CAIS Selected to Join the Schwab Alternative Investment Marketplace Platform™

Press Release

April 2, 2020

CAIS brings access to a broad menu of alternative investment strategies, a streamlined workflow, and a personalized learning system for mastering alternative investments.

CAIS, the leading financial technology platform connecting financial advisors with alternative investments, today announced an agreement with Schwab Advisor Services, the industry leader and largest custodian of registered investment advisor (RIA) assets, serving over 7,500 individual RIAs with over $1.9T in AUM.

The Schwab Alternative Investment Marketplace™ platform gives Schwab’s independent advisor clients access to third-party platform sponsors that offer alternative investment funds, including private equity, private credit, hedge funds, and real estate. This platform delivers a number of benefits to advisors, including the removal of custodial fees and streamlined workflow and reporting.

The CAIS platform provides Schwab’s independent advisor clients the largest selection of alternative investment strategies that can be accessed directly, avoiding expensive intermediary structures such as feeders. Additionally, all private funds available through CAIS are institutionally rated and undergo independent investment and operational due diligence performed by Mercer.

“Hundreds of RIAs who custody at Schwab have collectively transacted over $1 billion on the CAIS platform, and we’re excited to take the next step with Schwab. CAIS’s participation further broadens RIA access to alternative investments through our robust framework of independent due diligence while eliminating custodial fees,” said Matt Brown, CEO and founder of CAIS. “Schwab and CAIS share a commitment to leading with education. Every RIA that custodies at Schwab will have access to CAIS IQ, a learning platform powered by artificial intelligence that helps financial advisors learn faster, remember longer, and master alternative investments.”

Since launching in November 2019, CAIS IQ has rolled out 27 courses, promoting best-in-class learning and education for financial advisors. CAIS IQ courses are created with curated independent expert content to help advisors master key information about asset classes, product providers, and specific funds and products. Both the Investment and Wealth Institute (IWI) and the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board offer Continuing Education credit through CAIS IQ.

“We’re excited to welcome CAIS as a third-party platform sponsor of the Schwab Alternative Investment Marketplace platform,” said Jalina Kerr, senior vice president, Client Experience, Schwab Advisor Services. “Working with firms that have experience and scale in alternative investment solutions helps us to meet the unique needs of the independent advisory firms of all kinds that we serve.”

The growing demand by advisors for alternatives investments continues to rise as 84% of investors¹ plan to increase their allocation to alternative investments in the coming years. By providing a best-in-class experience for advisors and fund managers, CAIS will further unlock the potential of alternative investments for advisors through our participation in the Schwab Alternative Investment Marketplace platform empowering advisors to be more competitive and improve client outcomes.

To learn more, please visit www.caisgroup.com

About CAIS

CAIS is the pioneer in democratizing access to and education about alternative investments and structured notes for independent advisors, asset managers, and bank issuers, empowering them to engage and transact on a massive scale. We believe that the combination of industry-leading technology and human interaction throughout the pre-trade, trade, and post-trade experience delivers superior operational efficiency and a world-class client experience.

 CAIS provides advisors with access to a broad selection of alternative investment strategies, including hedge funds, private equity, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, and structured notes, allowing them to capitalize on opportunities and withstand ever-changing markets.

CAIS streamlines the end-to-end transaction process through digital subscriptions and powers integrated reporting through leading US custodians and reporting providers, making investing in alternatives simpler.  CAIS also enables advisors to centralize all their alts and notes on one platform, whether they were purchased on or off the CAIS platform, through CAIS Solutions, and helps advisors create custom fund vehicles around ideas they source.

Founded in 2009, CAIS, a fintech leader, supports over 32,000 advisors who oversee more than $4 trillion in network assets. Since its inception, CAIS has facilitated over $30 billion in transaction volume. CAIS has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Austin, and London. For more information about CAIS, please visit www.caisgroup.com.   

Securities offered through CAIS Capital LLC, member FINRA, SIPC.  