“So it would have taken him 60 years to double his money,” Thompson said. “Not the best investment in terms of economics, but from an enjoyment perspective, the best investment he’s ever made. That said, there are situations where it may be economically more advantageous for an investor to invest in the particular commodity. ... [But] some collectibles are very rare and oftentimes the marketplace for these items is highly inefficient.”
Thompson said that Allium currently allocates up to 30% of a client’s portfolio assets to institutional quality credit and equity alternatives in order to increase risk-adjusted returns.
“Allium uses multimanager strategies as a core for clients’ alternative investment portfolios, then adds unique individual-manager funds to gain exposure to specific assets classes,” he said. “Given my 25 years of experience finding, diligencing and investing with individual managers, I plan to expand this area of Allium’s offerings. This includes more equity alternative managers seeking to outperform equity markets over full market cycles. The goal is to provide our advisors multiple options that can potentially reduce risk, enhance returns and most precisely meet the needs of each client.”
Thompson said that over the next 12 months he plans to expand the company’s small and midsize endowment and foundation business.
“We find that institutions with less than $25 million in assets are typically underserved in the investment industry,” he said. “We bring institutional quality investment options and portfolio management [to those clients] that is more commonly available only to institutions with $100 million-plus in assets.”
Thompson said that for high-net-worth clients, Allium serves as a multifamily office that provides a full range of services, from financial planning to investment management to tax consultation and preparation.
“That said, there is [also] a group of high-net-worth individuals and families that are satisfied with their existing traditional investment advisor, but are looking to expand their portfolio options to include alternatives. We would like to be the go-to firm to help them achieve their goals,” he said.
Founded in 2016, Allium Financial works with families, individuals, business owners, endowments, foundations, and retirement plan sponsors. As of December 31, 2021, Allium Financial reported on its website managing about $425 million in assets for 583 accounts.