benefit from both rental income and price appreciation.
Source: Arrived
Arrived takes care of everything — it evaluates, buys, lists, and manages every property. You don't have to worry about studying the market, legal contracts, closing costs, maintenance, repairs, or tenants.
After purchasing a new property, the company will securitize and make shares available for purchase on its platform. Then, you sit back and collect your “rental income,” which comes in the form of dividends.
Primary benefit: Build a real estate portfolio starting with just $100.
3. Masterworks: best for fine art
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Contemporary art
- Accreditation requirement: Any investor
Masterworks is the best way to invest in contemporary art, a long-time favorite investment of the ultrawealthy.
Why art? It offers a unique combination of price appreciation and stability.
Source: Masterworks
Art is rare, can appreciate, and has historically been inflation- and recession-proof. And, until recently, art investing required time, skill, and a lot of money.
Now, Masterworks's team of experts scours the world for artists and paintings, purchasing only those with the most momentum. After purchasing the art, the company securitizes it with the SEC which allows its users to invest in individual shares.
To realize returns, investors can sell their shares to other users on the platform, or wait until the Masterworks team sells the painting and the proceeds are distributed.
You can also invest in art on Yieldstreet, but if you're serious about art as an investment vehicle, then Masterworks is the obvious choice.
Primary benefit: Specialization in fine art investing.
4. Fundrise: accessible VC fund and real estate investing
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Venture capital and real estate
- Accreditation requirement: Any investor
Fundrise is one of the most popular alternative investing apps for real estate investing. It offers several types of real estate investments, including REITs, specialized funds, and individual deals.
The platform is primarily known as a real estate crowdfunding platform but recently launched the Fundrise Innovation Fund. The fund is an alternative investment fund that buys stakes in private, high-growth technology companies.
Fundrise began offering this fund for the same reason it started offering real estate: the world of investing in private companies has remained inaccessible to most, even though it has proven to be one of the best-performing investment strategies of the past 50 years.
Source: Fundrise
The fund has positions in Databricks, Roblox, Block, Canva, and more.
While you may not be able to invest directly in private companies (like accredited investors can with Equitybee; more on that below), you can invest in Fundrise's venture fund.
Primary benefit: Access to private companies via a venture capital fund that's accessible to retail investors.
5. Equitybee: best for investing in private companies
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Private companies
- Accreditation requirement: Accredited only
Equitybee is the best platform for investing in pre-IPO companies.
You'll find companies like OpenAI, The Boring Company, Stripe, Klarna, Canva, ByteDance, and more listed for sale on Equitybee.
Source: Equitybee
Equitybee connects accredited investors with employees who have stock options in privately held companies. These employees sell some or all of their options to investors, who would otherwise be unable to invest in the companies.
The valuation at which shares are traded is typically the valuation of the latest funding round, meaning you're investing at the same price as the PE firms.
In exchange for funding the options, you will receive a percentage of future proceeds from any successful liquidity events.
Now you can invest alongside the venture capitalists and private equity firms who know the real money is made before the IPO, not after.
Primary benefit: Invest in private, VC-backed companies at past valuations.
6. Percent: best for private credit investments
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Private credit
- Accreditation requirement: Accredited only
Percent gives you access to the $1.9 trillion private credit market, a favorite market of institutional investors.
Non-publicly traded companies must turn to private credit markets to finance their operations and growth. Since the money is harder to come by, the terms are very favorable for the lenders.
Private credit deals typically entail:
- Higher yields
- Shorter durations
- Returns that are largely uncorrelated with public markets
Additionally, most of the debt is secured by assets, loan portfolios, or corporate debt. Combine all that, and it's easy to understand why 89% of investors on Percent re-invest after their first deal.
Here's how private credit stacks up against other asset classes:
Source: Percent
Yield-seeking investors, especially those with high net worths, are those typically drawn to private credit.
While Yieldstreet offers some private credit deals, I've found Percent often has a larger inventory of investments to choose from, so it may be worth it to have an account on both platforms.
Plus, Percent is offering a welcome bonus of up to $500 when new investors make their first investment. For more information, read my full Percent Review.
Primary benefit: Largest inventory of private credit deals on any investment platform.
7. EquityMultiple: best for commercial real estate projects
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Commercial real estate projects
- Accreditation requirement: Accredited only
EquityMultiple is a crowdfunding real estate platform focused on commercial real estate, and is quickly growing in popularity thanks to its attractive offerings.
The Ascent Income Fund offers 11–13% target annualized returns from senior debt positions, so every investment is backed by commercial real estate assets.
With a $20k minimum investment, Ascent is a great place to start for yield-focused investors.
Source: EquityMultiple's Ascent Income Fund
EquityMultiple's most popular investment is the Alpine Note, which offers 3-, 6-, and 9-month term lengths with fixed APYs of 6.00%, 7.05%, and 7.4%, respectively.
Primary benefit: Invest in commercial real estate via short-term debt, equity, and/or funds.
8. CrowdStreet: best large commercial real estate platform
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Commercial real estate
- Accreditation requirement: Accredited only
CrowdStreet is one of the oldest, most established real estate crowdfunding platforms out there.
Since 2012, the company has funded more than 798 deals (168 of which have been sold) and has invested more than $4.2 billion on behalf of its investors.
Of those 168 sold deals, CrowdStreet has generated a 17.9% realized IRR with an average holding period of 3.1 years.
