“The alternative investment industry is undergoing significant expansion, with advisors aiming to offer increasingly sophisticated solutions to a broader range of clients,” Alan Strauss, Senior Partner & Director of Investor Relations at Crystal Capital Partners, told Funds Society. Crystal is an alternative platform with 30 years in the market that enables financial advisors to easily customize alternative investment portfolios with operational simplicity.
It’s no surprise that the global investment landscape is undergoing a marked transformation—one that intensified this year due to the global uncertainty triggered by the Trump administration’s tariff policies and their impact on economic growth and inflation projections.
In this new environment, investors are more eager than ever to diversify in order to reduce volatility and systemic risk in their traditional portfolios. Alternative assets are experiencing a boom, coupled with the growing trend of advisors leaving traditional firms to offer customized solutions independently.
In the interview with Funds Society, Strauss acknowledged that Crystal Capital operates in a competitive environment, where various platforms cater to high-net-worth clients. However, he emphasized the company’s commitment to client transparency, which stems from its status as an RIA (Registered Investment Advisor), thus avoiding the conflicts of interest commonly found in broker-dealer platforms.
“We started in the ’90s and were among the first investors in what are now leading hedge funds. We created and managed several fund of funds aimed at offshore high-net-worth investors, and by 2001 we expanded our fund of funds offerings to serve U.S. institutions and onshore high-net-worth investors,” said Strauss, who was born in Colombia and is based in Miami.
As it moved away from the traditional fund of funds model, the company realized that one-size-fits-all solutions don’t meet every client’s needs. Financial advisors required more customizable options to avoid overlap in managers and strategies within their clients’ portfolios. This led to the 2007 launch of Crystal Capital’s Customized Portfolio Program, which enables advisors to build personalized hedge fund portfolios. According to Strauss, this transition allowed the company to achieve greater scalability while offering tailored solutions.
Today, the firm manages $1.2 billion in assets, works with over 200 financial advisory firms, and has experienced a steady growth rate of 15% to 20% over the past decade. The platform has facilitated the creation of more than 500 customized portfolios, and its clients can access approximately 50 private funds, which they can subscribe to using a single electronic document.
Strauss described the dynamic nature of the platform, which focuses on asset classes with high entry barriers—such as hedge funds and private equity—but also offers “everything under the sun” in the alternatives universe.
