The sharp depreciation of the dollar against the Brazilian real has been good news for Avenue. In April, the leading platform for access to the U.S. market recorded the best monthly fundraising in its history, according to Avenue’s Institutional Director, Caio Azevedo. The company does not disclose figures.
“We had the best fundraising ever recorded,” the executive says in an interview with Funds Society, attributing the movement to exchange rate volatility. “Whether up or down, we managed to attract funds very well. Usually, inflows into the platform are lower during periods of less fluctuation,” he notes.
He says the current sentiment is something similar to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) on the part of the public, which sees the dollar at 5 reais as a good buying price. And the flow is spread across various channels, such as wealth, advisory, and family offices. The destination of that capital is concentrated mainly in the most popular U.S. equities.
“S&P, Nasdaq, ETFs, and stocks are still the main ones,” he says. “We still have a relevant flow toward the AI sector. Toward the Magnificent Seven.”
ETPs Enter the Platform
On the institutional side, Azevedo continues seeking to expand the offering of structures for the B2B market. In this context, Avenue is preparing the launch of ETPs (Exchange Traded Products) in partnership with FlexFunds, especially targeting smaller advisory firms and asset managers seeking access to offshore structures without the need to establish their own vehicles.
ETPs are internationally listed certificates — usually through Ireland and distributed by platforms such as Euroclear — that allow investment strategies to be “packaged” into a tradable asset with its own ISIN. In practice, the structure works as a simpler and more efficient alternative to traditional offshore funds, reducing operational costs and facilitating the international distribution of financial products.
“If you are an asset manager or advisor and do not have the scale to operationalize an offshore structure, the ETP solves that,” he says.
According to him, there are already conversations with more than 15 asset managers and advisory firms interested in the model. The expectation is that the structure will be operational within the next three to four months. The product is expected to function mainly as a tool for the institutional and advisory market, allowing strategies to be packaged into an international asset with its own ISIN.
Platform Launches Fund with Verde Asset
The timing could not be better for some Brazilian asset managers that have begun to see Avenue as a new way to attract resources from local investors: through international funds. With a Cayman-based structure called Avenue Funds Hub, the company created a new potential distribution channel for Brazilian asset managers interested in reaching offshore investors.
“We set up a structure that facilitates access to those funds. Everything is operationalized by Avenue,” he explains. According to him, asset managers do not necessarily need to have their own offshore structure to access the platform.
“We managed to create a simpler, more direct, and less costly structure,” he says. The movement began with names already well known in the Brazilian market, such as Kinea, Itaú Asset, and Verde, which started making global products available through the platform’s structure.
In the case of Verde, the asset manager debuts on Avenue with a global equity strategy heavily exposed to the artificial intelligence theme, betting that the current cycle of investment in technology is still far from over. The portfolio combines companies linked to infrastructure, semiconductors, and U.S. technology, reflecting the firm’s view that AI represents a structural transformation of the global economy.
“It’s curious, because when Brazilians think about investing abroad, they always imagine the major global players. But investors also want access to the brands they already know here in Brazil,” says Azevedo.
According to him, Avenue is in talks with several other Brazilian asset managers interested in accessing the international channel.
“A lot is happening, and there are names that clients would really like to access,” he says.
In addition to Brazilian funds, the company also distributes a broad international platform. Today, the platform includes more than one thousand global funds, including fixed income, equities, alternatives, and UCITS strategies.
