The Fill: March 2024

A letter from our CEO

Those of you familiar with our business know FS Investments was one of the very first firms that provided financial advisors access to high quality alternative investments so they could better serve their clients. After 17 years of being a pioneer in this space, access remains one of our core principles. We take pride in providing access not only to sophisticated alternative strategies, but also to educational content and wealth management practice tools. We believe all of these—alternative strategies, education and practice tools—are critical to serving our wealth management clients.

Our robust education platform provides compelling and timely thought leadership on the economy, markets and investing trends. Whether through our Investment Research team, our popular FireSide podcast series, our Know your Alternatives™ website or other resources, we invest in your continuing education. We also offer FS Thrive™, a collection of interactive value-add programs designed to help advisors maximize their impact as professionals, individuals and community partners. We are proud to offer these resources and will continually check in with you to make sure we are providing the content and tools you value.

This core theme of access carries through to our philanthropic work as well. As a leader in the asset management industry, we believe we have a duty both to enhance the future of the industry and to give back to our communities. An important way we do both is through financial empowerment education. March is Women’s History Month, and we are committed to developing women leaders in the financial services industry and providing financial education opportunities to women. As I have previously shared here, I’m the proud dad of three strong young women. I’m personally focused on ensuring women have the same opportunities as men to succeed in this industry and have the tools they need to be in control of their financial futures.

After we wrap up Women’s History Month, we will head straight into National Financial Literacy Month in April. Our nonprofit-in-residence, Philadelphia Financial Scholars (PFS), provides high school students, teachers and families access to the tools needed to develop financial skills, build greater wealth and achieve financial empowerment. PFS has grown considerably since we launched the organization in 2016 and now partners with 28 high schools in Philadelphia to bring daily financial empowerment education to over 2,300 students. PFS does excellent work, and we look forward to supporting the organization as it continues to grow.

We wish you a successful and productive second quarter and applaud you for harnessing your financial expertise to empower your clients and others in your life.

— Michael Forman, Chairman + CEO

Know your alternatives™

Learn how alternatives can complement a portfolio through our new education platform.

Overview

Explore our latest resource for demystifying alternatives. Learn the diverse universe of alternative asset classes and strategies, understand how individual investors can access alternatives through innovative structures and identify alternatives that may help investors reach their financial goals.

Invest for outcomes

Take advantage of our new page for leading outcomes-based conversations about alternatives. Beyond the big picture of saving for life’s milestones, there are strategic, portfolio-level goals to consider. Explore products designed with those outcomes in mind.

Continuing education

Discover our continuing education offerings for financial professionals. Access courses for CFP/IWI/CFA credit on topics like private equity, credit and private markets, watch webinars through our RIA channel partnership and take advantage of our CAIA® Alternative Education course sponsorships.

Get filled in on...

Awakening: The rise of private debt

Private debt has grown and become more institutionalized following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The key driver of this now $1.6 trillion-dollar market’s growth has been the pullback of banks from non-core lending activities, creating an opportunity for private lenders to step up. This, in turn, has helped broaden access to credit, allowing a new class of small and medium-sized borrowers to tap into high-quality capital.

Secondaries in first place: A compelling access point in private equity

With North American private equity (PE) AUM nearing $3.5 trillion, secondaries offer a unique entry point to the market. The Investment Research team dives into this market and examines the potential opportunities.

Dare to Dream is now a wonderful reality!

Read the latest strategy note from Chief Market Strategist Troy Gayeski. A Dare to Dream economic scenario is fast becoming the investment community’s base case. Where can investors find potential opportunities and what risks still remain?

Cash on the sidelines

Investors considered defensive positions to be a safe play last year—with over $1 trillion pouring into money markets. But the U.S. economy is gaining momentum and keeping cash on the sidelines may come with a high opportunity cost. Learn how alternatives could help investors access this year’s potential opportunities.

Macro matters: Rethinking the interest rate outlook

Interest rates are renormalizing at a higher level—could that be reframed as a good thing? Chief U.S. Economist Lara Rhame looks at the reasons to be optimistic and why we may be entering a golden age of alternatives.

FireSide x Mary Ann Bartels: Follow your gut, follow your intuition

It’s Women’s History Month and we’re working to elevate female voices across financial services and beyond. Mary Ann Bartels, Chief Investment Strategist at Sanctuary Wealth and one of the industry’s most trusted experts in economic analysis and financial communication, joins Chief U.S. Economist Lara Rhame for a conversation on market trends, career building, women pathfinders and more.

Check out our other Women’s History Month conversations on the podcasts page and watch for more exciting content, resources and events throughout the month.

FS Thrive x HelloHive: Breaking down barriers

Listen to a new FS Thrive podcast episode with our partners from HelloHive. Ginevra Czech, FS Investments’ Director of Client Value Add Programs, sits down with HelloHive’s Head of Client Strategy Claire Schulz, Customer Success Manager Kyra Maryland, and Partnerships Associate Christiann Cannon to learn more about how their pioneering tools and initiatives are connecting diverse students and top employers.

FS Investments in the media

Lara Rhame on Asset TV: 2024 Macro and markets outlook

Lara Rhame joined Asset TV to share her macro and markets outlook for 2024. She addressed expectations for growth, inflation, rate cuts and the asset classes that may succeed in this year’s economic landscape.

Troy Gayeski on Bloomberg: What do you want to go for?

Chief Market Strategist Troy A. Gayeski joined Bloomberg to discuss the decisions facing investors now that the U.S. economy looks so strong. He addressed the cycle’s mega trend in cash (and how it may lead to missed opportunities), what rate cut expectations could mean for fixed income and why middle market private equity is one of his favorite places for growth outside of mega cap tech.

Fulfilling acts

FS volunteers come out for the 2024 MLK Day of Service

The FS Foundation is proud to have sponsored the 29th annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service at Girard College for the third consecutive year. This impactful event is the oldest and largest MLK day of service in the country. Michael Forman and other senior leaders at FS Investments joined 18 colleagues and family members to participate in projects that uphold Dr. King’s legacy.

FS x Community College of Philadelphia Career Threads clothing drive

Dress for the job you want! As part of the Community College of Philadelphia’s (CCP) inaugural Corporate Volunteer Council Day of Service, FS Investments colleagues volunteered at the college’s Career Threads program, an initiative that provides students and alumni with business attire for job interviews. Our team helped sort and display over 300 pieces of clothing, assist in styling students and offer advice on professional dress.

Weekly fill’er up

The FireSide podcast: Tap into unconventional perspectives from our very own thought leaders and research experts.

Chart of the week: A collection of charts published each week using economic data to address timely market topics.

Market minute: Start receiving a weekly analysis from our Investment Research team.

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An investment in any fund sponsored by FS Investments involves a high degree of risk and may be considered speculative. Investors are advised to consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the applicable fund carefully before investing. For funds offering shares to new investors, the applicable fund’s prospectus contains this and other information. Investors may obtain a copy of the applicable fund’s prospectus free of charge at www.fsinvestments.com or by phone at 877-628-8575 for FS interval funds and closed-end funds or 877-924-4766 for FS mutual funds. Investors should read and carefully consider all information found in the applicable fund’s prospectus and other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before investing.

This is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein. An offering is made only by a prospectus, which must be made available to you in connection with any offering. No offering is made to New York investors except by a prospectus filed with the Department of Law of the State of New York.

Individual investors and endowments may have different investment horizons, liquidity needs and risk tolerances. In addition, fees that may be incurred by an investor in any of the funds sponsored by FS Investments may be different than fees incurred by an endowment investing in similar assets as those in which the funds invest.

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