#private-markets

#private-markets

Access to alternative investments is expanding in ways that were almost unthinkable a decade ago. Evergreen funds and interval funds now offer individual investors exposure once limited to larger institutions. On the surface, that looks like progress: more tools to work with and more ways to build resilient portfolios. But when access expands this fast, complexity tends to follow. And that is exactly what investors face today.

"The day the company collapses is the day we drink that beer," Ondracek said.

She still had room in her budget for weekends filled with activities.JR was more worried about now. Rather than putting money into a 401(k) he wouldn't touch for decades, he enjoyed his $75,000 salary. Five years later, JR began to build his nest egg. He opted for the minimum contribution rate to qualify for the company match, contributing 6% with a 3% match.

This operational burden intensifies as wealth management firms race to meet surging client demand for alternatives, with RIAs and family offices struggling to track hundreds of documents across dozens of portals while maintaining accurate performance reporting. Bridge has emerged as the first AI-native operating system designed specifically for private markets allocators, automating the entire workflow from document aggregation to performance analytics through proprietary technology that reduces operational overhead by 70% and generates reports 3x faster.

Sinead Colton Grant, the chief investment officer at BNY's wealth division, said the traditional strategy of splitting your portfolio 60% on stocks and 40% on bonds no longer yields the same returns. "What a 60/40 portfolio would have given you in the late 90s in terms of exposure to the broader global economy - that's giving you something a lot more narrow today," she said. "If you look at the changes in market structure over the last 20-plus years, they have brought us to a place where to have full exposure to the economy, you need to have exposure to private assets," she added.

Several investors have built strategies focused on long-term structural trends, accepting near-term volatility in exchange for exposure to multi-decade opportunities. These individuals identify fundamental shifts in demographics, technology, or economic organization that create persistent tailwinds for specific sectors or geographies. This approach requires conviction to maintain positions through market cycles and patience to allow theses to play out over extended periods. Investors pursuing long-term structural strategies often accept illiquidity, concentrate portfolios more than conventional wisdom suggests, and communicate perspectives that diverge from consensus views.

George Soros exemplifies the profound impact that strategic global investing can have beyond pure financial returns. Having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion has already been distributed, Soros represents 64% of his original fortune dedicated to global causes . His investment philosophy combines rigorous market analysis with a commitment to supporting democratic institutions and human rights worldwide.

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order allowing regular investors to gamble money in the private markets, potentially leading to a financial crisis that harms the general public.

U.S. DC investment allocations have been limited to investing only in publicly traded stocks and bonds, missing out on private market opportunities like real estate and private equity.