For many registered investment advisors (RIAs), growing assets under management (AUM) has become increasingly challenging. Strong investment performance remains important, but it is no longer enough on its own to drive sustainable growth. Clients have more options than ever before, competition among wealth management firms continues to intensify, and access to investment information has become widely available. As a result, advisors are being asked to deliver more than portfolio management—they are expected to provide differentiated strategies, deeper expertise, and solutions that address a broader range of client goals.
This shift is changing the way many advisors approach portfolio construction and client engagement. Alternative investments, including private real estate and multifamily investments, are playing a larger role in those conversations as advisors seek new ways to diversify portfolios, generate income, and create value beyond traditional stocks and bonds. For clients focused on wealth preservation, passive income, tax efficiency, and long-term growth, private market investments can offer characteristics that are difficult to replicate through public markets alone.
For advisory firms, the opportunity extends beyond investment performance. Alternative investments can catalyze deeper client relationships, more comprehensive financial planning discussions, and increased wallet share among high-net-worth investors. Advisors who understand how to incorporate private market real estate into a broader wealth management strategy may be better positioned to differentiate their practice, strengthen client retention, and support long-term AUM growth.
In this article, we’ll examine the challenges facing RIAs in today’s competitive environment and explore how alternative investments, particularly multifamily real estate, are becoming an increasingly important tool for portfolio diversification, client acquisition, and sustainable advisory practice growth.
Why Growing AUM Is More Challenging in 2026
For many registered investment advisors, growing assets under management (AUM) today looks very different from how it did a decade ago. Strong market returns once did much of the heavy lifting, helping portfolios appreciate and naturally increasing AUM over time. Today’s environment is more demanding. Clients have access to more information, more investment options, and more advisory firms competing for their attention than ever before.
At the same time, economic conditions have become increasingly complex. Higher interest rates, persistent inflation concerns, and periodic market volatility have caused many investors to reassess how their portfolios are structured and whether they are positioned to meet long-term income and wealth preservation goals. These conversations often extend beyond performance alone and into broader questions around diversification, risk management, tax efficiency, and income generation.
For advisors, this creates a new challenge. Demonstrating value is no longer solely about selecting investments or outperforming benchmarks. Clients increasingly expect strategic guidance, access to differentiated opportunities, and solutions that address their specific financial objectives. As a result, many RIAs are looking for ways to deepen relationships, expand their role within a client’s financial life, and create a more distinctive value proposition.
The firms that continue to grow in this environment are often those that can move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to portfolio construction. As investor needs evolve, advisors are being asked to provide a broader range of strategies and insights that help clients navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape.
Why Client Expectations Are Changing for RIAs
Retaining clients has always been one of the most important drivers of long-term advisory practice growth. While new client acquisition often receives the most attention, sustainable AUM growth is frequently built through long-standing relationships, additional wallet share, and client referrals generated over time.
The challenge is that client expectations continue to evolve. Today’s investors have access to more information, more investment options, and more advisory firms than ever before. As a result, many clients are looking for more than portfolio management alone. They want strategic guidance, personalized solutions, and access to opportunities that align with their broader financial goals.
Strong communication, proactive planning, and a consistent client experience remain essential. However, for many RIAs, those elements are increasingly viewed as the baseline rather than a differentiator. Clients expect regular reviews, financial planning support, and responsive service. The firms that often stand out are those that can bring additional insights, specialized expertise, and investment opportunities that clients may not be able to access on their own.
Research supports this shift. SmartAsset’s analysis of financial advisor client retention highlights the importance of setting clear expectations, actively seeking and implementing client feedback, and maintaining consistent communication throughout the year. In other words, retention is not a passive outcome—it is the result of intentional systems, ongoing engagement, and a clear demonstration of value.
This is one reason alternative investments have become a growing topic within wealth management conversations. Whether the objective is diversification, income generation, tax efficiency, or access to private market opportunities, alternatives can create more meaningful discussions around portfolio strategy and long-term wealth planning. When incorporated thoughtfully, these conversations can help advisors demonstrate value beyond traditional asset allocation and strengthen their role as a trusted advisor.
