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- Managed portfoliosLet us manage your private markets portfolio
- Direct investmentsBrowse available investments
- RetirementAdd private markets to an IRA
How much do you know about private markets?
In the mid-1990s, more than 8,000 companies were publicly listed in the United States. Roughly how many are listed today?
The decline has two main drivers. The cost and complexity of going and staying public have risen, with underwriting fees, SEC disclosure requirements, and quarterly reporting obligations weighing hardest on smaller companies that historically made up the bulk of new listings. At the same time, the growth of venture capital, private equity, and other private funding sources has made it possible for companies to raise capital at scale without going public.
What is a key difference between private equity and private credit?
Private equity investors take ownership stakes in companies, seeking returns through growth and eventual sale. Private credit investors act as lenders, seeking returns through interest payments. These two asset classes play different roles in a portfolio: equity offers growth potential, while credit is designed to provide income and tends to carry a different risk profile.
A company needs capital to expand but does not want to go through the process of listing on a public stock exchange. What is one way it can raise that capital?
Companies typically raise capital in two ways: by selling ownership or by borrowing. When a company sells ownership stakes to investors outside of public markets, that transaction is the foundation of private equity. Companies may choose this path because going public involves significant cost, regulatory burden, and ongoing disclosure requirements. Private equity gives them access to capital while remaining private, and it gives investors the opportunity to participate in growth that is not available through a traditional brokerage account.
Which of the following is not a vehicle for accessing private markets?
Investors access private markets through several types of vehicles. Drawdown funds call committed capital over a multi-year period and return capital as exits occur. Evergreen funds accept capital on a rolling basis and have no set end date, offering more flexibility around timing and liquidity. Co-investments allow investors to participate directly in individual deals alongside a fund manager. By contrast, a hedge fund typically trades publicly listed securities and is not a private markets vehicle.
In many private market investments, investors cannot withdraw their capital on demand the way they can sell a stock on a public exchange. What is this characteristic called?
Private market investments are generally illiquid, meaning investors cannot easily convert their holdings to cash on short notice. Rather than a flaw, this illiquidity is a core feature of the asset class, as it allows fund managers to pursue longer-term strategies without pressure to optimize for short-term market prices. In return, investors are often compensated for accepting a degree of illiquidity through what is known as the liquidity premium.
David Swensen, the longtime chief investment officer at Yale, pioneered a model that significantly increased endowment allocations to private markets. What was the core idea behind his approach?
Swensen shifted Yale’s endowment away from a traditional stock-and-bond portfolio and allocated heavily to private equity, venture capital, real estate, and other private markets asset classes. His thesis was that institutions with long time horizons and no near-term need for liquidity were well positioned to capture the premium that typically comes with less liquid investments. The approach helped establish private markets as a core portfolio allocation rather than a niche strategy.
A publicly traded stock drops 15% in a single day after a disappointing earnings report. A private equity fund holds a similar company. How is the private company’s value most likely affected?
Public stocks are priced continuously on exchanges, meaning their valuations reflect real-time investor sentiment. Private investments are valued periodically, typically on a quarterly basis, using appraisals or financial models rather than market trading.
Private credit has grown significantly as an asset class over the past fifteen years. What was a primary driver of that growth?
Following the 2008 financial crisis, regulations like the Dodd-Frank Act increased capital requirements and compliance costs for banks, which reduced their appetite for lending to smaller and mid-sized borrowers. Private credit funds emerged to fill that gap, offering financing to companies that could no longer access it as easily through traditional channels. The asset class has grown from approximately $310 billion in 2010 to over $3.5 trillion in global assets under management by the end of 2024.
A private equity fund charges a 1.5% annual management fee on committed capital. An investor commits $100,000. In the first year, only $40,000 has been called and deployed. What is the fee calculated on?
Many private markets funds charge management fees on committed capital, not just the amount that has been invested. This means an investor may pay fees on capital the manager has not yet called or put to work. Understanding how fees are calculated, including whether they apply to committed or invested capital, is an important part of evaluating any fund.
