Variant Investments, LLC is an employee asset manager that has been making big moves in the alternative credit and interval fund space. According to a recent press release, Variant hired industry veteran Kristi Combs as chief operating officer. Here is some background on Combs:

Before joining Variant, Combs was managing director and head of client relations at Greycourt & Co., Inc., an independent financial advisory firm serving family offices and ultra high net worth individuals. Earlier, she was director of marketing for CTC Consulting, Inc. and a key accounts manager at Schwab Institutional. She has a bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University in Ohio.

They also hired several new employees for key roles in the investment, operations, and investor relations teams. Since the beginning of the year, they have expanded their total team size from 15 to 24. Variant’s total assets have expanded from $2.3 billion at the end of 2022, to over $3 billion at the end of October 2023.

Variant’s Interval Fund Lineup

Variant currently has two interval funds: the Variant Alternative Income Fund, which launched in 2018, and the Variant Impact Fund, which launched in 2021.

Variant Alternative Income Fund

According to Variant’s website:

The Variant Alternative Income Fund, a closed-end interval fund, offers investors efficient access to a diversified portfolio of unconventional income-generating assets. The Fund invests in niche market opportunities with strong cash flow characteristics and low correlations to public equity and bond markets. The Fund’s primary objective is to provide a high level of current income. Capital appreciation will be considered a secondary objective. Variant, an innovator in alternative income investing, is led by an investment team with decades of experience investing in market niches.

As of its most recent SEC filing, the Variant Alternative Income Fund (NICHX) had approximately $2.8 billion in net assets. NICHX has delivered an annualized net total return of approximately 8.95% annualized return since inception in 2018. Approximately 40.6% of its portfolio is in Specialty Finance, and 17.3% is in Litigation Finance. Click here to access a visual representation of the different types of assets in NICHX’s portfolio.

Variant Impact Fund

According to the website for the Variant Impact Fund:

The Variant Impact Fund offers investors efficient access to a diversified portfolio of unconventional income-generating assets that are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“UN SDGs”). The Fund invests in niche market opportunities with strong cash flow characteristics and low correlations to public equity and bond markets. The Fund’s primary objective is to provide a high level of current income. Capital appreciation will be considered a secondary objective. The Fund will also seek to generate positive social and environmental impact by targeting investment opportunities that are both aligned with the UN SDGs and consistent with the Fund’s impact investing framework.

The Variant Impact Fund (IMPCX) has $41.1 million in net assets, according to its most recent filings. IMPCX has d elivered total return of 11.98% since inception. According to the fund website, approximately 39.44% of the fund’s investments are focused on Financial Inclusion. Click here to view a visualization of the different components of IMPCX’s portfolio.

A full list of all active interval funds along with current net assets is available to view or download for fee on the Active Funds page . You can also track new fund launches and registrations by clicking here.