For RIAs focused on client retention, the goal is not simply to offer more investment options. It is to provide solutions that help clients achieve their objectives while reinforcing the advisor’s value within the relationship. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, that distinction can play an important role in both client satisfaction and long-term retention.
Private Market Alternatives as the RIA’s Competitive Differentiator
The integration of alternative investments into an advisory practice is no longer a luxury reserved for the ultra-wealthy. It has become a defining characteristic of forward-thinking RIAs who want to stand apart in a crowded market. Demand for private market access among RIA clients has increased substantially, with advisors reporting that clients are actively asking for alternative exposure as part of their broader financial plan.
Among alternative asset classes, multifamily real estate occupies a unique position. Unlike many commercial property sectors, multifamily benefits from a fundamental human necessity: housing. Long-term demographic growth, elevated homeownership costs, and housing supply shortages across many U.S. markets continue to support demand for rental housing. For advisors evaluating alternative investments, multifamily may offer a combination of income generation, inflation-linked revenue potential, and exposure to a real asset supported by durable demand drivers.
Private market real estate, particularly multifamily, offers characteristics that public equities simply cannot replicate: income generation, inflation hedging through rent growth, low correlation to public markets, and the potential for capital appreciation through disciplined value-add strategies. Value-add investing involves acquiring properties with operational or physical upside, executing targeted improvements, and repositioning assets to capture higher rental income and long-term appreciation. Distinguishing institutional-quality operators from generalist managers comes down to hands-on asset management, local market expertise, and acquisition discipline.
For RIAs evaluating private market real estate managers, understanding the difference between core, core-plus, and value-add strategies is essential to matching client risk profiles with the right investment approach. Each strategy carries a distinct return profile, liquidity consideration, and operational complexity that directly informs how it fits within a broader client portfolio.
Multifamily real estate sits at the intersection of structural housing demand and income-generating real assets, making it one of the most compelling alternative allocations available to RIA clients today. Regulatory momentum is building to broaden private market access beyond traditional accreditation thresholds, positioning RIAs not just as portfolio managers but as gatekeepers to institutional-quality opportunities their clients could not otherwise access. Renewed momentum to incorporate private investments into defined contribution plans further signals an expanding eligible investor base, and for advisors who have already built the infrastructure to evaluate these opportunities, that demand translates directly into practice growth.
For advisors, private market investments can serve as an extension of the overall client solution set. Access to professionally managed alternative investments may help address client objectives related to income generation, diversification, and long-term wealth preservation while also demonstrating a deeper level of portfolio construction expertise. Successfully incorporating alternatives requires rigorous due diligence, manager selection, and ongoing client education, making implementation just as important as access itself.
How Alternative Investments Can Help RIAs Increase Wallet Share
One of the most significant opportunities for RIA growth often exists within relationships advisors have already established. Many investors maintain assets across multiple platforms, advisory firms, retirement accounts, legacy holdings, and self-directed investment accounts. In many cases, these assets have been accumulated over time without being fully incorporated into a cohesive wealth management strategy.
As clients’ financial situations become more complex, advisors are increasingly being asked to provide guidance that extends beyond traditional portfolio management. This creates an opportunity to evaluate a client’s entire balance sheet and identify whether existing allocations are aligned with their income needs, risk tolerance, tax considerations, and long-term objectives.
Alternative investments can play an important role in these conversations. For clients seeking diversification, passive income, inflation protection, or exposure to private markets, alternative assets may address objectives that traditional stock and bond allocations are not specifically designed to solve on their own. By incorporating these solutions into a broader financial plan, advisors can create more comprehensive portfolio recommendations that reflect a client’s full range of goals.
The conversation, however, should not be centered on asset consolidation for its own sake. Rather, it should focus on whether a client’s portfolio is working together efficiently and intentionally. When advisors help clients evaluate all of their assets through a unified planning framework, opportunities to improve diversification, enhance income strategies, or address portfolio gaps often emerge naturally.
