Private markets are growing fast and so is investor curiosity. Yet misconceptions about access,
liquidity and complexity continue to hold many back.
Christian Ryan, Executive Chair of FinCap, address the key areas.
What are private investments?
Despite popular narratives, private investments are nothing new. They operate similarly to public
investments whereby capital is allocated to a particular asset, project or company, and the
investor receives returns in the form of income, capital appreciation, or both.
They take on various forms – private equity, private credit, venture capital and real assets – with
the main difference being that transactions occur outside public markets and are not publicly
reported.
Private credit is a useful example. It functions similarly to a bank loan whereby capital is lent to
an organisation, interest is paid and returns are generated. Unlike a traditional bank loan, private
credit is arranged by non-bank institutional lenders, allowing for more tailored lending
arrangements.
How do I get in and how do I get out?
Private markets are more accessible than ever, available through private market platforms,
private equity fund-of-funds, listed trusts or co-investments. A licensed wealth manager can
provide various options and guide the investment process from start to finish.
Exit is where investors often grow wary. Private investments are typically illiquid or semi-illiquid,
requiring long-term capital exposure before gains can be fully realised or an asset sold.
However, the growing range of opportunities means portfolios can increasingly be tailored to
individual liquidity preferences and investment horizons.
What am I actually investing in?
More than most people realise. Your local coffee shop, your dentist, the family holiday park you
return to every summer – all these are all private businesses that could, theoretically, become
investments. The land these companies sit on, the real assets they hold and the income they
generate are what private investors are backing.
With around two-thirds of Australia’s private-sector workforce employed by small and medium-
sized private businesses (ASBFEO, 2023) most people interact with this market every day –
often more than they do with the mega-caps listed on the stock exchange.
Private investments are not abstract or unfamiliar. The majority of the investment pool is made
up of everyday community businesses.
How big is the private investment market?
Private market opportunities span everything from local community businesses to international,
pre-IPO companies – making the pool almost immeasurably large.In 2025, the Australian private credit industry was valued at approximately A$235 billion (EY, 2025) and accounted for around 12 per cent of business and corporate lending (EY).
The McKinsey Global Institute estimates around US$3.7 trillion a year is needed to fund global
infrastructure, a financing gap private capital is increasingly being called on to help fill.
How do I know what my investment is worth?
Unlike public markets where you can access a live, consolidated portfolio view driven by real-
time buyer activity, tracking the value of a private portfolio is more complex.
Fund managers and independent third parties typically issue a Net Asset Value (NAV) report
quarterly, or even annually, creating an unavoidable lag and degree of subjectivity in valuations.
Ryan says this is a system problem, not a private market one.
With the launch of the FinCap Platform later this month, private portfolios will gain much of the
visibility investors are used to in public markets. The managed account platform consolidates
data from partnered fund managers and research houses, giving advisers and wholesale
investors a single, near-continuous view of their private holdings.
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