WealthTech is Rushing to Launch Functionality Around Alternatives

At the start of the year, Larry Fink published his annual letter, “The Democratization of Investing.” In it, he didn’t just talk about markets. He painted a picture of a coming transformation away from the classic 60/40 portfolio, pointing instead to a future where private infrastructure and alternative investments aren’t niche, but fundamental. He hinted that we’re heading toward a 50/30/20 world, where private credit, private equity, and real assets make up 20% of a standard portfolio.

Now, when BlackRock says something like this, you have to wonder: Is this just theory, or is the industry already shifting to make it reality? The recent timeline seems to suggest the latter. Let’s take a look at recent movements and their respective dates. 

• October 2024 – BlackRock partnered with iCapital and GeoWealth to allow RIAs who use their custom model portfolios to invest in private assets alongside traditional investments through unified managed accounts. 

• March 2025 – SEI announced the launch of its alternative investment product marketplace, providing an end-to-end investment experience and increased access for advisors.  

• May 2025 – Goldman Sachs Asset Management also teamed up with GeoWealth to introduce public-private custom models for RIAs. 

• June 2025 – Fidelity teamed up with Envestnet and debuted open-architecture custom models with semi-liquid alts. 

• June 2025 – CAIS added BlackRock, Carlyle, KKR, and Franklin models to its new model marketplace. 

• July 2025 – AssetMark announced that it will be integrating private equity and private credit funds into its managed account platform with an expected Q4 launch. 

• July 2025 – SMArtX stepped up UMA integration of semi-liquid alts with liquidity, trading, and tax automation all in one. 

• July 2025 – BNY Mellon deepened its alliance with iCapital to bolster its Alts Bridge platform to better connect advisors to a comprehensive range of alternative asset managers and products. 

• July 2025 - Vestmark teamed up with iCapital, BlackRock, and Dynasty Financial Partners to add private markets to its tax-managed UMA solution, breaking a longstanding barrier that kept private funds out of UMA structures 

• July 2025 - Orion integrates with iCapital, enabling advisors to build diversified, goal-aligned portfolios and view reporting all within Orion’s platform. 

• July 2025 – Addepar showcased how its platform is purpose-built for the complexities of alternatives through data management and private fund benchmarks.  

• August 2025 – GeoWealth received $38mm in Series C funding from alternative Asset Manager, Apollo, to accelerate public-private UMA Capabilities.  

While everyone is watching BlackRock, Goldman, and the large alternative asset managers, our provocative thought is that the biggest winners in the shift to alternatives will be the TAMPs, at least in terms of percentages. Platforms like Envestnet, SEI, GeoWealth, AssetMark, SMArtX, Vestmark, and Orion are quietly building the rails to embed private markets into everyday advisor workflows. These are the systems advisors already use to allocate, rebalance, and manage client portfolios.

If alternatives are truly going to scale beyond UHNW and institutional circles, it won’t be because asset managers create more products, it’s going to be because TAMPs cut complexity and boost availability. Regardless of how well the TAMPs make out on this, it seems inevitable, one way or the other.