Growing interest among high-net-worth clients for alternative investment opportunities is putting advisers on notice that they’d best be prepared for an informed conversation about the emerging asset class and its place in portfolios.

Research commissioned by platform provider Praemium echoes findings of previous research conducted by HUB24 and CoreData about client demand for ESG and responsible investing options, which likewise found that it’s often clients that initiate investment conversations with their advisers, rather than the other way around.

Just as advisers can’t afford to dismiss client questions about ESG just because they don’t agree with ESG principles or know little about them, nor can they afford to be ill-informed about alternatives – demand is real and growing, and they need to be ready, especially if they’re dealing with high-not-worth (HNW) clients.