July 01: New research by Wealth Club, the UK’s leading non-advised investment service for high-net-worth individuals, reveals wealth managers and independent financial advisers increasingly agree that exposure to private markets is now a necessity for retail and HNW investors seeking to capture a broader spectrum of growth opportunities – and this trend will only accelerate over the next five years.
An overwhelming 94% of the UK-based wealth managers and IFAs who are responsible for assets under management of £332.7 billion surveyed agree that for the sophisticated retail investor, relying solely on a conventional listed equity portfolio risks missing out on the primary wealth-generation engines of the modern economy. That includes nearly a third (31%) who strongly agree that clients need exposure to private markets to access a broader range of growth opportunities while 63% slightly agree.
The study evaluates the explicit benefits that private markets provide over traditional 60/40 portfolios and cites several institutional-grade advantages, with 72% of advisers highlighting the enhanced long-term capital growth benefits. This is followed by inflation protection (48%) and access to unique, non-public market sectors (47%). A third (35%) of respondents point to the benefit of reduced portfolio volatility and a quarter (26%) cite lower correlation with public markets.
When questioned about the tactical importance of private market access in capturing the high-performing growth phase of a company’s lifecycle, 89% of wealth managers and IFAs surveyed deem it critical, with 30% categorising it as “essential” and 59% “very important”.
This trend is not a transient reaction to short-term market cycles, but a long-term strategic view. More than nine out of 10 (92%) respondents anticipate the need for retail and HNW investors to be exposed to private markets in order to access a broader range of growth opportunities will only accelerate over the next five years.
Alex Davies, Founder and CEO of Wealth Club, said:
“These findings suggest private markets are approaching a tipping point among individual investors in the UK. For decades, pension funds, insurers and endowments have used private equity and private credit as important components of their portfolios. Increasingly, wealth managers and IFAs believe suitable investors should also have the opportunity to access these strategies.
“ With companies staying private for longer, much of the potential upside now comes before they reach public markets. By the time they list, investors have often missed a significant part of their growth.
“Private markets are moving from being a niche allocation to becoming an increasingly important part of a well-diversified long-term portfolio. Investors who ignore them risk missing an increasingly important source of long-term growth.”
Wealth Club, which launched the UK’s first Private Funds Supermarket in November 2024, is growing rapidly as interest in private markets among sophisticated and high-net-worth investors continues to increase. The platform now offers 22 funds from 18 leading private markets managers and earlier this year launched the UK’s first dedicated Private Markets SIPP, marking a further important step in broadening access to private markets.
This growth is being driven by rising interest from both investors and fund managers reflecting growing demand for private market investments and the increasing popularity of semi-liquid fund structures.
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