A study of 30 UK and other European wealth managers and private banks finds that most have built private markets offerings, but few explain them clearly to clients. Swiss banks are among the best performers in this respect.

Europe’s wealth management sector has a communications problem: they’ve built private market capabilities, but aren’t spelling out what they do clearly to clients, a survey finds. 

The Wealth 30 report, produced by Peregrine Communications, a financial services communications consultancy, has found publicly observable evidence of private markets engagement at 73 per cent of the firms examined. But only 40 per cent run a dedicated landing page explaining the asset class and how clients can access it. And as few as 23 per cent combine explainers, a dedicated destination and regular house-view content.

The findings come as private markets push further into wealth portfolios. More than 80 per cent of wealth managers globally expect to raise private markets allocations over the next three years, according to MSCI. Semi-liquid evergreen structures and the revised European Long-Term Investment Fund regime, ELTIF 2.0, which removed the €10,000 ($11,250 ) minimum subscription for retail investors, have lowered barriers to access. Private markets assets reached around $16 trillion in 2025, up from under $3.8 trillion in 2008, the report said.

(Editor’s note: There has been a steady drumbeat of noise about why affluent and high net worth clients should allocate more to private markets and capture the benefits. One reason was that after the 2008 financial crisis, interest rates sank to zero or negative in real terms, crushing yields on listed equities and bonds, fuelling a drive into alternatives to capture an illiquidity premium. More structurally, there has been a shift of companies from public listed markets to private hands, increasing the universe of investable private companies. Another reason is that private market funds earn more in fees than, say, a conventional long-only equity fund and far above passive tracker funds of the sort that boomed after the GFC. Some of the industry focus on private markets is driven by a desire to protect and grow margins.)

The study analysed how firms positioned private markets across websites, client materials and media coverage between 1 January 2025 and 31 March 2026. It is Peregrine's first study of the wealth channel, the firm said.

Switzerland shines
Swiss private banks performed best, with 70 per cent maintaining dedicated private markets destinations. Pictet, Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), Lombard Odier and Julius Baer all support their positioning with regular insight content, and UBP and Julius Baer link education directly to access routes. Coutts was the clearest UK example. UK firms more often embed private markets in portfolio documentation without surfacing them, although Arbuthnot Latham and Sarasin & Partners were cited for plain-English explainers.

Messaging is largely undifferentiated. Of the 19 firms with clearly articulated propositions, 79 per cent anchor on access, while 68 per cent emphasise diversification and the same proportion global capability. These three themes account for more than 70 per cent of the 57 positioning claims analysed. Only three firms give prominence to risk, governance or liquidity oversight in top-tier messaging, and 11 per cent articulate a clear conviction.

Media visibility is concentrated. Five firms generate half of all wealth management coverage and the top ten account for 70 per cent. Alternatives make up only seven per cent of sector coverage.

“We watched this happen in asset management,” Anthony Payne, managing partner at Peregrine, said. “A handful of firms made their thinking easy to find, took most of the coverage and most of the flows, and the rest spent the next decade explaining why their product was better. Wealth management is at exactly that point now.”

The private markets story has had its difficulties. Earlier in 2026 several private credit funds experienced exits from private investors concerned about defaults, although industry figures said such worries were exaggerated. 

There has been talk of “democratisation” of private markets and governments in Europe, including the UK, have built structures to enhance access. Debate continues about the merits of encouraging retail investors to buy illiquid assets without guidance and managed expectations. 

On a related point, BWC Benchmarking, which tracks the operational and business performance of UK wealth managers, said in report in late September that the UK wealth sector must spend a higher share of revenue on marketing to increase organic growth. The sector has become over-reliant on rising markets to sustain revenue growth, raising the risk of pain in a market downturn.