Ideas
Bitcoin and Ethereum have major tailwinds
Crypto is an alternative asset, and Bitcoin and Ethereum have major technical tailwinds: limited supply, halving cycles, growing demand through ETFs, and eventual 401(k) access. Wealth manager approval is still early, and she expects most 401(k) plans to be limited to Bitcoin and ETH because of scalability and co-mingled structure requirements. She advises focusing on crypto assets with a real blockchain and use case, not memes, and views crypto as diversifying in small doses.
Private credit offers income and growth
Private credit is the area that warrants a second look and is the one place she would pay attention to. It is as large as or larger than public credit, plays a substantial role in capital markets and corporate finance, and has become critical for smaller and non-traditional businesses and companies staying private longer. Banks have not been lending as much, and private credit has done well, with strong returns in middle-market direct lending and private real estate debt. It also serves as a yield and income alternative when traditional fixed income is less attractive.
Use liquid hedge-fund-like diversifiers
Non-correlated hedge fund-like strategies are something everyone can and should look at. They are increasingly available through liquid 40 Act structures such as ETFs, mutual funds, and interval funds, and can diversify when stocks and bonds fail. She names BTL as an equity market-neutral long/short strategy that goes long low beta and short high beta, CBLS as a hedge fund ETF from Cloud Capital, and AQR's macro allocation fund as a strong global macro option. Managed futures, global macro, market-neutral, and option-overlay strategies can also provide diversification.
Sports private equity has underappreciated growth
She is a huge believer in investing in sports through private equity products into sports-related businesses, not sports betting. The key valuation driver is media rights, as streaming competition and the premium value of live sports advertising push rights higher. She prefers underappreciated areas such as NIL/NCAA, women's sports, F1, and content creation over ego-driven minority stakes in established pro teams. She highlights Avenue Capital's sports rights fund, founded by Mark Lazerie, former Bucks owner, and notes Blackstone is putting together a sports fund, with a sports-focused interval fund rumored. Access is mainly private equity today.
Sports private equity has underappreciated growth
She is a huge believer in investing in sports through private equity products into sports-related businesses, not sports betting. The key valuation driver is media rights, as streaming competition and the premium value of live sports advertising push rights higher. She prefers underappreciated areas such as NIL/NCAA, women's sports, F1, and content creation over ego-driven minority stakes in established pro teams. She highlights Avenue Capital's sports rights fund, founded by Mark Lazerie, former Bucks owner, and notes Blackstone is putting together a sports fund, with a sports-focused interval fund rumored. Access is mainly private equity today.
Sports private equity has underappreciated growth
She is a huge believer in investing in sports through private equity products into sports-related businesses, not sports betting. The key valuation driver is media rights, as streaming competition and the premium value of live sports advertising push rights higher. She prefers underappreciated areas such as NIL/NCAA, women's sports, F1, and content creation over ego-driven minority stakes in established pro teams. She highlights Avenue Capital's sports rights fund, founded by Mark Lazerie, former Bucks owner, and notes Blackstone is putting together a sports fund, with a sports-focused interval fund rumored. Access is mainly private equity today.
Venture capital is reaccelerating
The venture market is starting to heat up again with more IPO activity and opportunity. Venture capital struggled earlier when funds held cash and had not called capital, but funds are now beginning to allocate and put money to work.
Interval funds are an illiquidity on-ramp
After getting comfortable with liquid alternatives, interval funds are a good next step for illiquidity. They are available to most investors, have quarterly redemption and smaller minimums, and can provide exposure to private credit, private equity, venture capital, and private real estate. She notes there are about 300 interval funds on the market today.
Allocate 20% to diversifying alts
She recommends a permanent ~20% allocation to diversifying alternatives such as hedge fund-like strategies, real estate, crypto, and real assets. Less than 20% does not have a positive portfolio impact, while more can detract from equity alpha. The sleeve may add only about 20-30 basis points annualized, but it substantially reduces volatility and makes portfolios easier for clients to stick with. Private equity and private credit are not part of this diversifying sleeve because they are private forms of equity and credit and belong in those allocations.
Favor equities over fixed income
When correlations between fixed income and equities are high, she wants to allocate more to equities and keep alternatives at 20%, funding any alternative allocation from fixed income rather than equities. Fixed income has been highly correlated with equities and is not providing reliable diversification; rates are still historically low, so traditional fixed income is not generating much income. Alternatives tend to shine when stock-bond correlations are high.
Favor equities over fixed income
When correlations between fixed income and equities are high, she wants to allocate more to equities and keep alternatives at 20%, funding any alternative allocation from fixed income rather than equities. Fixed income has been highly correlated with equities and is not providing reliable diversification; rates are still historically low, so traditional fixed income is not generating much income. Alternatives tend to shine when stock-bond correlations are high.
NFL-ESPN deal is a Disney win
The NFL taking a 10% stake in ESPN is a positive for Disney. It strengthens Disney's live sports offering, allows better monetization of assets like Red Zone, and can drive new Disney+ subscribers. ESPN had been under-monetized, and Disney+ needs live sports to compete with Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Netflix. Disney is doubling down on sports.
Gaming content will become monetizable
Gaming and esports are a major growth area. Big tournaments and large purses are meaningful and relatable, and children spend huge amounts of time watching gaming content on YouTube. She expects streaming networks like Netflix and Amazon to eventually create monetizable content and media rights around gamers, following the sports media-rights model. It is a matter of time.
Private real estate funds offer reliable income
Real estate funds are the number one most successful and trending area on her platform. Private real estate is unsexy but offers income-producing assets and consistent income, which is especially appealing in retirement. It has done quite well, and advisers are interested because it provides income when traditional fixed income yields are low.
This The David Lin Report video, published August 09, 2025,
features Shana Sissel
discussing BTC, ETH, Private real estate debt, BIZD, Middle-market direct lending, Hedge fund-like strategies, BTAL, CBLS, AQR Macro Allocation Fund, Managed Futures, Global macro, Market Neutral, Option overlay strategies, Established professional sports team minority stakes, Sports-related private equity, Avenue Capital Sports Rights Fund, Women's sports/WNBA, Cass Investments sports feeder fund, Blackstone sports fund, Venture Capital, Interval funds, Diversifying alternative investments, Equities, TLT, DIS, HERO, Private real estate funds.
14 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
Shana Sissel
· Tickers:
BTC,
ETH,
Private real estate debt,
BIZD,
Middle-market direct lending,
Hedge fund-like strategies,
BTAL,
CBLS,
AQR Macro Allocation Fund,
Managed Futures,
Global macro,
Market Neutral,
Option overlay strategies,
Established professional sports team minority stakes,
Sports-related private equity,
Avenue Capital Sports Rights Fund,
Women's sports/WNBA,
Cass Investments sports feeder fund,
Blackstone sports fund,
Venture Capital,
Interval funds,
Diversifying alternative investments,
Equities,
TLT,
DIS,
HERO,
Private real estate funds
