Allocations towards private markets continues to increase throughout Europe as retail investors look to diversify portfolios. This is no surprise as leaders within alternatives such as BlackStone, Apollo and Partners Group continue to expand their capabilities globally. With that being said, it is reported that the UK has some catching up to do as "only 4% of client assets are invested in the private markets. This compares poorly to Germany, with a retail allocation to the space at 12% on average, followed by Benelux at 11% and France and Switzerland at 9% each".
Retail investors show increasing interest across all private strategies, however, hesitations remain due to traditionally high fees and barriers to entry, as well as lack of liquidity and visibility, amongst others. With that being said, allocations are rising as private market players look to tackle these barriers by presenting retail investors with as much information and transparency as possible. Although there is a steady increase in retail allocations to private markets, the UK has some work to do yet with further penetrating this pool of capital.