Yieldstreet Review 2023: Is Alternative Investing Right for You?
Written by
Joshua Rodriguez
Edited by
Caitlyn Moorhead
Commitment to Our Readers
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20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
GOBankingRates Score
-
Available Assets
5.0
-
Liquidity
3.0
-
Fees
4.0
-
Accessibility
3.0
Pros
- Relatively low-cost exposure to high-value alternative assets
- Reasonable fees typically range from 0% to 2.5% per year
- Exposure to real estate, art, legal and supply chain investments
- Asset-backed investments provide protection against defaults
Cons
- Some funds have high minimum investments
- Alternative investments aren’t very liquid
- Many options are open only to accredited investors
- No live customer service
Yieldstreet Overview
Yieldstreet is a platform for alternative investments, securitizing assets such as art, real estate, short-term notes, structured notes, and supply chain financing. It sells shares of the assets to investors who share in the assets’ price appreciation and income-generation capabilities.
Investors have access to a variety of assets on the platform, including art, supply chain assets and structured notes. The company also offers Prism Fund, a multi-asset class fund that provides access to all covered assets.
Minimum investments start at $5,000 as of Feb. 21, but they can climb to $20,000 or more on specific funds. Some funds are available to all investors, but the majority of funds on the platform are available only to accredited investors.
Fees on the platform are reasonable. The company charges between 0% and 2.5% of the amount a person invested in exchange for its management services.
Key Features
The most important aspects to consider before signing up for Yieldstreet’s services are listed below.
Available Assets
Yieldstreet offers a wide range of assets to choose from, including:
- Real estate: The real estate offerings on the platform include investments in single-family and multifamily homes and commercial and industrial real estate developments.
- Art: Yieldstreet’s art offerings allow investors to own shares of high-value art pieces. However, most minimum investments in art funds are $10,000 or more.
- Short-term notes: Short-term note offerings have a fixed annualized yield target that can only be displayed to members, per Security and Exchange Commission rules.
- Structured notes: Yieldstreet’s structured note categories include tech, consumer and diversified portfolios. Minimum investments in these portfolios are $15,000 or more.
- Supply chain: Investors can tap into supply chain portfolios. However, minimum investments are $10,000 or more.
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Yieldstreet also offers Prism Fund, which includes assets from each fund category mentioned above. Investor accreditation is not required to tap into the multi-asset portfolio, and the minimum investment is $5,000.
Liquidity
Alternative investments are generally illiquid, meaning it’s difficult to turn these investments back into cash after they’re made. The illiquidity comes from the fact that alternative investments don’t have a large secondary market.
There is no secondary market on the Yieldstreet platform, and investors receive payment through monthly distributions. The company’s website states that the Prism Fund offers quarterly “liquidity events,” where the company repurchases a limited number of shares from existing investors. Other investments might offer liquidity events as well. However, Yieldstreet notes that its active investments generally are not liquid. Investors should avoid investing money they’re not comfortable keeping locked up for an extended period.
Fees
Yieldstreet charges an annual management fee that will vary from one fund to the next. Most annual management fees are between 0% and 2.5% of the amount invested. Yieldstreet outlines the fees in the description of the fund on its website.
Accessibility
All investment opportunities on Yieldstreet are accessible to accredited investors, but the average person will have accessibility issues. Most funds on the platform come with minimum investments of $15,000 or more, and few are available to investors who aren’t accredited.
Good To Know
Alternative investments are illiquid — even those on platforms that offer secondary markets. Never invest money you’ll need in the short term in assets like art, real estate or fine wine.
Competing Options
Investors who aren’t accredited and want more options may consider looking into the Yieldstreet competitors listed below.
Masterworks
Masterworks is an alternative investment platform focused on the sale of securitized fine art. The platform doesn’t require investor accreditation to buy shares, and there’s no single required minimum investment amount — the minimum investment depends on the painting. Moreover, Masterworks offers a secondary market to help combat the liquidity issues associated with investing in alternative assets.
Vint
Vint is an alternative investment platform that provides access to securitized fine wine. The platform securitizes collections of high-end wine bottles, allowing investors to tap into the stable returns of the wine market with the peace of mind provided by Securities and Exchange Commission regulation. Shares of recently sold-out collections have started at just $20, and there are no annual fees.
How To Sign Up
Follow the steps below to sign up for Yieldstreet:
Getting Started
Once you’ve completed all the steps, you’ll be able to start investing on Yieldstreet.
Is Yieldstreet Right for You?
Yieldstreet is best for high net worth, accredited investors because the vast majority of offerings on its platform are available only to accredited investors and require large minimum investments.
Final Take
Yieldstreet is a great way for accredited investors to diversify their investment portfolios. However, smaller retail investors will likely be better served by one of the company’s competitors.
Yieldstreet FAQ
It’s normal to have questions about an investment product before diving in. See the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions below.- Can you lose money with Yieldstreet?
- All investments come with risk, and Yieldstreet is no exception to the rule. For example, if you invest in a real estate fund centered on a commercial complex and tenants in the complex fail to pay their rent, the fund may default, leading to a loss of part or all of your investment.
- Investors should do their research before making any investment on the Yieldstreet platform or elsewhere to reduce their chances of taking on losses.
- What is Yieldstreet Investing?
- Yieldstreet is an alternative investment platform that provides access to assets like art and real estate. The company invests in high-value pieces of art and real estate and sells shares in the assets to investors. Investors then share in the price appreciation and income generated through the investments.
- Is Yieldstreet a REIT?
- Yieldstreet is an investment platform, not a real estate investment trust. However, the company does offer various funds that act as REITs. Investors purchase shares in real estate portfolios and share in the income generated when tenants pay rent on the assets within the portfolios.
- How do you contact Yieldstreet?
- Investors can only contact Yieldstreet by chat or by email. While you can chat with a virtual associate instantly, you'll have to wait up to three hours for a live person to respond via the website.
- Is Yieldstreet better than Masterworks?
- Yieldstreet offers access to a wider range of asset classes while Masterworks only offers access to art. However, most funds on Yieldstreet are cost-prohibitive and require investor accreditation. So, Masterworks is a better option for investors interested in art investing.
Daria Uhlig contributed to the reporting for this article.
Information is accurate as of Feb. 21, 2023.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
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- Harvard Business School. 2021. "THE FUTURE OF THE ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS INDUSTRY."
