Next-gen partnerships: why data and distribution infrastructure will unlock private markets growth

Broadening access to private markets requires transparency, and that depends on your data. Learn what investment managers need to get right to unlock wealth channel distribution.

Private markets are attracting record interest from wealth channels. The appetite is clear. Independent financial advisers, wealth managers and private banks are all exploring allocations that were once reserved for institutional investors. Yet interest alone does not translate into inflows. Across the distribution chain, one message keeps surfacing: if allocators cannot see what is in a portfolio, they will not recommend it.

That was the consistent theme from a recent panel discussion on private markets partnerships, data standardisation, tokenisation and operating rails at the Investment Association. Broadening access to private markets is only half the challenge. Without the transparency to support it, access alone will not drive adoption. Transparency, in turn, depends on the quality and consistency of the data behind it. The conversation made clear that the next phase of private markets growth depends less on product innovation and more on the operational and data infrastructure that supports distribution.

Transparency is not optional. It is a prerequisite

If you manage or distribute private markets funds, your allocators expect the same level of transparency they receive from traditional fund structures. They want to understand what they are investing in, how a fund is diversified and what the underlying holdings look like.

That expectation becomes harder to meet in layered private markets structures. A fund investing in a fund, investing in an underlying asset, creates opacity that can obscure the very diversification your product is designed to deliver. If the underlying holdings are not visible, it becomes difficult for an allocator to verify that a portfolio is achieving meaningful diversification rather than simply claiming it.

The panel was direct on this point: allocators who cannot access clear, structured data on what they are recommending will not recommend it. The reputational and regulatory risk is too high.

Standardisation makes transparency scalable

Transparency as a principle is not new. What has changed is the recognition that it needs to be standardised to work at scale. When every investment manager reports in a different format, with different levels of granularity, the burden of interpreting that data falls on the distributor. That friction slows adoption.

The panel highlighted the importance of structured research, consistent data standards and tighter platform integration. Private markets products must sit alongside traditional holdings more effectively. The difference is not willingness. It is the existence of consistent data standards that allow platforms to ingest, compare and present private markets products without manual intervention.

There is a balance to strike. Full position-level disclosure may not be appropriate for every strategy. Percentage-level breakdowns, sector exposures and risk characteristics can provide enough transparency to give allocators confidence without compromising your competitive position.

Education is the bridge between access and allocation

Access to private markets products is growing. Education on how to evaluate them is not. Knowledge gaps persist at the product level, and they are slowing adoption.

The panel was direct on this point. Allocators will not recommend a product they cannot explain to their clients. The barrier is not scepticism about the asset class. It is a lack of confidence in the information available to support an informed recommendation.

For investment managers, this shifts the responsibility. The firms that equip distribution partners with clear, structured information on how their funds work, what they hold and how risk is managed will be the ones that convert interest into inflows.

What this means for your distribution strategy

Product quality matters, but it is no longer sufficient on its own. To grow your private markets distribution through wealth channels, you need the data mastering and distribution connectivity to match.

FE fundinfo helps investment managers deliver:

Platforms can ingest your data without manual intervention

Transparency into underlying holdings.

Factsheet and regulatory document production for evergreen funds

A distribution model that connects with the operating rails wealth managers already use

The private markets opportunity is real. The path to capturing it runs through data infrastructure, allocator education and distribution partnership, not product design alone.

Your private markets product is ready. Make sure your data is too.

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