11 Must Reads for This Week (Dec. 23, 2025)

Bringing Alternatives to DC Plan Participants Tops 2026 Regulatory Priorities “While overmuch of twelvemonth 1 of Trump 2.0 was spent getting cardinal officials successful spot and navigating the longest authorities shutdown successful U.S. history, experts expect twelvemonth 2 to beryllium engaged astatine regulators similar the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Labor, with the administration’s propulsion to broaden entree to backstage markets atop the to-do list.” (Pensions & Investments)

iCapital: Investors Must Navigate ‘Blind Spots’ successful 2026 “U.S. economical maturation successful 2026 volition beryllium supported by AI investment, wealthiness effects and supportive monetary and fiscal policy, but investors volition person to navigate ‘blind spots’ including AI, continued ostentation and tariffs, according to a marketplace forecast released by iCapital connected Wednesday. The U.S. system is ‘expected to turn adjacent trend’ (about 2%) adjacent year, says iCapital’s ‘2026 Market Outlook, Balancing Divergences Amid Blind Spots.’” (Wealth Solutions Report)

Distribution and Liquidity Strains Supercharge Secondaries “This twelvemonth has been 1 of unthinkable maturation for the secondaries market. The sub-asset people reached past year’s full woody measurement of $160 cardinal by the extremity of September and is tracking to surpass $200 cardinal by the extremity of the year. Some marketplace participants that affiliate title Private Equity International and Secondaries Investor person spoken to are predicting arsenic overmuch arsenic $230 cardinal by the extremity of 2025.” (Secondaries Investor)

How Pimco Quietly Built its Alts Brand “Pimco has developed a reputation. The planetary enslaved powerhouse was precocious 1 of conscionable 2 accepted managers to marque it into a top-10 database of organization alts brands, contempt lone overseeing astir $200 cardinal successful alternate strategies.” (FundFire)

The Private Credit Party Turns Ugly for Individual Investors “Business improvement companies, oregon BDCs, typically marque high-interest loans to midsize corporations with junk recognition ratings, utilizing income from the loans to wage large dividends to their investors. They person go a fashionable mode for money managers to gully mom-and-pop investors into the booming private-credit industry. Demand for BDCs surged and the currency they negociate has much than tripled since 2020 to astir $450 billion, according to the instrumentality steadfast Mayer Brown. Now, a fig of BDCs person stumbled.” (WSJ)

Bluerock’s Listing of a Fund-of-Private Funds Squeezes Investors “The listing of Bluerock Total Income + Real Estate Fund (now rebranded arsenic Bluerock Private Real Estate) got disconnected to a predictably rocky start, with the closed-end money trading astatine a much than 40% discount to its nett plus value, wiping retired years worthy of gains successful conscionable its archetypal 2 days of trading. While its investors voted for it to beryllium listed, it’s hard to presumption this arsenic a triumph for anyone, and it highlights the liquidity and valuation risks inherent successful semiliquid, backstage asset-focused products.” (Morningstar)

How 2025’s Political Reset Shifted the Stage for Commercial Real Estate “President Donald Trump didn't discarded immoderate clip wading into commercialized existent property successful his 2nd term, signing a two-paragraph enforcement bid sending national workers backmost to the bureau conscionable hours aft being sworn in.  Beyond the return-to-office mandate’s contiguous implications for commercialized existent estate, the determination signaled thing much abstact: A existent property developer and capitalist was backmost successful the White House.” (Bisnow)

CAZ Strategic Opportunities Fund Converts to Interval Fund, Surpasses $500M successful Assets “CAZ Investments, a Houston-based alternate investments firm, has converted its CAZ Strategic Opportunities Fund from a tender connection to an interval money structure, disposable to some accredited and non-accredited investors. The determination comes connected the heels of the steadfast announcing that the money has surpassed $500 cardinal successful assets. By converting to an interval fund, the steadfast said investors payment from a little minimum concern astatine $2,500, regular subscriptions with nary subscription papers required, quarterly liquidity, nary show fees (i.e., absorption interest only), and 1099 taxation reporting.” (AltsWire)

Did “Sell America” Win After All? “It turns out, ETF investors didn't bargain the full ‘Sell America’ thing. They didn't truly merchantability thing either successful the contiguous aftermath of ‘Liberation day’ oregon successful the months that person followed. So however "real" is this full ‘Sell America’ trope anyway?” (etf.com)

Are Model Portfolios Key to Alt Adoption? “While each lawsuit is different, the accepted 60/40 stock-bond portfolio remains a baseline. Invesco, however, expects that model to germinate arsenic alternatives go much accessible. ‘We spot the perfect premix arsenic thing similar 61/34/5,’ said Alessio de Longis, Invesco’s caput of plus allocation. That last portion mightiness see liquid strategies specified arsenic managed futures and long-short equity, arsenic good arsenic much illiquid assets similar backstage equity and backstage credit.” (The Daily Upside)

Prices for Premium U.S. Properties Rise While Smaller Assets Tumble successful Value “The U.S. commercialized existent property marketplace is experiencing a two-tier recovery, with high-value properties successful large markets posting their sixth consecutive monthly gain, portion the worth of smaller assets successful secondary markets is tumbling. That's according to the November results for the CoStar Commercial Repeat Sale Indices, a monthly study that tracks erstwhile antecedently sold properties commercialized again successful a process called a repetition sale.” (CoStar)