iCapital Review 2026: The Infrastructure Behind Your Advisor's Alt-Investment Menu
TL;DR: iCapital is not a platform you join. It is the back-end infrastructure that lets your bank or wealth advisor put private equity, private credit, and hedge funds on a menu for you to choose from
July 18, 2026
LP-Led Secondaries and the NAV Discount: Why Fund Stakes Trade Below Reported Value
LPs selling private equity fund stakes in 2025 got 87% of reported NAV on average, and buyout stakes fetched 92% while venture stakes fetched just 78%, according to the Jefferies 2025 Global Secondary
July 18, 2026
Balbec Capital's $930M Bet on Mortgage Debt Banks Won't Touch
Balbec Capital's $930M Bet on Mortgage Debt Banks Won't Touch Balbec Capital LP just closed its seventh flagship credit fund at $930 million in committed capital, according to a Bisnow report on the
July 18, 2026
NAV Loans in Private Equity: How Fund-Level Financing Works, and the DPI Controversy LPs Need to Watch
A NAV loan is a line of credit that a private equity fund borrows against the current value of the companies it already owns, not against the money its investors still owe. The market has grown to rou
July 18, 2026
AIP Capital and Monroe Capital's $643M Aircraft ABS: What the Tranches Tell You About Aviation as Fixed Income
AIP Capital and Monroe Capital closed a $643 million aircraft asset-backed securitization on July 17, 2026. It's their first joint deal, and it packages 18 aircraft leased to 12 airlines across 10 cou
July 18, 2026
Reinsurance Sidecars: The Other Insurance-Linked Bet, and Why It's Not a Cat Bond
Reinsurance Sidecars: The Other Insurance-Linked Bet, and Why It's Not a Cat Bond A reinsurance sidecar is a temporary, fully collateralized partnership where you take a proportional slice of one rei
July 18, 2026
Fireworks AI Just Raised $1.5B at a $17.5B Valuation, and Nvidia Keeps Funding Its Own Customer
TL;DR: Fireworks AI, a San Mateo startup that helps developers train and run custom AI models instead of renting them from big labs, raised $1.5 billion in a Series D at a $17.5 billion valuation, according to...
July 17, 2026
Catastrophe Bonds Explained: How Cat Bonds and ILS Actually Work in 2026
TL;DR: Catastrophe bonds let insurers offload hurricane and earthquake risk to investors like you, in exchange for coupon yields that have averaged roughly 7.4% a year since 2002 and returned double digits three years...
July 17, 2026
Timberland Investing Explained: How TIMOs, Direct Land, and Timber REITs Actually Work
TL;DR: A TIMO (Timber Investment Management Organization) is a professional manager that buys, grows, and harvests timberland for investors. Pension funds and endowments have used them since the 1970s, and the NCREIF...
July 17, 2026
Silver Hill Energy Partners Closes $1.277B Fund V: What the Oversubscription Really Signals
TL;DR: Silver Hill Energy Partners, a Dallas-based operator, closed its fifth fund, Silver Hill Energy Partners V, at $1.277 billion on July 16, 2026, oversubscribed and backed mostly by repeat institutional investors —...
July 17, 2026
SkyKnight Capital Closes $2B Fund V, Tripling Its Target: What the Oversubscription Really Signals
TL;DR: SkyKnight Capital closed its fifth flagship buyout fund at a $2 billion hard cap on July 1, 2026, blowing past its original $1.5 billion target and pulling in commitments equal to roughly three times that target...
July 17, 2026
AlpInvest's $1.7 Billion Continuation Vehicle Fund: What a 393% Jump Signals
TL;DR: Carlyle's AlpInvest arm closed AlpInvest Atom Fund II (AAF II) at a $1.7 billion hard cap on July 15, 2026, a 393% jump from its 2023 predecessor fund, according to Alternatives Watch . The fund buys into...
July 17, 2026