Alternative Investing Report - February 28, 2025

*as of 2/27; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, 30YM

On Thursday, State Street Global Advisors and Apollo Global Securities launched a new private credit ETF, the SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF (NYSE Arca: PRIV). The fund has a complicated structure, with $50 million in AUM primarily provided by Apollo’s direct lending platform but managed by State Street’s private credit team, along with Apollo obligated to provide liquidity. Private credit assets will make up anywhere between 10% and 35% of the portfolio.

➨ TAKEAWAY: This ETF has been in the works for awhile, and will offer retail investors some exposure to an asset class that is generally fairly difficult to access. There are two other private credit ETFs that have launched in the past few months, from BondBloxx (Nasdaq: PCMM) and Virtus (NYSE: PCLO). Investors should be aware that there are some questions about liquidity, with the SEC voicing concerns about that, as well as about how the ETF will value private debt.

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Sotheby’s held its Contemporary Curated auction, one of the first big art auctions of the year, which saw $19.88 million in total sales, above pre-sale expectations. Of the 101 lots, six were withdrawn and 74 sold for a 73.3% sell-through rate, with 52% exceeding their high estimate. The biggest sale was for Joan Mitchell’s “Untitled,” which sold for $3.95 million, within the pre-sale estimated range.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Last year’s edition of this auction achieved $25.7 million in sales, but on 276 lots, nearly triple the number of lots in this year’s sale. Sotheby’s is purposely targeting fewer, higher-value lots, and it seems like that will be their strategy the rest of the year. With three seven-figure sales and a number that went for well above their high estimates, this was a solid showing for a midseason auction.

In the newest episode of Smart Humans, Vincent founder Slava Rubin talks with Argo co-founder Peter Grosskopf about why investors should look to alternatives to beat inflation and Peter shares insights from building a digital precious metals investment platform.

🤖 Yet another $1 billion AI raise: Thinking Machines, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is in talks for a $1 billion fundraising round at a valuation of $9 billion.

🪙 Crypto sentiment falls: As Bitcoin hovers around the $80,000 range, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to its lowest point since June 2022 when the industry confronted the aftermath of the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin.

🚀 Possible Coreweave IPO: The AI cloud computing startup is reportedly looking to file for a public offering within the next week, targeting a $4 billion raise at a valuation of more than $35 billion.

🏡 New home sales decline: Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. fell by 10.5% in January, well below expectations, with the South seeing a particularly sharp 15% decrease.

🎨 AI Art auction: Christie’s controversial “Augmented Intelligence” auction has opened, with one piece already attracting a $150,000 bid. The auction will continue until next Wednesday at 10 AM ET.

🏢 CRE bright spots: A visual look at some of the more promising trends in commercial real estate, including office conversions, and increased data center and student housing demand.

Monday: 🪙 Crypto Heist, 🏀 Weekend collectibles auctions
Tuesday: 💵 PE going public, 🏡 Luxury market boom
Wednesday: 🏡 Market update, 🪙 Crypto crash
Thursday: 📊 Confidence down, 🍷Napa 2023 auction

Have a great weekend!