CAIS adds nearly 40 managers to its alternative shelf

CAIS said it has added nearly 40 new and existing managers to its platform in the past six months, widening the shelf of alternative strategies available to independent advisers. The additions cut across hedge funds, infrastructure, real estate and other categories. First-quarter flows rose in exchange funds, hedge funds, infrastructure, real estate and tax-advantaged strategies, a mix CAIS reads as advisers reaching for diversification and income. The platform now lists more than 600 strategies, and every one of them carries third-party due diligence from Mercer. More than 2,500 wealth management firms use it.

Brad Walker, CAIS's co-president, describes the effort as a marketplace that evolves with adviser needs, pairing manager access with education and technology that cuts operational friction. The additions include Apollo, Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle, AQR, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Blue Owl, HarbourVest, Hamilton Lane, Hines, Coatue, Cohen & Steers, Eldridge, Fortress, Millennium, Third Point and T. Rowe Price/Oak Hill Advisors, among others. Several names are repeats: Apollo, Blue Owl and KKR were part of the nearly 20 new and expanded manager partnerships AltsWire tracked at CAIS in 2024, alongside Ares Management and Bain Capital.

The due-diligence process is the quiet product here. A shelf with hundreds of strategies is only as trusted as the review behind it, and CAIS wraps Mercer's vetting around every addition. That lets a solo adviser or a small RIA treat the platform as a pre-screened menu rather than a research project.

The buildout goes beyond the manager list. In July, CAIS partnered with BetaNXT to extend the platform into broker-dealer networks, and in 2024 it added nearly 20 new and expanded manager partnerships, according to AltsWire. CAIS is consolidating its role as the main route from private-market sponsors to the independent channel.

For the interval fund business, the effect is access. The announcement doesn't break out how many of the additions are interval funds or other semi-liquid vehicles, but the managers in the batch already operate across the alternative spectrum. Distribution is where alternative products get won or lost. First-quarter flows suggest appetite; the next few quarters will test whether the shelf space converts.