New York based RueOne Investments has announced its plans to launch the first marketplace providing investors direct access to a curated selection of alternative assets that are sourced, structured, and managed by industry leading asset managers.

Jeff Baehr, RueOne CEO, said he expects the platform to launch at the end of this quarter with five transactions in the US, and with further expansion plans to other markets, including Africa.

From the official launch, the firm will be looking for deals between $1m and $10m.

“We’ll be looking at transactions globally. While we don’t currently have any partnerships in place in Africa, we’d love to build relationships with best in class local asset managers to show international investors African deals,” he told Africa Global Funds.

“We believe providing investors an end-to-end solution to easily execute on compelling globally sourced transactions (Africa included) via our online platform will be a very interesting proposition for investors,” he added.

Baehr said that for the first time, investors will have the ability to take advantage of deal flow, structuring expertise, due diligence capability, and ongoing oversight of professional asset managers while still having the flexibility to evaluate and invest in individual deals.

He added that RueOne has already received support from a number of leading US institutional investors.

“We’re excited to bring to market a truly revolutionary platform that will fundamentally change the way investors access alternative assets and managers raise capital. Instead of investing in a fund of many assets overseen by an asset manager on a discretionary basis, investors can now choose a specific asset that meets their investment criteria and still benefit from professional management,” he said.

Baehr noted that traditional alternative investment fund structures have historically not served investors well and are ill suited to weather downturns in the markets.

RueOne investors will have the ability to invest in a single asset (transaction) in a single vehicle that will be designed to withstand market volatility.

RueOne will not add additional fees to investors, instead the company will share fees with asset managers.

“To gain exposure to alternative assets, an investor is essentially required to write a blank check to a hedge fund or private equity manager. Investors should have a say where their money goes. When they do, we’ve seen the investments tend to yield superior results,” he said.

Baehr added that following the financial crisis in 2008, it has become “more difficult for all but the largest asset management companies to raise capital. Investors simply don’t trust smaller firms even when they possess premier talent and a track record of success”.

“There is, however, a tremendous appetite for asset specific transactions. It’s simply easier to raise capital for a specific deal than it is for a fund,” he said.

“We’re assisting talented asset managers take advantage of this phenomenon by providing them with an end-to-end solution to tap into the strong demand for actively managed direct investment opportunities,” he said.

Baehr said that asset managers can contact RueOne directly to discuss a potential partnership.

He added that all transactions and asset managers will go through a number of thorough quality checks by RueOne’s investment team.