The platform connects investors to developers who are looking to raise capital for their projects. CrowdStreet has invested in 17 property types, including hotels, multifamily apartment complexes, storage facilities, industrial parks, and more.
Every proposed deal is vetted by an experienced team of analysts with a combined $6.5 billion in transactional experience before being listed on CrowdStreet's Marketplace, so you can be confident in the deals you're considering.
Source: CrowdStreet
You can choose to invest in individual deals or, for easy diversification, CrowdStreet's Diversified Funds. For high-net-worth investors, it also offers professionally managed portfolios.
Primary benefit: The most established, and probably the biggest, platform for commercial real estate investing.
9. Public: best traditional brokerage offering alternatives
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Stocks, ETFs, Treasuries, cryptocurrencies, and collectibles
- Accreditation requirement: Any investor
Public is our most recommended brokerage, especially for investors under the age of 50. It's fast, capable, well-designed, and offers free stock and ETF trading.
The only reason it's not higher on this list is because this article is about alternative investment platforms. Public is great for traditional portfolios, but it doesn't offer much in the form of alternative investments.
However, you can buy several cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Litecoin) and invest in shares of different types of collectibles (like shoes, NFTs, art, trading cards, etc.). And more alternatives are likely to be added soon.
Source: Public
I wouldn't go out of my way to create an account with Public for its alternative offerings, but it's a nice perk to have alongside your traditional portfolio.
Primary benefit: Invest in some alternative assets alongside your traditional portfolio.
10. RealtyMogul: best for private real estate investing via REITs
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Commercial, multifamily, and single-family real estate
- Accreditation requirement: Primarily accredited
RealtyMogul gives you access to both commercial and residential real estate under one login.
Like CrowdStreet and EquityMultiple, RealtyMogul connects investors to developers (sponsors) and handles the bulk of the vetting process for you.
The platform offers investments in real estate projects like industrial parks, mixed-use facilities, and residential developments. These projects have a $25,000 minimum investment.
The main reason RealtyMogul makes this list is because of its Income and Growth REITs, which have $5,000 minimum investments and are available to all investors.
Source: RealtyMogul
REITs are known for providing investors with stable cash flow (in the form of dividends, which are tax-efficient), liquidity, stability, and diversification.
Since the Income REIT's inception in 2016, it has distributed monthly dividends between 6–8% (net of fees) for 86 consecutive months. These distributions have totaled $33.2 million to date.
Primary benefit: Private real estate investing via REITs.
11. AcreTrader: best for farmland
- Our rating:
- Asset(s): Farmland
- Accreditation requirement: Accredited only
AcreTrader offers another type of real estate to invest in — farmland.
We will always need food, regardless of inflation, economic conditions, or the stock market. Couple that with a rapidly growing global population, and farmland looks like a pretty compelling investment.
Historically, its cumulative returns have increased without much volatility.
Source: AcreTrader
AcreTrader connects investors with farmers — timber, alfalfa, soybeans, corn, and more. Each new listing must pass a thorough due diligence process by AcreTrader's team of expert analysts, which only approves 5% of deals.
The target holding periods range from 5–10 years. During that period, the farmers pay rent to AcreTrader which distributes it among the investors. At the time of the sale, any price appreciation, pro rata rent, and principal is returned to investors.
The median realized IRR has been around 15%.
Primary benefit: The only platform where you can invest in shares of farmland.
What's the most popular private market investing platform?
This is a hard question to answer because not every platform releases this data to the public and some information may be outdated.
Here are a few of the most popular from what data is available:
- Yieldstreet has 450,000+ investors who have invested more than $4 billion on the platform.
- CrowdStreet has invested $4.2 billion since its inception, though it doesn't list how many investors are registered on its platform.
- Masterworks has 883,000+ investors and over $941 million invested.
The most popular alternative investment is real estate. The U.S. real estate market alone is estimated to be worth close to $4 trillion.
How we chose the best alternative platforms
When evaluating investing products and services, we consider the following.
- Core offering: How good is the product or service?
- Price/fees: Overall price, value for money, average cost per month, and any hidden fees.
- Usability: What the interface looks like, whether the site is easy to use and navigate, the inclusion of modern design elements and features, and accessibility.
- Credibility: Quality of information and data as well as company and brand reputation.
- Audience: Who the product is for, the range of uses and applications, whether it actually works for its target audience, if it's the best option available, and any limitations therein.
- Offers: Whether there is a special offer for signing up or any discounts.
Final verdict
The data is pretty clear — alternatives have historically provided excellent diversification outside of public markets and have the potential for outperformance.
At this point, you may be ready to follow BlackRock's lead and invest up to 20% of your portfolio into one or more of the investment platforms listed above.
These are my favorite alternative investing platforms and they all have their own benefits.
If you can't decide which platform is right for you, I'd recommend checking out Yieldstreet because of its diverse offering of alternative assets. And if you can't decide from among those assets, you may opt for Yieldstreet's Alternative Income Fund.
The fund is professionally managed and invests in multiple private market asset classes — it's like a mutual fund, but with alternative assets instead of stocks. It's open to all investors and has a minimum investment of $10,000.
If you're looking to get started in alternatives with lower minimums, consider Arrived ($100) or the Fundrise Venture Fund ($10). Accredited investors also have a few more options, such as Equitybee, Percent, EquityMultiple, and CrowdStreet, to choose from.
All that being said, keep in mind that past performance does not guarantee future results. Always do your own research before investing.
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