JP Morgan Chase & Co. and the Carlyle Group have become the latest big-name firms to invest in the iCapital Network, the financial platform working to widen the reach of alternative investments.
Carlyle has invested in the New York-based company as a strategic partner, and will leverage iCapital's "proprietary technology to help manage Carlyle's operations and administration of its private equity vehicles targeting the wealth management marketplace," iCapital said in a press release.
JPMorgan's investment comes six months after it teamed with iCapital to launch a white label offering for RIAs and their clients that allows access to a select group of J.P. Morgan Global Alternative strategies.
"This strategic investment highlights the success of that initial partnership," Anton Pil, co-managing partner of J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives, said in a prepared statement.
JPMorgan Chase is a global financial services firm with $2.6 trillion in assets under management.
The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with $212 billion under management and 31 offices across six continents.
The JPMorgan and Carlyle partnerships come a week after Blackstone, the nation's largest alternative investment firm, announced what is believed to be the single largest investment in iCapital, whose strategic partners also include BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse Group AG, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and UBS Financial Services.
"Carlyle has developed a strong relationship with the team at iCapital as they've rapidly grown from a fintech start-up to an established leader working with some of the most respected participants in alternatives," said Norma Kuntz, Carlyle's managing director and global head of fund management, in a prepared statement.
The list of high-profile strategic partners would appear to cement iCapital's standing as an industry-leading alternatives platform and a pioneer in bringing alternatives to a wider audience of investors. Its stated mission is to use technology to "democratize" the distribution of alternative investments.
iCapital says it offers high-net-worth investors a curated menu of hedge funds, private equity and credit funds at lower minimums after conducting its own research on these investment vehicles. Many of the investments were previously only available to institutions and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.