Itaú Asset has been betting on new strategies to grow. And the private market is at the heart of this decision. In the last four years, the area has grown from R$ 2 billion under management to R$ 62 billion – a size that led to a restructuring and redesign of the asset manager.
"It's a market with enormous potential, with accelerated growth worldwide, and we want to be at the forefront of this segment in Brazil," says Carlos Augusto Salamonde, CEO of Itaú Asset, to NeoFeed .
Since the end of last year, Itaú Asset, with R$ 1.2 trillion under management, has been divided into four verticals: asset core (indexed and liquid assets), with approximately R$ 800 billion; multi-desks (absolute return strategies), with approximately R$ 75 billion; solutions; and fund of funds, which designs exclusive mandates with in-house and third-party products; in addition to the newly created private markets division.
The creation of this area coincides with the end of many of the restrictions that Itaú Asset had with Kinea , an alternative investment management firm created in partnership with Márcio Verri almost 20 years ago. Now, the path is clear for Itaú's asset management arm to operate in segments it previously did not enter.
To lead this vertical, Itaú Asset brought in Felipe Gottlieb last October, a former partner at BTG Pactual , where he spent almost 12 years in the private equity area. His mission is to consolidate and expand the private markets platform.
“This alternative market is growing by more than 20% annually in various markets around the world, including Brazil. It’s a strategic business for us to diversify our products and not depend on the macroeconomic scenario,” says Gottlieb, head of private markets at Itaú Asset.
Investors have increasingly sought structures that are uncorrelated with the macroeconomic environment and that offer a good risk-return ratio to portfolios as a longer-term investment. This is a segment with high demand.
A few years ago, however, Itaú didn't want to be directly involved in alternative investments and created Kinea in 2007 to be its independent arm focused on alternative assets in the market – today the asset manager holds R$ 160 billion. Therefore, there was a non-competitive agreement between the firms in this segment.
However, as the market evolved, Kinea became more involved in liquid assets, which was Itaú's specialty, and Itaú began entering new alternative asset markets as they were created. Until recently, this agreement was revised, and the asset managers agreed to compete.
“Before, there was a restriction. Now, we can do it, and we are doing it. Itaú Asset has independent governance and can develop these strategies,” says Gottlieb.
This now gives Itaú the freedom to expand its portfolio of alternative investments and become known as a firm with this more sophisticated management style.
The area's main focus at the moment is structured credit, which already has around R$ 50 billion under management. Next is the capital solutions strategy, with approximately R$ 11 billion. The real assets division—which includes real estate and infrastructure—was created in the last semester and totals around R$ 1 billion.
The operation currently has a team of approximately 40 professionals dedicated exclusively to private markets, with specialists in sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, real estate, and legal claims.
According to Gottlieb, a robust governance and analytics structure is fundamental in a market where operations are more complex and customized.
Growth and partnerships
The area's growth occurred mostly organically, with Itaú bringing in specialists and launching funds. However, some strategies involved partnerships with specialized asset managers.
Among the partners are Algarve, which specializes in legal claims, and AMG (Almagestum Capital), which focuses on special situations strategies.
“I would say that of the R$62 billion, more than 90% is managed internally, and that is enough to grow. But we continue to look for strategic partnerships in a selective way,” says Gottlieb.
Two funds are planned for launch this year. One is a capital solutions fund, with a strategy to structure financing solutions for companies with potentially higher returns. The other is invested in real assets, in real estate or infrastructure, and potentially even both.
In structured credit, on the other hand, growth should occur primarily through the expansion of existing funds.
And there is a great market appetite for these strategies to support growth. According to the asset manager, today, the investor base in this area is mainly made up of wealth management clients and institutional investors, including pension funds, who have been seeking uncorrelated alternatives.
“It’s a private market, with different risks, it’s not for every investor. That’s why there’s a great deal of concern about matching the product with the right profile. But the market is huge and has great potential,” says Gottlieb.
The strategy has also attracted the interest of international investors looking for opportunities in the country. In other words, it is strategic for the asset manager in its internationalization project and to reach foreign investors.
“We have spoken with many foreign investors who are very interested in private markets and in Brazil. It's an asset class that is very popular abroad, and investing here is outside the risk tolerance for Brazil due to the product profile,” says Gottlieb.
A market worth R$2 trillion in Brazil
According to estimates from Itaú Asset itself, the Brazilian market for alternative assets — including credit, private equity, venture capital, infrastructure, and real estate — totals approximately R$ 2 trillion, of which R$ 1.3 trillion is in credit. And it is growing well above the others, at around 20% per year.
Despite the area's rapid expansion, Itaú Asset says it doesn't work with formal fundraising or size targets. "Our goal is for all products to always be in the top quartile of comparables," says the executive. "If you create a winning product, growth happens naturally."
In addition to market growth, private markets have gained importance within global asset managers for another reason: the need to diversify revenue streams and reduce dependence on traditional strategies.
While extracting alpha in the liquid world is becoming increasingly difficult and competition with ETFs is real, with these funds increasingly competing on price; in private markets, the added value of management is greater and the investor pays well for a higher return.
The world's largest asset manager, BlackRock , is one example, explicitly accelerating its investment in private markets through acquisitions. In October 2024, it completed the purchase of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), strengthening its infrastructure platform.
In July 2025, the American company completed the purchase of HPS Investment Partners, a firm specializing in private credit, in a repositioning that follows the global search for strategies less dependent on traditional liquid markets.
In Brazil, independent asset managers have also opened up these areas as a form of diversification. This is the case with SPX , which was previously a multi-market asset manager and is now also involved in structured credit, real estate, and private equity .
