Search funds. ETA. Private equity.

These terms are everywhere now. However, most people still don’t understand what they actually mean.

In all honesty, that isn’t their fault. Traditionally, financial education has focused almost exclusively on stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and retirement accounts. But outside the Wall Street roller coaster lies a different ecosystem — one where some of the best (and most overlooked) wealth-building opportunities are found.

I’m breaking down that world with insight from my friend Yuen Yung in this post. He is the CEO of HalBar Partners, a private equity firm that invests in search funds that acquire and scale small businesses. He also has three exits, including a sushi franchise featured on Shark Tank. And, as an investor, a real estate operator, and a PE leader, he’s helped others build generational wealth through value-add private companies.

In his path to success, he mirrored the path of many of the world’s most successful investors, from financial services to franchising to real estate to private equity: Real wealth is built in alternative investing. In other words, it’s not in the stock market.

So, let’s dive in.

Search Funds: The “In-Between” Strategy Most People Don’t Know Exists

Yuen knows something that is quietly exploding: search funds. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, here’s a quick overview:

Rather than starting a business from scratch, an entrepreneur raises capital from investors to buy an existing, profitable business from an aging founder.

It’s now called ETA (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition) in MBA programs. You can think of it as a perfect combination of:

• The high upside of venture capital.
• The stability of established private equity deals.

Yuen’s firm targets returns of 3–4x and an internal rate of return of 30% or higher. As a comparison, Stanford studied search funds for 30 years and found that they generate an average annual return of 35%.

Consistency like that over such a long period of time isn’t a fluke. It’s an asset class hiding in plain sight — but only if you’re in the right circles.

From Pro Athletes to Entrepreneurs: Reinventing Yourself After Chapter One

As a financial advisor and mentor, Yuen worked for years with professional athletes before investing in private deals.

One of the biggest issues? Athletes have a limited career window. Most retire in their late 20s or early 30s. After the lights go out, they’re often overlooked since they’re young, unprepared, and unprepared. After all, despite experiencing “chapter one,” they suddenly need chapter two, without any training, guides, or safety nets.

That’s why Yuen and I decided to run an event surrounding the ESPYs — to provide athletes with access to:

• Wealth education
• Entrepreneurial opportunities
• Deal-vetting skills
• A roadmap for life after the game

At the same time, whether you’re a pro athlete or a business owner, the principle is the same: If you don’t reinvent yourself, your money won’t.

How Yuen Went From Stock-Jock to Alternative Investor

Yuen’s early career looked very similar to mine: traditional financial services, selling industry-approved products. For example, he recalls the days when mutual funds charged 5% “loads.” It sounds absurd today, but it was totally normal back then.

However, as he gained experience, CFP, CHFC, over the years, he discovered something fundamental:

Wealth preservation is the goal of traditional investing, not wealth creation.

As a result of the system, you learn to think linearly:

• Save a little every month
• Diversify across public markets
• Stay the course
• Hope the timing works out

If you want average, that’s fine. The thing is, no one builds extraordinary wealth that way — not entrepreneurs, not family offices, not the families I work with.

So Yuen pivoted.

First, he jumped into franchising.

Rather than buy one, he built one. It was then scaled. After that, it was sold.

Then he went heavy into real estate.

Today, he still owns a substantial portfolio.

Then he started backing entrepreneurs.

With dozens of companies on the horizon, he has already invested in 22+ companies.

Rather than just investing in businesses, he now acquires them. In fact, that transition is exactly what I teach; When you own assets, you accelerate your wealth, not when you rent them from the stock market.

Why Public Markets Feel Volatile — and Alternative Assets Don’t

Furthermore, Yuen discusses why public markets feel volatile right now with tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty, wild sentiment swings, and stock prices reacting instantly to headlines or tweets.

The problem? It’s both exhausting and unnecessary.

Meanwhile, my alternative investments, like private credit, real estate, private equity, and operating companies, continue to perform as usual:

• Producing cash flow.
• Growing based on fundamentals.
• Building equity over time.

No drama. No chaos.

Having said that, most people don’t realize that around 15–25% of the world’s richest people invest in public stocks.

But what about the average investor? Their “diversified” portfolio is 60% stocks and 40% bonds, which are also tied to the same public markets.

That’s not diversification. It’s actually exposure dressed up as safety.

Access Is Everything (And Why Most People Never See These Deals)

Often, when I talk about alternative investments, people assume they are risky simply because they are unfamiliar.

Truth be told, though? Since most people lack access to networks where they live, they never encounter these opportunities.

As Yuen puts it, if you want to invest in a company doing a few million in net profit with a founder ready to exit, you’ll need to be in the right circles.

The reason isn’t because it’s exclusive. Rather, peer-to-peer deals provide the best deals.

This is why I’m such a believer in the following:

• Masterminds
• Private investor groups
• Curated communities
• Aligned deal flow networks

It is through these ecosystems that access is created. Access creates opportunity. And, opportunity leads to life-changing wealth.

Why Alternative Assets Are More Stable (And More Connected to Reality)

Among the most grounded assets there are, real estate is another stable alternative Yuen and I believe in.

The reason? No one moves out of an apartment complex because CNBC sends an alert. The value of a grocery-anchored shopping center does not drop by 30% because of a tweet. A manufacturing company doesn’t swing wildly because interest rates moved 0.25%.

Instead, private investments grow based on:

• Customers
• Cash flow
• Fundamentals
• Management
• Profitability

Not the media noise.

It is because of this that even macroeconomic cycles behave differently, due to the fact that the process is slow, rational, and based on actual operations.

In investing, that gives you control — and volatility cannot exist with control.

The Heart of It All: Getting Closer to the Operations

Private deals like real estate, search funds, franchises, and operating companies are closer to the ground truth than anything else, since you can answer the following:

• Who is the operator?
• How does the company make money?
• What drives cash flow?
• What creates value?
• What levers can be pulled?

In other words, you’re investing in something real instead of speculation or sentiment.

As you move away from public-market casinos, your future becomes more in your hands.

Key Takeaways

• The best-kept secret in private equity is ETA (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition). Unlike the public markets, search funds consistently produce high returns of 30%+ every year.
• Traditional financial planning was built for preservation, not acceleration. It is through ownership, operations, and alternatives that real wealth is created.
• Athletes face huge financial gaps after retirement — and alternatives give them a runway to rebuild.
• Alternative investments are drastically less volatile than public equities. Rather than emotion or headlines, they are based on financial data.
• Access determines your opportunities. A better network leads to a better deal flow, which leads to a better wealth outcome.
• Real estate remains a foundational asset because it’s grounded in math, income, and irreplaceable utility.
• The closer you get to operations, the more control you gain as an investor. Here is where real wealth is built for the long-term.

Featured Image Credit: RDNE Stock project; Pexels: Thank you!