For years, the conversation around alternative investments for independent RIAs has centered on the same short list — private equity, hedge funds, real estate syndications. And while those categories have merit, Michael Shoniker, a Charlotte, NC-based financial services professional and entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in private investments, sees a growing segment of the private markets that most advisors haven’t seriously explored: land infrastructure development.
This isn’t a niche play. In Michael’s experience working with independent RIAs, family offices, and accredited investors with high-net-worth individuals and commercial real estate professionals across the Southeast, land infrastructure sits at the intersection of real assets, infrastructure demand, and long-term capital strategy. And yet, most independent RIAs either aren’t aware of it or don’t know how to position it for their clients.
Here’s why that’s a problem — and what advisors who are paying attention are doing differently.
The Access Problem Is Largely Solved
A few years ago, the argument was that independent RIAs simply couldn’t access the same alternative investment strategies as large institutional players or wirehouse advisors. That gap has closed significantly. In Michael Shoniker’s view, the real barrier today isn’t access — it’s education and confidence.
Advisors who aren’t allocating to real assets and land infrastructure aren’t sitting out because they can’t get in. They’re sitting out because they haven’t had a clear, straightforward conversation about how these strategies work, how they fit within a diversified wealth portfolio, and what the due diligence process actually looks like.
Why Physical Assets Matter in Today’s Environment
Real assets — land, infrastructure, tangible physical holdings — behave differently from publicly traded securities. They’re not immune to economic cycles, but their performance drivers are distinct. For high-net-worth clients looking for diversification beyond stocks and bonds, Michael Shoniker believes physical asset strategies offer exposure to a different set of underlying fundamentals.
Land infrastructure development in particular is tied to long-term demographic and housing trends, infrastructure demand, and regional growth patterns — factors that don’t move in lockstep with equity markets. For advisors building portfolios for clients with a 5-10 year time horizon, that distinction matters.
The Advisors Who Are Getting This Right
In Michael Shoniker’s conversations with independent RIAs and family offices across the Southeast, a clear pattern emerges. The advisors who are successfully incorporating alternatives into their practice share a few common traits:
They’ve done the work to understand the asset class before bringing it to clients. They’re not selling a product — they’re educating clients on a strategy and letting the fit reveal itself. They’ve built relationships with partners who can walk them through due diligence clearly and without pressure. And they approach private market strategies the same way they approach any allocation decision: with discipline, patience, and a clear understanding of what problem it solves in the portfolio.
What Most RIAs Are Still Getting Wrong
The advisors who are falling behind in alternatives aren’t failing because they lack access or intelligence. In Michael’s experience, they’re failing because they’re waiting for certainty that doesn’t exist in private markets. They want a track record that looks like a public fund, liquidity terms that look like an ETF, and a story simple enough to explain in 60 seconds. Private market strategies don’t work that way — and advisors who hold them to that standard will always find a reason to pass.
The alternative isn’t recklessness. It’s a willingness to do the work, build the knowledge, and have honest conversations with clients about the tradeoffs involved in private market investing.
The Bottom Line
Land infrastructure development is one segment of the broader private markets landscape that some advisors are evaluating as they expand beyond traditional portfolio construction. Like any alternative investment category, it requires thoughtful due diligence, a clear understanding of client objectives, and an appreciation for the tradeoffs involved.
Michael Shoniker believes advisors who take the time to understand a wider range of private market strategies are often better positioned to evaluate whether those strategies belong in a client’s overall wealth plan. The objective is not to replace traditional investments, but to understand where alternative approaches may complement a diversified portfolio.
This article is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Any such offer may only be made through formal offering documents. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk, including loss of capital.