The decade-old US business, now present around the world, has signed a wealth management deal in Australia.

Australia’s Netwealth has signed an agreement with iCapital, the fintech platform for alternative investments, to distribute global private market and hedge fund investments to financial advice firms and their wholesale clients.

Netwealth said that as part of the partnership with the New York-headquartered firm, it will serve initially as iCapital’s exclusive Australian distribution partner for iCapital sponsored funds. iCapital will also provide Netwealth with product support.

The move continues a run of alliances iCapital has inked with banks, wealth managers and other institutions since the business was formed in 2013. For example, in April 2023 it agreed to collaborate with HSBC Asset Management; in August 2022, iCapital agreed to buy UBS’s alternative investment manager platform in the US. iCapital has been busy. In June of that year, Bank of America made a strategic investment in iCapital, and Morgan Stanley Investment Management expanded its US partnership in July 2022.

iCapital uses its platform to widen access to alternative asset classes and create a distribution route once dominated by banks. At the start of 2023 it said it intended to add 100 hires during the year. Its international footprint currently includes offices in Zurich, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Lisbon and Toronto.

Netwealth was founded in 1999 and is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.