Investing in Alternatives: a Conversation with Vincent

We recently sat down with Eric Cantor from Vincent—a first-of-its-kind search engine designed to help you find new, high-quality investment opportunities. Continue reading to learn about his perspective on investing in alternatives.

Q: Tell us more about Vincent. What inspired you to create the platform?

Each of us four founders had each navigated building portfolios of non-traditional investments in our own way — figuring out how to invest in property, private companies, digital assets and trading cards. We all felt the experience could be a lot more awesome and that more and more people we knew wanted to go down the same rabbit holes we had. The fact that one can now invest in a megalodon jaw, a shipping deal in Malta, a multifamily property in Houston, an almond farm in Arkansas, or the Declaration of Independence is pretty awesome. Vincent is our vision of a tool for the everyday investor to navigate all that with a sense of understanding, confidence and enjoyment.

Q: The alternative investment space has certainly grown over the past year. Are there any interesting trends you’ve found, either from recent searches on Vincent or your own market research?

Definitely. We talk to hundreds of investors every week and learn something every time we do. Broadly, more than thirty million individual investors out there, accredited and aspiring, are trying to solve the same challenges my co-founders and I are also solving on our own alt investing journeys. So the big one is many more individuals are realizing the action is in private markets and focusing their efforts on getting established there as a complement to their public equity allocations. Over the past year, tailwinds picked up as investors grew in confidence and literacy, getting comfortable blending profit and passion motives. Powered by the JOBS Act, which opened up investments to a broader audience, and increasing trust and comfort in digital investment products, we’re seeing the market go exponential. You can see that in Vincent search volumes and what we hear anecdotally. As an example, in our October search volumes detailed in our monthly Vincent By the Numbers, more than one out every five searches included real estate as an asset class.

Q: We’re curious, have you noticed any distinction between the types of investments that interest accredited vs non-accredited investors on your site?

Yes and no. When we look at our core user personas and accreditation itself is not a decisive factor in which one you are. We call one slice of our base the “aspirationally accredited” — those who are operating with the confidence and savvy of accredited investors but are not yet actually accredited by the SEC’s definition. That said, if you look at a recent Vincent By the Numbers you’ll see unsurprisingly that accredited investors tend to write bigger checks. Related is the fact that they have access to a broader set of investment options.  

Q: That’s a great point, and we’d like to think a platform like EquityMultiple could be a good place for a lot of these potential investors to start. Could you share how you see real estate compared to other assets on your platform?

Our investors want diversified portfolios that cover multiple asset classes. On average, an investor researches more than three of our six asset types. Real estate is well-represented as one of the most popular, as people want to balance out their more aggressive and speculative holdings with real assets that have more predictable cash flows. So the role we play there is to introduce them to the best-in-class platforms where they can get that exposure, and explain to them the opportunities, fees, and other considerations so when it comes time to deploy capital they are prepared and confident.

Q: What advice would you give to someone who is just starting to look into investing in alternatives? 

Vincent’s thesis is premised on education. We encourage our users to learn and study before they write a check into anything. Part of why we started this is because we saw a lot of people writing checks and few people actually reading the memos or having a strategy as to what they are doing and why. Separately, we focus on where investors have an edge. If they’re passionate or obsessive about a certain trend or area, we encourage them to start there, not with the opportunity that others around them are focused on. This sort of focus allows for true diversification.

Q: Is there anything else you would like readers to understand about investing in alternatives?

Yes, if you’re coming into a new market, do it with your eyes open. Most of the investment providers here want to do the right thing, and there are a lot of great opportunities. But there is no rush. This is early innings and this industry will be building itself out over many years and various market cycles. There is a lot of risk in addition to reward possibilities in the various asset classes represented here. Learn enough to get a thesis and a view before you start playing. Do it on your timeline, not someone else’s. And don’t forget to have fun.

All opinions expressed herein constitute the author’s judgement as of the date of this article and are subject to change without notice. Statements made are not facts, including statements regarding trends, market conditions and the experience or expertise of author are based on current expectations, estimates, opinions and/or beliefs. Such statements are not facts and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Past events and trends do not predict or guarantee or indicate future events or results.