Johnathan Rickman | Blue Vault
Alts and Answers New York City — the seventh in our series of next-level lunch and learns — was filled with insights and intel and provided a rare opportunity for advisors to network with fund sponsors. The event, held at the Harvard Club of New York City on December 16, 2025, featured a CE credit session, an alts market pulse check, and four sponsor presentations.
The 101 on 1031s
They say the early bird gets the worm. Early arrivals were awarded with a deep dive into one of the alts sector’s hottest topics: 1031 exchanges, Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs), and 721 exchanges (UPREITs). Presented by Bluerock Value Exchange President Josh Hoffman, this session provided a bedrock understanding of these strategies for real estate investors.
Bluerock to date has sponsored over 50 individual 1031 exchange investment programs worth upwards of $3 billion, Hoffman said, highlighting the growing volume of these tax-advantaged transactions industry-wide.
Intel and Insights: Capital Raise, Real Estate, and Beyond
Blue Vault CEO Stacy Chitty kept things moving with an alts market update, covering the upward trajectory of alternative investment fundraising as well as the confounding imbalance between rising alts adoption and the low rate of advisor allocations.
Alts and Answers Luncheons keep presentations moving and up next was Matt Werner, Executive Director of Private Wealth Alternatives at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. In response to the rising convergence of public and private markets, Werner said his firm takes three primary approaches to alts: return-seeking solutions, income generation, and diversification — with an emphasis on real estate.
“Private real estate should be the hallmark of advisor allocations,” he said, noting that the sector’s current mix of product constraints and positive cash flows are creating “phenomenal opportunities,” especially in logistics and certain retail and residential markets. “We’ve never seen this before,” Werner said.
Sean Casterline of Veritas Group kept the focus on real estate while spotlighting his firm’s laser-focus on self-storage development in the American Southeast and Southwest. Self-storage is a “defensive” industry that has historically generated strong returns, he said. “We don’t need a bad economy to do well — Americans love their stuff.” Casterline also sought to dispel the notion that self-storage is overbuilt, noting that the industry as a whole has a 92% occupancy rate.
Advisors also heard from Ran Gimeno of Inspira Financial, a custodian in the alts space. He talked about his firm’s platform, noting that it is concertedly “agnostic to asset class” while at the same time increasingly inclusive of digital assets.
Finding the Right Sponsor
Following the presentations there was a lively question and answer session that focused on how advisors can find the right sponsors to work with. One participant said they felt Regulation Best Interest wasn’t enough to protect advisors.
Speakers noted that several wealthtech platforms incorporate auditing services that help provide due diligence on sponsors. But all agreed that access to independently sourced performance data on alternative investments is the best way to research sponsors and their offerings. Blue Vault shared examples of some of that performance data with advisors at the event.
Join Us at Alts and Answers
Alts and Answers meets advisors where they are, sharing industry intel and insights and helping financial services professionals forge new connections. We have more meetups planned next year, with 19 luncheons in 12 states and Puerto Rico already on the calendar!
Check out our schedule of luncheons to see if we’re headed to your city next. Are you an asset manager, broker-dealer, or other entity? Contact us today to discuss participation.
