Prolonged market volatility in 2022 has given rise to an environment in which many alternative strategies that struggled previously are now performing strongly. Alternatives aren’t just a vanilla strategy though, often using complex components and approaches that require a solid understanding of what exactly is under the hood before investing, cautioned Hendrickson. The changes in the market and economy this year have caused “advisors to think about things differently and I think that’s where we’re seeing an uptick in research in this area,” Hendrickson explained. The inherent complexity of alternatives has long proven a barrier for advisors, creating a sort of “black box” around alts that VettaFi is working to deconstruct through offerings such as livecasts, webcasts, and research.