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

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.

Alternative investments have become more popular since the 2008 financial crisis

When the traditional markets crashed during the 2008 financial crisis, many people saw the value of their traditional investments plummet and began to look into alternatives as a result.

Alternative investments carry unique tax implications

The specifics depend on the type of alternative asset, as well as how long you hold it for, and your income.

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.

Consumers will use digital payment processing for nearly $40T in spending by 2028

That's just one signal of the industry's massive growth. Investments in the global fintech industry have grown from $4B in 2010 to $92.3B in 2021, as both businesses and consumers seem to quickly adopt new fintech products, from digital payment apps to robo-advisers.

BlackRock says investor demand and improvements in underlying fund technology have supercharged ETF availability in 2025

Investors are likely most familiar with ETFs that invest in an index or other grouping of stocks. However, BlackRock breaks down a wide variety of options, including commodity ETFs, currency ETFs, and bond ETFs.

The stablecoin market increased tenfold from 2020 to 2025

Specifically, the stablecoin market grew from about $28B in 2020 to $282B in 2025. Some experts forecast that it could grow anywhere from 6.7x to 14.2x by 2030.

Visualizing the world's $261T in investable assets

Nearly half of the world's portfolio of stocks and bonds originate in the US. Roughly 1% of all investable assets are in the form of cryptocurrency.

Private credit grew from a $250B asset class in 2010 to around $1.5T in early 2024

That's partly due to the industry's rising interest rates that created more upside for investors. Interest rates have increased in recent years alongside the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes beginning in 2022. Private credit loans typically stretch over multiple years (typically between five and seven years, although term lengths vary).

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.

Angel investors funded startups with nearly $28B in 2024

Statistics about the angel investing market show that billions are spent funding early-stage startups each year. Companies with more angel interest had higher success rates.

Listen to a podcast that answers common questions about alternative investments

This podcast episode starts with an explanation of what alternative investments are, then goes on to explain how people use them to diversify their financial portfolios and answer some common questions about alternative investments. Notably, the host interviews a certified financial planner about the topic.

Family offices are estimated to manage more assets globally than hedge funds

As baby boomers prepare to transfer more than $84T in assets to the next generation over the next 20 years, family offices’ impact is expanding.

The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, was worth roughly $1.47T as of February 2024

That fund (and the other seven largest mutual funds by assets) is an index fund, meaning it invests in a specific set of preset securities.

Retail investing by the numbers

When average Americans began pouring into the stock market, Wall Street wasn’t sure if its new guests were there to stay. But at the end of 2023, Public confidently declared that retail investors “weren’t going anywhere” after 30 million new individuals began buying and selling stock. Download the report to learn more here.

Americans spent nearly $150B in sports-related bets in 2024

These bets ranged from who would win the World Series to what color clothes famous celebrities would wear to the Super Bowl. Experts believe the industry will continue to grow.

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.

In 2025, sovereign wealth funds invested more than $66B into artificial intelligence

Developing artificial intelligence, both from a hardware and software perspective, is time and resource-intensive. Sovereign wealth funds, particularly those in the Middle East, have heavily invested in critical AI infrastructure, like data centers.

Annuity sales have climbed, topping $430B in 2024, as retirees look to pad their income

Retirees are seeking guaranteed income that will last for as long as they live, weather market downturns, and preserve wealth.

From 2014-25, US private sector data center investments have increased more than 25-fold

The annualized rate of US data center construction has ballooned from $1.6B to $41.1B, creating a market for data centers whose infrastructure costs and land, power, and transmission capacity demands rival those of offices and industrial facilities.

The pickleball market is expected to hit $4.4B by 2033

In 2023, the global pickleball market was $1.5B. By 2023, it's expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 11.3%.

A 6-liter bottle of wine once sold for $1M

Some fine wines are considered alternative investments that could grow in value over time.

Worth more than $14T, Silicon Valley may be getting too expensive for future founders

Silicon Valley, the 1,800-square-mile hub of tech innovation, reached more than $14T in market value in 2024. Home to industry giants like Apple and Adobe, its influence is undeniable. But rising costs and corporate relocations raise questions about its future.

Christmas trees are a $6B global industry

In the US, the real tree industry is valued at $2B, the reflection of nearly 30 million trees sold annually at an average profit of about $10 per tree. While each tree takes about 8 years to mature, their artificial counterparts can be made much more quickly, mostly in China, valued at over $1B as of 2020.

The bestselling visual art mediums, visualized

Fine art is a particularly appealing alternative investment for many—but it's also a pretty broad term. This data visualization shows which fine art mediums sold the best in 2024. For instance, paintings accounted for about 59% of all fine art dealer sales that year, whereas sculptures accounted for roughly 15%. See the full picture here.

The widespread need for rechargeable batteries has fueled surging lithium demand

As of 2025, the average person uses 27 times more mined lithium than they did in the 1990s, with the US ranking second globally in consumption despite producing less than 1% of global supply. However, potential alternative materials and boom-and-bust cycles have challenged the profitability of mines and future demand for the mineral.

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.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

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

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.

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%.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

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

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Poison ivy will likely become both larger and more resilient due to climate change.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

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.

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

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

The 2026 Ebola outbreak in the DRC is spurring new Ebola vaccine development for the Bundibugyo species.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.