crowdfunding for alternative assets similar to CrowdStreet

[Steve A.]

Hello all,

Mods feel free to move if this is in the wrong forum.

Thanks to Jay Hinrichs I discovered the beauty of syndication deals for passive income, diversification, and heavy hitting returns. I’m addicted. Shortly thereafter I found CrowdStreet and RealCrowd and I’ve done several deals on each. For those who don’t know, these are crowd funding platforms that allow accredited investors (like myself) to invest in syndication deals. They provide a nice centralized marketplace for syndications, which could otherwise be tougher to find.

Now that I know this exists, and due to the fact I’m accredited (so I can invest in all kinds of fun stuff more directly than ownership of a public equity) I am wondering if there are other reputable platforms that facilitate direct investment in other alternative asset classes. I’m particularly interested in hard assets like natural resources.

I found Reef Oil and Gas, and then read some negative news reports about them and crossed them off the list. Continuing my search for oil and gas direct investment, I found Crudefunders and this also appeared to have some negative sentiment, although the negative reviewers seem inexperienced and not the type of people who should be making these investments. I then found EnergyFunders, which seems to be the biggest name in the energy crowdfunding space, as far as I can tell. Seems to have a clean record, and they only offer to accredited investors so you don’t have people badmouthing them because their payment on their $5000 investment came a month late. Anyone have any experience here? I also have geologist friends in the field and considered throwing them some cash and letting them do their thing, but drilling can cost millions and wouldn’t provide diversification, so i am not on that level.

For mining operations, the only one I could find was Klondike Strike by Red Cloud. Red Cloud is a big, legitimate company. Anyone have any experience with them or similar mining related direct investments?

For timber I have no idea...I hear you can get a piece of a TIMCO but the minimum is usually a million bucks. Looking for something more in the 100k minimum range for diversification.

I found YieldStreet which is interesting. They have investments in Marine and Legal. Basically related to large tanker/shipping vessels and legal settlements. I imagine these would provide some nice uncorrelated returns.

Also looked into quantitative hedge funds like Renaissance, Two Sigma, AQR....but these appear to be for multibillionaires and Ivy League endowments. There are hedge funds that accept smaller investment minimums but I am a bit skeptical of them.

All of this is of course in addition to regular old investments like mutual funds. Even have some crypto currency. And my main income comes from ecommerce businesses so I’m pretty well diversified in that sense.

Does anyone have experience or advice in this area, or have any other ideas for crowdfunding platforms through which I can invest in alternatives?