Private investors hold between $140tn and $250tn in assets worldwide, yet only $3tn is committed to private markets. The gap highlights one of the largest untapped sources of capital for private equity, but also the barriers preventing broader participation. 

For Lorenz Jüngling, Co-CEO of Moonfare, the shift is inevitable but gradual. At the Largest DACH-focused Private Equity Conference in Munich, he described it as a “secular trend” that will take decades to play out. “We are in the first five minutes of a 90-minute movie,” he said, pointing to the scale of innovation required before private markets become fully accessible to individual investors.

The paradox of choice remains the first obstacle. In the US alone, there are around 15,000 McDonald’s restaurants. In contrast, investors face more than 50,000 private equity funds. With only a fraction of those funds delivering returns above capital, identifying quality is increasingly difficult for individuals without institutional infrastructure. Curation and rigorous selection, Jüngling argued, are essential.

A second challenge is the diversity of private investors. Mass affluent clients, with less than $1m in investable assets, may allocate only a small portion, 10–15% at most, to private equity. For them, accessibility and guidance are critical. Ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices, by contrast, have the scale to build portfolios but face their own hurdles: constructing strategies, managing tax implications, and assessing mid-cap or emerging managers where alpha potential lies.

Trust runs across all categories. Private markets require investors to commit capital for years without immediate feedback, unlike the real-time transparency of public equities. This delay makes validation essential, whether through advisors or peer groups. Jüngling pointed to investor communities, such as formal networks where members pay to share experiences, as examples of how confidence is built. “Trust means people need to, number one, understand, but then they also have a group of people that they talk to,” he said.

The third barrier is operational complexity. From regulatory qualifications to capital calls and reporting, private equity investing involves layers of documentation and long processes. Technology is beginning to compress these timelines. On some platforms, onboarding can be completed in under an hour for the simplest cases, but Jüngling sees a larger role for artificial intelligence. AI can not only automate onboarding, anti-money laundering, and compliance checks, but also assist in sourcing, diligence, and portfolio management. “The pattern recognition pre-screening definitely is something that can be eased and can be made faster,” he noted.

Lower costs from automation could also reshape access. Today, the expense of serving individual investors remains high due to manual work. As costs fall to “the cost of computing,” products that are currently viable only for wealthier clients could extend to smaller investors. Semi-liquid funds and secondaries already offer broader access, though their resilience in times of market stress remains untested. Tokenisation, Jüngling added, has yet to move beyond data storage, as regulation has not caught up with its potential to disintermediate distribution.

Jüngling also addressed the shifting competitive landscape. Mega-cap managers are creating retail products with instant diversification, private banks are extending programmes to a wider client base, fintechs are developing digital-first platforms, and traditional brokers are broadening their offerings. Each group brings distinct advantages, such as scale, distribution, technology, or relationships, but the winning model has yet to emerge. “It is definitely not clear on who will choose what model to be able to access this market,” he said. Other funds such as EQT, Partners Group, and Schroders are also considering the increasing interest from private wealth.

For the time being, the structural drivers are clear: private wealth is underrepresented in private markets, while private equity itself continues to expand. But the mechanisms of access remain unsettled. For Moonfare, the future hinges on aligning curation, trust, and technology. The potential is vast, but the industry is still in its opening act.

by Andreea Melinti

If you think we missed any important news, please do not hesitate to contact us at news@pe-insights.com.

Can`t stop reading? Read more.