Bringing Clarity to Complexity: How Fiduciary Trust International Navigates Alternatives

With the surge of new structures and products labeled “alts,” financial advisors face more pressure than ever to separate real opportunity from packaged sizzle. At Fiduciary Trust International, Erick Rawlings, Head of Manager Research, leads a 10-person team focused on process, not product.

In an interview with The Wealth Advisor, Rawlings emphasizes the importance of discipline and defined roles across private equity, private real estate, and hedge funds. “They are tools in constructing a portfolio to help a client meet their objective, and with as little deviation on that path as possible,” he says.

The team approaches hedge funds as fixed-income complements, private equity as a path to unique exposures unavailable in public markets, and real estate—particularly debt—as an income and inflation-sensitive asset class. But for Rawlings, allocating to any alternative means starting with intention and client readiness.

“A client can have the ability to invest in alts, but is there the willingness behind that?” he says. “When you think about your public in fixed income and equities, that’s sort of like dating . . . private equity is like marriage. If you’re going to make a commitment, you are probably going to be in this thing for 10 years.”

That long-term commitment places even more weight on manager research. “A track record is the byproduct of a process,” Rawlings says. “If I could [buy a track record], my job would be really easy because I would just download a universe, sort by return and say, ‘Well, pick that one.’ I can’t do that.”

His team’s ethos centers on humility and continuous improvement. “It’s trying to ask the question, ‘What do I have wrong? What am I missing? Why is this a terrible idea?’”

For advisors without a dedicated alts team, Fiduciary Trust International offers not just access—but a thoughtful framework. When private strategies are selected intentionally and implemented with discipline, they can help clients pursue their goals more efficiently, without unnecessary risk or drag. Read the full conversation, here.