Dealmaking, investing and recruiting are on a tear in 2018.

Altegris, an alternative investment research and management firm, and Artivest, an alternative investment technology firm, said Thursday that they plan to merge. The joint company, to be named Artivest, will include about 100 employees servicing about $3 billion in client capital.

“This merger scales up a great team to serve an even broader range of investors while it preserves the benefits of independent ownership,” said Peter Thiel, Artivest’s earliest angel investor, who is taking a seat on the board, in a statement.

Artivest, which will remain privately held by employees and outside investors — including Aquiline Capital Partners, Genstar Capital, KKR and Thiel Capital — says the merger makes it among the largest independent alternative investment technology and solutions firms.

A PwC industry report from October 2017 estimated that alternative investments will surpass $21 trillion in assets by 2025 — more than doubling in size in eight years — and reaching 15% of all global assets under management. 

“Artivest has been heralded for its efforts to reshape the future of alternative investing. Combining Artivest’s leading technology with Altegris’ deep investing expertise benefits clients and employees alike,” said Matt Osborne, founder and chief investment officer of Altegris, in a statement.

The combined firm will have offices in New York and the greater San Diego area.

“This integration will create the solutions-driven marketplace our clients want. After we formed a commercial relationship with Altegris last year, we realized our strategic goals align and our value propositions are highly complementary,” according to Artivest CEO and founder James Waldinger. “Altegris will expand our investment, operations and distribution capabilities, immediately amplifying the power of our technology—and vice versa.”

Waldinger will serve as CEO, while Altegris Executive Chairman and CEO Martin Beaulieu will become executive chairman of the new firm. Osborne will continue as CIO, overseeing investment research and management, including oversight of the Altegris fund family, which will keep the Altegris name.

About six months ago, Altegris said it was expanding access to its alternative investment funds for RIAs by partnering with Artivest. It planned to transfer $1 billion of its assets and more than 20 fund strategies to Artivest’s platform, giving Altegris’ advisors and clients access to online onboarding tools — such as online execution of subscription documents.