How Can You Invest in Real Assets via a Wealth Manager?

Real assets such as infrastructure, property, renewable energy, and farmland are playing an increasingly strategic role in high-net-worth portfolios. While interest in the asset class has risen in response to inflation and public market volatility, its appeal extends well beyond short-term conditions, with rising global demand for inflation protection and diversification ^[1]. These tangible investments offer the potential for long-term income, diversification, and a degree of inflation protection, particularly when accessed through professionally managed structures.

Investor demand reflects this shift. According to Mercer’s 2024 Global Asset Allocation Survey, over 60% of institutional investors now allocate to real assets, up significantly from ~30% a decade ago. Meanwhile, Preqin reports that global assets under management (AUM) in infrastructure alone have grown from $300 billion in 2013 to over $1.3 trillion by 2023. Wealth managers are increasingly translating these trends into accessible strategies for private clients, via listed funds, evergreen vehicles, and bespoke discretionary portfolios ^[2].

What Are the Benefits of Investing in Real Assets?

Real assets play a crucial role in portfolios by offering diversification, reliable income streams, and long-term protection against inflation. Infrastructure, commercial property, and renewable energy, for example, generate consistent cashflows with low correlation to public equities, while also providing capital growth potential in shifting market conditions ^[3].

Luke Hyde-Smith, who manages the Waverton Real Assets Fund at W1M, reinforces this point: “The essence of the fund was to give our clients and investors access to really attractive real asset classes across real estate, infrastructure, natural resources, asset finance and specialist lending. These are return-seeking alternatives that provide both capital growth and income, while diversifying away from traditional equities and bonds.”

• Diversification: Tangible assets behave differently to listed equities and bonds.
• Income: Rental payments and infrastructure cashflows generate yield.
• Inflation protection: Contracts are often inflation-linked.
• Capital growth: Potential appreciation from property, renewables, and farmland.

What Are The Different Mechanisms for Investing in Real Assets?

1. Listed Real Asset Trusts: Daily Liquidity and Public Market Access

For investors seeking exposure to real assets without sacrificing liquidity, listed investment trusts offer an accessible entry point. These closed-ended vehicles are traded on public stock exchanges, making them behave differently from traditional equity markets, and typically invest in long-term, income-generating assets, from commercial property portfolios and logistics hubs to infrastructure and renewables.

Real-world examples:

1. Waverton Real Assets Fund (W1M): Invests in global real assets including property and infrastructure
2. Tritax Big Box REIT: Invests in United Kingdom logistics and warehousing facilities.
3. HICL Infrastructure: Owns a diversified portfolio of social and transport infrastructure assets.

Benefits:

1. Daily liquidity: Shares can be bought and sold like any listed equity.
2. Income generation: Many trusts distribute regular dividends from rental income or infrastructure cashflows.
3. Transparency: NAV updates, portfolio breakdowns, and ESG reporting are publicly available.

Considerations:

1. Market volatility: Share prices may fluctuate with broader market sentiment, even if underlying assets are stable.
2. Premiums/discounts to NAV: Trusts often trade above or below their net asset value.
3. Limited control: Investors cannot influence which specific assets are acquired or sold ^[4].

2. Evergreen Real Asset Funds: Semi-Liquid Access to Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Diversified Alternatives.

Evergreen funds are becoming a popular way to access real estate, infrastructure, and renewables in a semi-liquid format. These open-ended vehicles allow subscriptions at regular intervals and offer periodic redemption windows, typically quarterly, subject to fund liquidity ^[5].

They often combine core property with infrastructure assets, distributing income to investors through dividends or reinvesting for compounding growth.

Market Examples

• UBS Real Estate & Infrastructure Solutions Fund: Blends property with energy and transport infrastructure.
• Schroders Capital Real Assets Fund: Multi-asset exposure across property, renewables, and private credit.
• Aviva Investors Real Assets Fund: Provides inflation-linked income from UK and European infrastructure.

How They Work in Practice

Evergreen real asset funds are designed to give investors ongoing access without the 10–15 year lock-ups of closed-ended structures. Subscriptions can typically be made quarterly or monthly, and returns are generated from real asset cashflows that provide natural yield. Many funds diversify exposure across multiple categories, packaging them into a single product.

