Are you frustrated with the volatility, fee structure, and abstract nature of most investments? Do you feel that you’ve outgrown the status quo investing strategy and want to play a bigger game with your investing? Have you heard of alternative investments, but don’t know where to get started? Do you need investments that are built for high performers like you, who know it’s possible to increase your income today?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np8dmb8n8Cw

Today, we’re talking with Denis Shapiro, Managing Partner of SIH Capital Group and author of The Alternative Investment Almanac: Expert Insights on Building Person Wealth in Non-Traditional Ways.

So if you want to hear about how one investor in the alternative space is helping others with a simplified strategy to invest for passive income… tune in now!

Table of contentsWhat IS An Accredited Investor?Denis Shapiro’s Journey to Alternative InvestmentsHaving a Portfolio with Stocks AND Alternative InvestmentsThe Importance of Building RelationshipsAn Overview of the Asset Classes A Note on Ponzi SchemesThe Give and Take of Alternative Investments Diversify Between Liquid and Illiquid Assets How to Get Involved in Accredited InvestmentsGet The Alternative Investment Almanac by Denis Shapiro About Denis ShapiroBook A Strategy Call

What IS An Accredited Investor?

Accredited investors have certain investment opportunities available to them that the average person does not. Namely, a number of alternative investments outside of the stock market. So how do you know if you’re an accredited investor?

Accredited investor status is actually defined by your income (or Net Worth). Let’s break it down; you’re an accredited investor, as defined by the SEC, IF:

You are SINGLE, and have had an income of at least $250,000 for the past two years, with the expectation to keep earning the same or greater

Your are MARRIED, and have had an income of at least $300,000 for the past two years, with the expectation to keep earning the same or greater

OR, if you have a Net Worth exceeding $1 million.

If you’re an accredited investor, or on track to become one, you’ll want to stick around to learn more.

Denis Shapiro’s Journey to Alternative Investments

In high school, Denis' older brother gifted him a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Yet, he was skeptical of the ideas that Kiyosaki brought forth. His key takeaway, however, was that he should start buying assets--which was a mindset his peers did not have. 

So, he started with a mutual fund that didn’t do very well. 

That’s when he started to look for a different way, and he experimented with different assets. He also dedicated his college career to finance, which overlapped with the housing crash. When he graduated, the job market wasn’t great, so he decided to continue his education and get his MBA. Eventually, he broke into real estate and started building a portfolio that had stocks AND alternative investments. 

Having a Portfolio with Stocks AND Alternative Investments

What Denis found when he had a portfolio only made of stocks, was that he couldn’t do it all. He couldn’t have appreciation and income and tax savings. In reality, though, the stock market just doesn’t work that way. You have to have a truly diversified portfolio to have everything—and that means having a portion of investments that aren’t correlated to the stock market. In other words, the performance of those investments doesn’t depend on what the stock market is doing. 

The problem with stocks is that the way they perform can depend on too many external factors. Stocks can drop based on rumors, company reinvention, and so much more. Instead of picking stocks, Denis realized that his stock portfolio performed better when he went with an index fund. Yet his income from that portfolio was still lacking. 

His epiphany was that in order to get the most from his index fund,