> Many investors are opting into complex, costly, and often illiquid structures — even as the long-term payoff remains uncertain. Compared to tax-efficient ETFs, these alternative products tend to carry higher fees, greater opacity, and less liquidity.
Hard lessons are coming.
wslh · 2h ago
Right. For example, in crypto, projects also have a runway, but there's a common sentiment that everything will keep working (and upwards) simply because it's decentralized. Ironically, the biggest winners in the space are stablecoins which are not decentralized and can operate on any infrastructure for payments.
Now that the jig is up regarding the performance of alternatives (nowhere near as uncorrelated as advertised) the goalposts have shifted from making carry to charging management fees on the AuM.
Hard lessons are coming.