1. Asset classes which do not fall in the traditional equity, debt and liquid, fall under the alter- 1nates category.
2. Alternative asset classes include commodities, real estate, collectibles, foreign currency, venture capital, private equity and distressed securities.
3. They are not publicly traded as traditional asset classes and typically owned by institutions.
4. These asset classes can be illiquid in nature and their valuation can be difficult due to lack of market price.
5. They have periods in which exits are not possible or heavily penalised and have higher minimum investment thresholds.
(Content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL). Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta.)
