Alternative investments have become more popular since the 2008 financial crisis

People often invest in alternative investments to diversify their portfolios

Because alternatives often have little correlation with traditional investments like stocks and bonds, adding them to a traditional portfolio can reduce its overall risk exposure.

Alternative investments can include everything from cryptocurrency to fine art

The financial assets typically fall outside the scope of traditional investments like stocks and bonds, and they’re often intended to diversify investor portfolios.

Explore a guide to investing in alternatives

Investors often use alternative investments, from collectibles to real estate, as a way to diversify their portfolios in case of market volatility. Getting started investing in these alternatives differs depending on the investment.

Alternative investments can be sorted into seven major categories, according to some experts

These categories include real estate, private equity, private debt, hedge funds, collectibles, and more.

Pension funds' allocations to risky, alternative investments increased by 25% between 2001 and 2021

The portion of pension funds' risky investments, including alternative investments such as private equity, increased from 14% in 2001 to 39% in 2021. Analysts say private equity investments have delivered higher returns than traditional assets like stocks and bonds. Increased investment in private equity has also given pensions a way to recover from the 2008 financial crisis without necessarily investing more money.

The financial crisis in 2008 had a major impact on many 401(k) plans

Amid the 2008 financial crisis, stocks and bonds cratered as the broader market floundered due to the subprime mortgage crisis. Investors with so-called "target-date" funds—which shift allocations based on the maturation of a fund—shared in the slump, with some funds declining by 20% or more just a year or two away from maturation.

The alternative investments industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years

More specifically, as of 2024, the alternative investments industry was expected to grow to more than $24T in assets in 2028—up from roughly $15T in 2022.

Not all alternative investments are easy to invest in

For instance, some alternative investments are only available to accredited investors or high-net-worth individuals. Others have relatively high fees compared to traditional investments.

Explore an alternative investments timeline

From what’s known as the first leveraged buyout, when JPMorgan acquired the Carnegie Steel Company, to the creation of the first-ever hedge fund, alternative investments have a long history.

How COVID-19 brought new investors into the market

With fees removed from the equation and more time at home thanks to pandemic-related lockdowns, Americans who had never bought or sold stocks before started participating in the market. Charles Schwab dubs this cohort “Generation Investor” and notes individuals from all age ranges took part in this phenomenon. Study up here.

More than half of today’s family offices were incorporated after 2010

Family offices are impacting capital markets as private wealth grows. Compared to other financial entities, they have a relatively high allocation to alternatives.

ETFs are rising in popularity

While less than half of retail investors hold ETFs in their portfolio, this figure is up dramatically in recent years, and experts forecast continued adoption as more options hit the market and total ETF assets under management continue to grow.

Sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia surged after the 2008 financial crisis

As the stock market plummeted in 2008, SWFs with cash on hand were able to snap up critically undervalued assets that eventually posted large profits. The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority invested $14.4B in Citigroup, resulting in a $1.6B profit for the GSIC when it sold half of the holdings in 2009.

Beanie Babies used to be viewed by some as alternative investments

Beanie Baby stuffed animals were once a hot collector item with skyrocketing prices as people believed that the toys would significantly grow in value over time.

Why private credit has faced challenges in recent years

The factors that some experts say are driving what could be private credit's most challenging era since the 2008 financial crisis include global economic uncertainty around trade and tariffs, investor fears about the amount of money being spent on artificial intelligence, and more.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed began a program of quantitative easing

This program injected trillions of dollars of new money into financial markets to stimulate the economy. The move catalyzed an 11-year bull run and was repeated during the pandemic. Experts argue such power could worsen wealth inequality and contribute to bubbles in housing and finance.

Between 2007 and 2009, the housing market saw its most significant downturn since the Great Depression: the Great Recession

The early 2000s were a prosperous period for the housing market, until some lending practices eventually destabilized it, leading to banks collapsing and people losing their homes.

Read about why bans on short selling are a controversial policy

Generally, short selling is legal, but regulations often restrict short positions when a stock has experienced a sharp price decline (more than 10% in one day). However, negative feedback loops in times of financial crisis have given short selling a bad reputation. The government has temporarily banned short selling during previous market downturns—like The Great Recession of 2008 and the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic—but experts argue whether those bans actually improved market stability or just distorted prices.

Using cryptocurrency to turn traditional financial arrangements on their head

Cryptocurrency is poised to drastically change everything in the financial world, including financial arrangements. Decentralized finance makes it easier for virtually anyone to take advantage of financial markets without the need for a bank. However, there are new risks involved as well. Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics Kevin Werbach, an expert on Bitcoin and blockchains discusses it all in detail in The Conversation.

FTX, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, collapsed in 2022

As crypto markets declined during the post-pandemic slowdown, Sam Bankman-Fried propped up the markets with billions he'd earned leading FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges. Then, in one of the most rapid financial implosions in modern history, the exchange collapsed as investors rushed to withdraw money.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Stand-up became more popular during the Great Depression

The stock market crash of 1929 caused vaudeville theaters to shutter. Audiences were looking for lighthearted distractions from the country’s financial problems, though, and stand-up became more popular, albeit in very different venues.

The stock market has crashed many times throughout history

Have you ever wondered how long it takes the market to recover after a crash? This chart outlines major stock market dips throughout history and tracks how many days it took for the market to recover.

Stablecoins could give people in high-inflation economies access to stronger currencies

Specifically, stablecoins could provide a way to make sure these funds remain valuable during times of volatility. Some examples of people without access to the US dollar using stablecoins as a store of value have been observed in Venezuela.

Tulips were once viewed as alternative investments in Holland

In the 1600s, during a period of relative wealth for the Dutch after they gained their independence from Spain, some started collecting rare flower bulbs that created speckled and striped tulips.

Some argue that investment banking could be a health hazard

Back in 2012, a University of Southern California researcher published a decade-long study in which she observed investment bankers’ health. The results weren’t exactly stellar. Every individual the researcher observed developed a stress-related physical or emotional ailment within several years of working in investment banking.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Animal phobias are likely the most common type of phobias, followed by an extreme fear of heights.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution