The financial market is a place where buyers and sellers engage in the trade of assets. Generally speaking, we define assets as real, financial, or intangible. Each of these asset types has category-specific characteristics. Real Assets Real assets are physical and include precious metals, commodities, real estate, land, and...

Separately managed accounts (SMAs) stand somewhere in between mutual funds and hedge funds. In that sense, an SMA’s minimum initial investment is relatively higher than that of a mutual fund, yet lower enough to overcome the hefty initial requirements of most hedge funds. As a whole, SMAs aim to...

Apart from hedge funds, private equity, and real estate, a finance professional may opt to invest in various commodities, infrastructure, as well as smaller alternative asset categories. What Is a Commodity? Fundamentally, a commodity is a basic good used in commerce. They are most often adopted as inputs in...