The new era of private markets

Once the domain of institutions, structural shifts are opening the door to individual investors, creating a major growth opportunity for banks and wealth managers. 

For decades, private markets were reserved for large institutions and select ultra-high-net-worth individuals (Ultra-HNWIs), constrained by commitments of at least $1 million, complex partnership structures, and strict qualification requirements.¹

Today, technology, regulation, and market innovation are dismantling these barriers. Advances in fund administration, digital onboarding, distribution technology, evolving accreditation standards, retirement-plan access, and frameworks such as European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) 2.0 are expanding participation, while evergreen, semi-liquid, and feeder fund structures are bringing private markets closer to public markets.

As access expands, private markets are entering a period of accelerated growth. The evergreen, semi-liquid private market funds universe has expanded to nearly $450 billion and is projected to surpass $1 trillion within five years.² Individual investors already account for 20% of the $14 trillion private markets industry, with their share projected to reach 37% within five years ³. With retail investors representing a largely untapped $60 trillion opportunity,³ private markets are evolving from an exclusive niche into an increasingly accessible investment ecosystem powered by private wealth. This democratization is reshaping wealth management and unlocking new growth avenues for banks, wealth managers, and investors alike.

The investor shift toward alternatives

Private markets are progressively becoming core portfolio holdings as investors seek diversification, resilience, steady income, and potentially higher returns. Wealth advisors and individual investors recognize that traditional stock-and-bond portfolios exclude a growing investment opportunity set, with the universe of private companies 2.75 times larger than public markets⁴ and a history of nearly 5% annualized outperformance versus the S&P 500 across 25 of 27 vintage years.⁵ 

This growth spans a broad wealth spectrum. Ultra-HNWIs (typically over $30 million in assets), mid-tier millionaires, and the much larger “millionaires next door” and affluent segments each represent distinct opportunities, requiring differentiated value propositions, minimum tickets, and service models rather than a one-size-fits-all offering.

Product innovation: Evergreen and semi-liquid funds 

Private market strategies across private equity, private credit, real estate, venture capital, and infrastructure are increasingly being packaged into evergreen, semi-liquid, and Long-Term Asset Fund (LTAF) structures for individual investors, and are overcoming traditional barriers by offering the following.

• Enhanced liquidity: Evergreen funds offer perpetual structures with continuous fundraising, ongoing subscriptions, scheduled (typically quarterly) redemptions, and periodic liquidity instead of fixed multi-year fund terms.
• Lower investment minimums: Typically around $25,000, and in some cases only a few thousand dollars or less, expanding access beyond multimillion-dollar commitments.
• Steadier return profiles: Fully deployed, diversified portfolios and continuous reinvestment mitigate the J-curve effect, providing clearer visibility, smoother returns, and lower perceived volatility.
• Enhanced drawdown-fund economics: Evergreen funds, with continuous reinvestment and in absence of traditional barriers, create a compounding effect, making a 13% average annual return equivalent to a 23% return for a closed-end fund over the same timeframe.⁶

• Immediate, fully deployed, multi-vintage exposure across sectors and regions, eliminating drawdown periods and lengthy capital deployment timelines.
• Periodic NAV pricing, simplified 1099 tax reporting, and no ongoing capital calls, creating a more investor-friendly experience.

Redefining the private market experience

Through new fund structures, advisor networks, custodial platforms, tokenization, fractionalization, and AI, private markets are becoming more accessible, scalable, and ETF-like. Leading banks and asset managers are already reshaping private market access, like JPMorgan’s Private Markets Fund and UBS’s Private Equity (Lux) Evergreen Secondary Fund. Morgan Stanley acquired EquityZen in January 2026,⁷ expanding private-market access options.

Fintechs are pushing this frontier even further down-market. In July 2026, Revolut launched access to private market investments for eligible retail investors in Europe, partnering with Apollo, Ares, Hamilton Lane, and Partners Group, offering funds structured under the ELTIF 2.0 framework. ⁸ Investors can access these funds with a minimum investment of just €1.⁹

Capturing the opportunity

As private wealth becomes a primary growth engine for private markets, banks must move beyond product distribution and build the capabilities to scale access. Whether through in-house development, WealthTechs partnerships, or targeted acquisitions, leading firms will balance cost, time-to-market, and control to strengthen their private markets offering.

At the same time, success will depend on building the digital infrastructure for onboarding, personalization, advisor enablement, servicing, liquidity management, and regulatory compliance, while integrating evergreen, semi-liquid, and multi-asset products into custodial platforms, model portfolios, and fund marketplaces. Crucially, banks must pair broader access with responsible stewardship by educating clients on periodic liquidity, gating mechanisms, and portfolio risks, supported by tools such as secondary-market access, nominee structures, and pre-drawdown solutions.

Banks that combine digital innovation, investor education, and robust risk management will be best positioned to capitalize on private market democratization and turn this structural shift into a lasting competitive advantage.