Family offices and other institutional investors are putting more money into private markets, but they want a clearer route back to their capital, according to new research from Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) Investor Services.
The BBH Private Markets Investor Survey, now in its second year, found that more than a quarter of investors expect over 30% of their investments to sit in private markets strategies within the next five years. Most (84%) plan to increase their private markets investments over the next two years.
Private equity is the top target for new investment at 54%, up 16 points on last year. Private credit follows at 44%, up 20 points year on year.
Conducted by Wakefield Research, the survey canvassed 500 institutional investors and wealth advisers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and Japan between 5 and 17 August 2026. Each market was split evenly between institutional investors (pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, insurers and family offices) and wealth advisers (private banks, registered investment advisers and wealth management firms) serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
Liquidity moves up the agenda
Liquidity emerged as a top priority in this year's report. Investors said their preferred window for deploying capital in private markets is four to six years (66%), followed by an even shorter window of two to three years. That preference may be driven partly by experience: three in four private markets investors said the time it took to get capital returned grew longer over the past year.
Lata Vyas, Head of Alternative Client Solutions at BBH, said investors are leaning into private markets and that macro and geopolitical uncertainty is only strengthening that conviction. At the same time, she noted, they are becoming more discerning about liquidity and want to understand exactly how it works, including how redemptions are governed and what to expect when they need access to their capital.
A call for transparency
Transparency is another key focus. Respondents want more reliable reporting of liquidity calculations and clearer redemption rules and gating criteria, and more than three-quarters are turning to general partners (GPs) or advisers to help them understand these features.
On product innovation, investors rank private market exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as an attractive fund structure. Most say, however, that better transparency into underlying holdings, along with greater liquidity and trading efficiency, would speed up their adoption. Respondents also see tokenisation bringing several benefits to private markets, including blockchain security, fractional ownership and a wider liquidity window.
Chris Adams, Global Head of Business Development for Alternative Funds Services at BBH, said interest in private markets product innovation is underpinned by investors' desire for greater liquidity and access. In his view, the managers who succeed will be those that pair structures offering liquidity, such as evergreen funds, with clear rules, real transparency and a genuine commitment to investor education.
For family offices weighing larger private markets allocations, the findings point to liquidity terms and clear reporting as growing priorities.
Source: Brown Brothers Harriman via Business Wire.
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