Get Ready For a Bitcoin Interval Fund: 2019Q2 Update

July 22, 2019

Total interval fund net assets topped $29 billion in the most recent quarter.
73% of active funds reported increases in total net assets. Fastest growing funds included offerings from Silverbay, Griffin, Bluerock, and Versus Capital.
Five new funds filed initial registration statements with the SEC during 2019Q2. One new fund went effective.
The newly registered bitcoin interval fund is a groundbreaking development for both both 40 act funds and cryptocurrency.

AUM Growth

Total interval fund net assets equaled $29.2 billion as of the end of 2019Q2, up 25% compared to the prior year, and up 7.4% compared to the prior quarter. Subsequent to the end of the quarter total net assets declined slightly to $29 billion, as the two of the (very large) Stone Ridge funds reported slight outflows.

Fastest Growing Interval Funds

Buoyant markets and inflows led to increased net assets across the board. 73% of active funds reported increases in net assets. The fastest growing interval funds include the following:

Fund	Most Recent Reporting Period	Increase in Net Assets
ACAP Strategic Fund	March 31	$636,991,177
Griffin Institutional Access RE Fund	March 31	$380,229,804
Bluerock Total Income (plus) RE Fund	March 31	$283,041,535
Versus Cap Multi-Manager Real Estate Fund	March 31	$178,727,388
Versus Capital Real Asset s Fund	March 31	$115,817,926

Fund Launch Pipeline

It was a busy quarter for interval fund registrations. Five new funds filed initial registration statements in 2019Q2.

Fund Name	Registration Date	Strategy
Stone Ridge Residential Real Estate Income Fund I, Inc.	2019-06-21	Real Estate
Income EREIT Interval Fund	2019-06-04	Credit
A3 Alternative Income Fund	2019-06-04	Credit
Nuveen Municipal High Yield & Special Situations Fund	2019-05-23	Credit
Cipher Technologies Bitcoin Fund	2019-05-13	Bitcoin

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, Hartford Schroders Opportunistic Income Fund also filed a registration statement. There are currently 25 funds in registration, pending the release of their final prospectuses, and SEC approval. Click here for a detailed list.

Based on the number of new fund registrations, it is likely 40 act structures such as interval funds and tender offer funds will become increasingly popular for alternative investment allocations. The following chart shows new initial fund registration trends since 2016(excludes follow on offerings). Click here for the list of funds included in this chart.

Bitcoin Interval Fund

Cipher Technologies Bitcoin Fund is the first cryptocurrency focused interval fund. It seems to have gone under the radar as major media outlets focused on bitcoin ETFs. The correspondence between the SEC and the fund is well worth reading. If this gets approved, it is groundbreaking both for the 40 act funds, and cryptocurrencies. Watch this space.

New Fund Launches

Principal Diversified Select Real Asset Fund went effective on June 25, 2019. It is raising $250 million via three share classes. It will invest in real assetss and real asset companies, including real estate, agriculture, infrastructure, energy natural resources, and timbers, etc. Data on how this Fund’s strategy and fee structure compares to its peers is available for Premium Members.