For many RIAs, this broader planning approach can strengthen client relationships while creating opportunities for additional wallet share and long-term AUM growth. As alternative investments become increasingly accessible within wealth management platforms, advisors who understand how to integrate them thoughtfully into portfolio construction may be better positioned to deliver a more comprehensive client experience.
How Alternative Investments Can Strengthen Long-Term Client Relationships
Sustainable growth in wealth management is rarely driven by investment performance alone. Over time, the advisory firms that tend to stand out are those that become deeply integrated into their clients’ financial decision-making process. That level of trust is built through expertise, thoughtful planning, and the ability to help clients navigate opportunities that extend beyond traditional portfolio management.
As alternative investments become a more common component of portfolio construction, many advisors are finding that private market strategies create opportunities for deeper client engagement. Conversations around private real estate, multifamily investments, private credit, and other alternative asset classes often involve broader discussions about income planning, tax efficiency, diversification, wealth preservation, and long-term financial goals. These are the types of conversations that can strengthen the advisor-client relationship because they connect investment decisions to a client’s overall financial strategy.
Alternative investments also tend to encourage a longer-term perspective. Unlike publicly traded securities that are often evaluated through the lens of daily market movements, many private market investments are designed around multi-year investment horizons. This creates ongoing opportunities for advisors to provide education, portfolio updates, market insights, and strategic guidance as part of a continuing wealth management relationship.
For many RIAs, the long-term benefit extends beyond client retention. Clients who view their advisor as a trusted resource for sophisticated portfolio construction and access to differentiated investment opportunities are often more likely to consolidate assets, expand the scope of the relationship, and introduce their advisor to family members, business partners, and peers. While referrals can never be assumed, strong relationships built on trust and demonstrated value have historically been among the most effective drivers of organic AUM growth.
Ultimately, the objective is not simply to offer alternative investments. It is to use every available tool to help clients make better financial decisions. When alternative investments are incorporated thoughtfully within a broader wealth management strategy, they can become another way advisors deliver value, strengthen client relationships, and build a more durable advisory practice over time.
The Future of RIA Growth May Depend on Alternative Investments
The wealth management industry continues to evolve, and so do the expectations of the clients advisors serve. Investors are increasingly seeking more than traditional portfolio management. They want guidance on income generation, diversification, tax efficiency, wealth preservation, and access to investment opportunities that align with their long-term financial goals.
As a result, many RIAs are expanding the way they think about portfolio construction. Alternative investments are becoming a more prominent part of that conversation, not as a replacement for traditional stocks and bonds, but as a complement to them. For advisors seeking to differentiate their practice, deepen client relationships, and support long-term assets under management (AUM) growth, understanding how alternative investments fit within a broader wealth management strategy is becoming increasingly important.
Multifamily real estate is one example of an alternative asset class attracting growing attention from financial advisors, family offices, institutional investors, and high-net-worth individuals. Supported by long-term housing demand, demographic trends, and the potential for income generation, multifamily investments continue to be evaluated as part of a diversified portfolio approach designed to address a range of investor objectives.
Ultimately, the opportunity for advisors is not simply about offering additional investment options. It is about creating a more comprehensive client experience—one that helps investors navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape while positioning the advisory relationship as a source of ongoing strategic value. Advisors who can connect portfolio construction, financial planning, and alternative investments into a cohesive wealth management framework may be better positioned to grow, retain, and serve clients over the long term.
About Viking Capital’s RIA Platform
Viking Capital works with registered investment advisors, family offices, and accredited investors seeking access to institutional-quality multifamily real estate opportunities. In addition to investment offerings, Viking provides educational resources, market research, due diligence materials, and portfolio construction insights designed to help advisors evaluate private market real estate within the context of a broader wealth management strategy.
Whether an advisor is exploring alternative investments for the first time or looking to expand an existing alternatives platform, Viking Capital’s goal is to provide the transparency, resources, and support needed to facilitate informed investment decisions and meaningful client conversations.
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