Summit Financial Holdings has expanded its private markets offering through a new partnership with alternatives platform Opto Investments and tech provider Arch.

Led by co-CIO Noreen Brown, CFA, the initiative aims to further differentiate client portfolios with the potential for higher returns and reduced exposure to market volatility, according to Summit.

The platform provides Summit advisors with access to private equity, private credit, real estate and venture capital opportunities. In addition to platform offerings, Summit can also offer certain deals directly, providing clients with institutional share classes at lower minimums and fees.

Opto competes with marketplace behemoths CAIS and iCapital by investing into a select group of private market funds and creating feeder funds for RIAs to access. Arch aggregates private investment data and documents for advisors and their clients

“This initiative, supported by partnerships with firms such as Opto Investments and Arch, aims to give our advisors the tools they need to construct more dynamic and resilient portfolios,” said Stan Gregor, CEO of Summit Financial Holdings.

“We’re delighted to support Summit by removing many of the administrative challenges often associated with alternative investments,” added Ryan Eisenman, co-founder and CEO of Arch. “Our integrated platform serves as a central hub, giving advisors and their clients on demand access to their K-1s, reporting data, capital calls, distributions and other documents.