Escala debuts all-in-one platform to simplify alts | Australian Markets

Leading personal wealth and advice firm Escala Partners has introduced the launch of a new end-to-end investment platform designed to streamline shoppers’ entry to options investments.

The platform, developed in collaboration with Australian funds administrator and trustee One Investment Group, guarantees to streamline operations for employees and improve the investment expertise for the firm’s wealth shoppers.

Among the touted options of the platform embody doc processing, onboarding, subscriptions, efficiency reporting, tax management, investment calls and distributions processing, designed, Escala says, to “optimise operational workflows”.

Escala co-chief government Torty Howard spruiked the platform’s “single, integrated system”, enabling its workers to “build, manage and maintain an entire alternative investment program while eliminating operational and administrative complexities”.

“This will enhance the workflows of our Chief Investment Officer (CIO) teams, wealth advisers and operational staff, providing clients with a holistic view of their wealth, encompassing both public and private investments,” she added.

On the consumer aspect, Ben James, Escala associate and head of advisory, welcomed the platform’s “seamless and transparent investment experience”, promising entry to “high-quality alternative investments with greater ease, efficiency, and clarity”.

He added: “By reducing operational friction and enhancing customisation, we are empowering our clients to diversify their portfolios in a way that aligns with their long-term financial goals.”

The platform seeks, in the end, to improve entry to in any other case complicated and for some traders an impenetrable world of options investments.

Alternative investments cowl a range of non-traditional asset lessons (past equities, bonds or money), together with personal credit/debt, personal equity, real estate, hedge funds, enterprise capital, infrastructure, collectables, and cryptocurrencies.

Howard mapped out the significantly difficult options investment lifecycle, an intricate course of which spans pre-investment (schooling, analysis, sourcing and due diligence), investment (strategy customisation, onboarding and subscriptions) and post-investment (efficiency reporting, tax management and capital distributions) processes.

Despite the accessibility challenges, Escala notes robust growth within the options space, noting rising demand from household places of work and high-net-worth traders searching for to “enhance diversification, hedge against inflation and achieve superior returns”.

Alternatives information useful resource Preqin values the whole options investment pool globally at $16.3 trillion, with persevering with robust growth prospects.

“Demand remains robust for private equity and private credit, while uncorrelated strategies are gaining traction as investors seek greater diversification amid an increasingly challenging economic environment.”

The options industry is now anticipated to grow to more than $24 trillion in property in 2028, up from $15 trillion in 2022, in accordance to US investment giant KKR.

Australia’s options investment market alone is estimated to be value round $100 billion.

James added that, due to their perceived low correlation to conventional asset lessons, personal markets have turn out to be “essential source of capital for innovation and economic activity worldwide”.

“As the number of publicly listed companies declines globally, the opportunity set in private markets continues to expand. Private investments are no longer just a niche allocation; they are becoming an integral part of sophisticated investment portfolios.”