Advantages and Trade-Offs

• Flexibility: Regular onboarding avoids vintage restrictions.
• Income generation: Cashflows from assets provide steady yield for income-focused portfolios.
• Diversification: Exposure across property, infrastructure, and renewables.
• Liquidity constraints: Redemption gates may be applied in stressed markets.
• Valuation lag: NAVs are appraisal-based, not market-priced, leading to time delays ^[6].
• Access limits: Some funds are restricted to professional or eligible investors.

These funds suit investors seeking diversification and yield with some flexibility, but who are prepared to accept the liquidity and valuation trade-offs. They work particularly well for those who want a simplified allocation across real assets without committing to decade-long lock-ups.

Evergreen real asset funds occupy a middle ground between private markets and public vehicles. They provide stable income and diversification in a regulated format, but should be positioned as part of a broader portfolio strategy rather than a standalone solution.

3. Closed-Ended Funds and Feeder Vehicles: Institutional-Quality Exposure to Global Real Asset Investments

For clients able to commit capital over longer horizons, closed-ended funds and feeder vehicles provide access to flagship real asset strategies, the same funds often used by pension schemes and sovereign wealth funds.

Feeder funds pool individual investors into institutional portfolios targeting value-add property, renewable infrastructure, or energy transition projects. These funds usually run for seven to fifteen years, with capital drawn down in stages and returned as assets mature or are sold. The Financial Times has highlighted how infrastructure’s growth into a trillion-dollar asset class reflects the scale of demand driving these vehicles ^[7^].

Market Examples

• Partners Group Real Estate Secondary Fund: Invests in secondary positions in global property funds.
• BlackRock Global Renewable Power Fund III: Targets wind, solar, and battery storage projects worldwide.
• Brookfield Infrastructure Fund: Focused on transport, utilities, and digital infrastructure, with a strong presence in the United States.

Advantages

• High-conviction exposure to specialist managers and global portfolios.
• Diversification across illiquid assets, spanning geographies and sectors.
• Potential for enhanced returns, particularly in value-add or development strategies.

Key Considerations

• Illiquidity, with lock-up periods of seven to fifteen years and limited exit routes.
• Capital calls, requiring investors to manage liquidity as commitments are drawn down.
• Fee layering, as platform, fund, and asset management charges accumulate.

Closed-ended funds and feeder vehicles remain a cornerstone of private market investing, particularly for those willing to sacrifice liquidity for specialist exposure and potentially higher returns. They are best suited to investors able to plan around staged capital calls and long lock-ups while seeking access to institutional-quality real asset strategies.

4. Real Asset Discretionary Portfolios: Integrated Exposure Within a Managed Portfolio

Discretionary portfolios represent the most tailored way for private clients to access real assets. Built within a broader multi-asset framework, they combine listed and private strategies, such as REITs, evergreen funds, and infrastructure vehicles into a portfolio designed around the client’s objectives.

A defining feature is flexibility. Wealth managers can rebalance allocations between asset classes as markets shift, inflation expectations change, or income and growth needs evolve.

Market Examples

• LGT Wealth Management: Portfolios with infrastructure, core real estate, and renewables.
• Rothschild & Co: Global allocations across listed and private real asset funds.
• Evelyn Partners: Blends REITs and semi-liquid infrastructure into wider portfolio design.

Advantages

• Fully managed, with fund selection, due diligence, and cashflow oversight handled by the wealth manager.
• Tailored allocations aligned to goals, liquidity requirements, and risk profile.
• Institutional oversight through committees, governance frameworks, and ESG integration.

Key Considerations

• High entry thresholds, often £500,000 or more in investable assets.
• Less direct control, as decisions on fund selection and allocation are delegated.
• Composite fees, with discretionary charges layered on top of fund costs.

Discretionary portfolios are designed for investors who want real asset exposure integrated into a professionally managed, diversified strategy. They provide oversight, governance, and bespoke design at scale, but require larger portfolios and a willingness to delegate decision-making.

5. Direct Co-Investments and Syndicated Real Asset Deals

Direct and co-investments are the most targeted way for private investors to access real assets. Structured alongside private funds or via specialist platforms, they allow capital to be deployed directly into projects such as solar parks, logistics hubs, or student accommodation. Returns come from a mix of rental income, asset appreciation, and exit gains.

Market Examples

• Logistics developments co-invested with core real estate managers.
• Solar projects underpinned by long-term power purchase agreements.
• Infrastructure upgrades transitioning brownfield sites to greenfield assets.

