Navigating the Private Markets Wave: The Critical Role of Your RIA Advisor

As private markets spread into the portfolios of everyday investors, navigating them without a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) has become riskier than ever. The combination of complex products, limited liquidity, and opaque pricing makes professional, fiduciary guidance essential rather than optional. DWAM is an RIA, and its advisors act as fiduciaries, putting clients’ interests first when evaluating whether and how private markets fit into an overall plan.

Complexity and product proliferation
Private assets now span private equity, credit, real estate, infrastructure, secondaries, and semi‑liquid evergreen or interval funds, each with different lockups, fee layers, and valuation methods. An RIA such as DWAM can help translate this complexity into a coherent plan, selecting structures that fit an investor’s time horizon and risk tolerance instead of chasing every new offering.

Fiduciary oversight and due diligence
Regulatory efforts are widening retail access to private markets, but they place the burden of suitability and monitoring squarely on the investor and any advisor involved. Because DWAM operates as a fiduciary RIA, its advisors are obligated to evaluate manager quality, conflicts, and fee drag, and to document why a particular private‑market allocation is appropriate for a specific client, not just appealing in marketing materials.

Liquidity, risk management, and planning
Illiquidity, redemption gates, and infrequent valuations can create nasty surprises for households that may need cash for education, housing, or retirement income. DWAM advisors can size exposures, ladder commitments, and integrate private assets into a broader financial plan so that clients are paid for taking illiquidity risk instead of being blindsided by it.

Turning opportunity into advantage
Surveys show most advisors expect to increase client allocations to private markets and view them as a strategic necessity, not a niche add‑on. For individual investors, partnering with a fiduciary RIA like DWAM, whose advisors understand these markets, is increasingly the difference between harnessing private assets for diversification and returns, and merely accumulating expensive, illiquid products that do not serve long‑term goals.

Disclosure

Investing in private markets involves a high degree of risk, including the potential loss of principal. Private investments are often illiquid, may incur significant fees, and are not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any security. DWAM is a Registered Investment Adviser. Please consult your financial advisor to determine whether private market investments are appropriate for your individual circumstances.

Sources

1. PwC. “Private Markets to Account for More Than Half of Global Asset Management Industry Revenues by 2030 – PwC 2025 Global Asset & Wealth Management Report.” https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-room/press-releases/2025/pwc-2025-global-asset-wealth-management-report.html​
2. McKinsey. “Global Private Markets Report 2025.” https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/private-capital/our-insights/global-private-markets-report​
3. Schroders. “Private Markets Investment Outlook Q4 2025: Focus on Resilience.” https://www.schroders.com/en-us/us/institutional/insights/private-markets-investment-outlook-q4-2025-focus-on-resilience​
4. BlackRock. “2025 Private Markets Outlook.” https://www.blackrock.com/za/professionals/insights/private-markets-outlook​
5. Ropes & Gray. “Retail Investor Access to Private Market Assets Through Registered Funds.” https://www.ropesgray.com/en/insights/alerts/2025/09/retail-investor-access-to-private-market-assets-through-registered-funds​
6. Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. “Expanding Opportunities for U.S. Investors and Retirement Savers by Expanding Access to Private Markets.” https://capmktsreg.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CCMR-Expanding-Access-to-Private-Markets-08.07.25-Final.pdf​
7. AssetMark. “2025 AssetMark Advisor Insights: Private Markets Report.” https://www.assetmark.com/blog/2025-advisor-insights-private-markets-report​
8. Hamilton Lane. “2025 Global Private Wealth Survey.” https://explore.hamiltonlane.com/2025-global-private-wealth-survey​
9. Morningstar. “Private Assets Are Redefining How Portfolios Are Built.” https://www.morningstar.com/funds/private-assets-are-redefining-how-portfolios-are-built​

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