Goldman Sachs Asset Management is adding to the industry-wide push to “democratize” alternative investing by launching a free, online university geared toward advisors and everyday investors.
The Goldman Sachs Investment University is a digital offering of live, virtual and interactive education on alternative investments and how to add them to client portfolios. The material is created and presented by Goldman Sachs staffers, but the New York-based firm notes that it will give objective advice.
“Alternatives are an increasingly important consideration in 2025 as investors look for new sources of diversification, but successfully implementing them in portfolios requires specialized knowledge,” said Kyle Kniffen, global head of alternatives, third-party wealth at GSAM.
Goldman is entering a crowded space for alternative investment education. In addition to industry organizations such as the CFA Institute and CAIA, other brand-name asset managers and alternative platform providers offer private markets education to attract more investors into an arena that historically has been the purview of institutional investors.
Users can customize Goldman’s alternative university curriculum, which focuses on asset classes including private equity, private credit, real assets and hedge funds. The university will also provide information on portfolio construction, risk management, asset allocation and vehicle selection.
Goldman Sachs has more than $500 billion invested in alternatives globally and offers clients access through direct investing strategies, partnerships and open-architecture investments. Recently, it has been making a concerted effort to work more with RIAs, partly by engaging them on its alternative offerings.
Last year, Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions announced a feature on its custodial platform that allows RIA clients to borrow against some alternative investment positions in their portfolio, expanding beyond lending against equities and bonds.
GSAM also announced a relationship with GeoWealth to build open-architecture custom models for RIA clients that can incorporate both public and private market investments.
The partnership currently offers three proprietary funds alongside ETFs, SMAs and public funds. Direct index investing will come online later in May, and fixed-income portfolios that consider tax implications will be available in the fall. RIAs can choose Goldman-created models or customize their own in partnership with Goldman.
The asset manager also seeks to push alternatives more broadly into the high-net-worth client community. In April, its alternatives division launched its G-PE fund, which gives qualified investors access to private equity deals.