Advantages

• Precision: Exposure to specific assets or geographies that match investor conviction.
• Cost efficiency: Lower or no management carry compared with blind pool funds.
• Visibility: Greater insight into asset strategy, operations, and performance.

Key Considerations

• Complexity, with deals requiring rapid due diligence and execution.
• High entry points, typically £250,000 to £1 million per investment.
• Concentration risk, as outcomes hinge on a single project’s success.

Direct and co-investments provide sophisticated investors with transparency, control, and sharper pricing than traditional funds. They are best used as a complement to broader allocations, offering targeted upside but demanding scale, expertise, and a tolerance for single-asset risk.

How Can a Beginner Start Investing in Real Estate?

Beginners should usually start with listed REITs or real-asset investment trusts (ISA/SIPP-eligible in the UK). They provide daily liquidity, professional management, and instant portfolio diversification across many properties. Hyde-Smith at W1M, explains: “As a daily dealing fund we can only invest in daily traded vehicles such as London-listed investment companies and real estate investment trusts. These are liquid and provide access to asset classes that are often illiquid at the underlying level.”

Once comfortable, investors can consider semi-liquid evergreen funds for longer-term exposure, and only later move into illiquid, closed-ended vehicles. A practical starting checklist for beginners might be to:

• Set a sensible allocation (often 5–15% at first).
• Choose a mainstream platform and compare fees, yields, and dividend policies.
• Favour diversified mandates (e.g. logistics, residential, infrastructure) over single-asset bets.
• Reinvest income and use pound-cost averaging to build steadily.
• Monitor risks carefully, such as leverage, vacancy rates, or interest-rate sensitivity, and seek advice if unsure.

What Is the Difference Between Asset Management and Wealth Management in Real Assets?

Asset management focuses on the fund or property level: sourcing deals, setting the capital structure, using leverage, executing value-add plans, and optimising cash flows. Success is measured in IRR, occupancy, and project KPIs.

Wealth management looks at the client’s whole picture: sizing the real-asset sleeve within overall asset allocation, coordinating tax wrappers, liquidity buckets (listed trusts vs evergreen vs closed-end), ongoing risk management and rebalancing, manager selection/monitoring, and consolidated reporting. In short, asset managers run the real estate investments; wealth managers fit them into your investment portfolio and life goals.

How Do Private Assets Fit into a Diversified Investment Portfolio?

Hyde-Smith stresses that real assets should be a core part of an alternatives allocation. They provide return-seeking exposure across areas like real estate, infrastructure, and natural resources, assets that are less correlated with public markets and can add inflation-linked income. While liquid vehicles such as REITs and listed funds suit most investors, he notes that semi-liquid or evergreen structures are better suited to more sophisticated clients who can take a longer-term view.

In practice, many high-net-worth portfolios allocate 10–25% across a “liquidity stack”:

• Liquid: listed REITs and trusts for diversification and rebalancing.
• Semi-liquid: evergreen funds that combine yield with partial liquidity.
• Illiquid: closed-ended funds or co-investments targeting higher returns.

To capture the benefits, investors must also avoid concentration risk, align lock-up periods with cash-flow needs, monitor leverage and interest-rate sensitivity, and rebalance through the liquid sleeve. Done well, private assets can significantly enhance income, resilience, and long-term returns within a balanced strategy.

How Can Wealth Managers Help You Invest Real Assets?

Wealth managers provide access to real asset investments through listed trusts, evergreen funds, and private co-investments. They deliver expert investment advice, conduct rigorous due diligence, and structure allocations around client objectives. This professional oversight ensures portfolios gain exposure to institutional-quality opportunities while managing risk, liquidity, and long-term returns ^[8].

Choosing the Right Route into Real Assets

The best approach to investing in real asset depends on your personal objectives, liquidity requirements, and desired level of involvement. While some clients value flexibility and income from listed vehicles or evergreen funds, others may prioritise higher-return strategies through closed-ended funds or co-investments.

A wealth manager can help you navigate these choices, offering access to institutional-grade funds, ensuring alignment with your broader financial plan, and managing real asset allocations over time.

With expert guidance and thoughtful portfolio construction, real assets can play a powerful role in protecting wealth, generating income, and diversifying exposure beyond traditional equity and bond markets.