ASYMMETRY^® Alternative Investments 

Most alternative investment platforms are built to sell private investment partnerships like hedge funds.  ASYMMETRY^® Alternative Investments is built to protect capital and engineer outcomes.

In addition to our own proprietary ASYMMETRY^® Managed Portfolios, we advise families with significant capital on the disciplined use of alternative investments—where alternatives are used deliberately, sized appropriately, and evaluated within a total-portfolio risk framework.

For us, alternatives are not an asset class. They are tools—and tools must be chosen carefully.

Independent by Design

Shell Capital is both a builder and an allocator of alternative strategies.

We manage proprietary ASYMMETRY^® Managed Portfolios because we believe certain exposures are best designed, controlled, and risk-managed internally.

At the same time, we advise clients on a broad universe of external alternative investments—because no single firm, strategy, or worldview deserves unchecked capital.

This dual role gives our clients something rare: conviction without captivity.

Institutional-Grade Due Diligence

Alternatives fail most often not because of bad ideas—but because of poor structure, hidden risks, and misaligned incentives.

Our due diligence process reflects our family office standards, with an explicit focus on:

• How the strategy actually generates returns and its return drivers 
• What conditions cause underperformance or failure
• Leverage, liquidity, and capital call risk
• Correlation behavior when markets are stressed
• Tax characteristics and after-tax outcomes
• Manager discipline, incentives, and operational robustness

We are intentionally failure-first in our analysis. In alternatives, avoiding irreversible mistakes matters more than chasing incremental returns.

Access Through Relationships, Not Platforms

Over decades as an alternative investment manager ourselves, Shell Capital has built a deep network of alternative investment managers across private equity, private credit, hedge funds, tax-aware strategies, and specialized mandates.

We help clients evaluate opportunities and gain access only when an investment serves a clear role in their portfolio.

Although we may gain access to some through Goldman Sachs, we are not tied to a platform. We are fiduciary, not compensated to promote strategies. Access is selective, intentional, and earned through diligence.

Integrated With Total Portfolio Risk

Alternative investments do not exist in isolation—and neither do their risks.

Every allocation decision is evaluated based on its impact on the client’s overall capital structure:

• Does it truly improve asymmetry?
• Does it introduce hidden leverage or illiquidity?
• How does it behave when liquidity disappears?
• What happens if multiple “low-correlation” strategies fail together?

Our absolute-return mindset means capital must justify its deployment. Complexity alone is not a virtue.

Who Alternative Investments Are For 

ASYMMETRY^® Alternative Investments is designed for:

• Business owners and founders after liquidity events
• Families managing concentrated or complex wealth
• Investors seeking institutional judgment without institutional bureaucracy
• Clients who understand that alternatives require discipline, patience, and humility

Services are available to Qualified Clients and Qualified Purchasers, and engagements are selective. 

The ASYMMETRY^® Philosophy Applied to Alternatives

We do not promise outcomes. We design structures that prioritize survival, optionality, and asymmetric return potential.

Defined downside. Intentional exposure. Access with judgment.

That is ASYMMETRY^® Alternative Investments.

Qualified Clients and Qualified Purchasers

Many alternative investment strategies are available only to investors who meet specific regulatory standards. These standards exist because alternative investments often involve greater complexity, reduced liquidity, and different risk characteristics than traditional investments.

ASYMMETRY^® Alternative Investments is available exclusively to Qualified Clients and Qualified Purchasers, as defined under U.S. securities laws.

In plain terms:

A Qualified Client is generally an investor who meets higher net worth or investable asset thresholds, allowing advisers to offer strategies that involve performance-based fees and more sophisticated risk structures.

A Qualified Purchaser is typically an investor or family entity with substantial investable assets, which permits access to certain private funds and institutional alternative strategies not available to the general public.

These designations are not about exclusivity for its own sake. They exist to ensure that investors have the financial capacity, experience, and risk tolerance required to evaluate and sustain alternative investments through full market cycles.

Why This Matters

Alternative investments often involve:

• Limited liquidity or multi-year lockups
• Complex structures and non-linear risk profiles
• Capital calls, distributions, and timing uncertainty
• Periods of underperformance that require discipline

These strategies are designed for investors who can allocate capital intentionally, withstand variability, and evaluate results over complete market cycles—not quarters.

Our role is to help clients determine whether alternative investments are appropriate, how much is appropriate, and where they belong within the broader portfolio.

Meeting the definition of a Qualified Client or Qualified Purchaser does not imply that alternatives are automatically suitable.It simply allows the conversation to occur.

A Deliberate, Case-by-Case Process

Even for eligible clients, alternative investments are evaluated selectively.

Access is not automatic. Allocations are not assumed. Every strategy must earn its place based on its role, risks, and contribution to total portfolio asymmetry.

This is consistent with our broader philosophy: capital with consequences deserves structure