For most of their history, private markets investments were accessible almost exclusively to institutional investors like endowments and pension funds. What has been a key factor in broadening access to individual investors?
Historically, private markets required large minimum commitments and were available only to institutional investors or individuals meeting high income and net worth thresholds. The SEC’s accredited investor standard, for example, requires a net worth exceeding $1 million or annual income above $200,000. In recent years, the development of new fund structures has begun to lower those barriers. Evergreen vehicles and interval funds now offer features that make private markets accessible to a wider range of investors.
What's Willow Wealth?
Willow Wealth enables you to build a private markets portfolio across real estate, private credit, private equity, and more. Our platform provides access to differentiated individual investments and diversified funds, as well as an automated investing solution that handles everything for you. Join more than 500,000 members and start investing today.
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View important footnotes related to performance, returns, duration, and other information about Willow Wealth investments
1 Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Any historical returns, expected returns, or probability projections may not reflect actual future performance. All securities involve risk and may result in significant losses.
3 "Annual interest," "Annualized Return" or "Target Returns" represents a projected annual target rate of interest or annualized target return, and not returns or interest actually obtained by fund investors. “Term" represents the estimated term of the investment; the term of the fund is generally at the discretion of the fund’s manager, and may exceed the estimated term by a significant amount of time. Unless otherwise specified on the fund's offering page, target interest or returns are based on an analysis performed by Willow Wealth of the potential inflows and outflows related to the transactions in which the strategy or fund has engaged and/or is anticipated to engage in over the estimated term of the fund. There is no guarantee that targeted interest or returns will be realized or achieved or that an investment will be successful. Actual performance may deviate from these expectations materially, including due to market or economic factors, portfolio management decisions, modelling error, or other reasons.
4 Reflects the annualized distribution rate that is calculated by taking the most recent quarterly distribution approved by the Fund's Board of Directors and dividing it by prior quarter-end NAV and annualizing it. The Fund’s distribution may exceed its earnings. Therefore, a portion of the Fund’s distribution may be a return of the money you originally invested and represent a return of capital to you for tax purposes.
5 Represents the sum of the interest accrued in the statement period plus the interest paid in the statement period.
6 The internal rate of return ("IRR") represents an average net realized IRR with respect to all matured investments, excluding our Short Term Notes and Structured Notes programs, weighted by the investment size of each individual investment, made by private investment vehicles managed by Willow Asset Management LLCfrom July 1, 2015 through and including March 31, 2025, after deduction of management fees and all other expenses charged to investments.
7 Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Yieldstreet Alternative Income Fund before investing. The prospectus for the Yieldstreet Alternative Income Fund contains this and other information about the Fund and can be obtained by contacting us or by referring to www.yieldstreetalternativeincomefund.com. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing in the Fund. Investments in the Fund are not bank deposits (and thus not insured by the FDIC or by any other federal governmental agency) and are not guaranteed by Willow Wealth or any other party.
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9 Statistics as of the most recent month end.
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Private placement investments are NOT bank deposits (and thus NOT insured by the FDIC or by any other federal governmental agency), are NOT guaranteed by Willow Wealth or any other party, and MAY lose value. Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority has recommended or approved any investment or the accuracy or completeness of any of the information or materials provided by or through the website. Investors must be able to afford the loss of their entire investment.
Investments in private placements are speculative and involve a high degree of risk and those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest. Additionally, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted securities that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. Investments in private placements are highly illiquid and those investors who cannot hold an investment for the long term (at least 5-7 years) should not invest.
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Investing in private placements requires long-term commitments, the ability to afford to lose the entire investment, and low liquidity needs. This website provides preliminary and general information about the Securities and is intended for initial reference purposes only. It does not summarize or compile all the applicable information. This website does not constitute an offer to sell or buy any securities. No offer or sale of any Securities will occur without the delivery of confidential offering materials and related documents. This information contained herein is qualified by and subject to more detailed information in the applicable offering materials.
Willow Wealth Inc. is the direct owner of Willow Asset Management LLC, which is an SEC-registered investment adviser that manages the Willow Wealth funds and provides investment advice to the Willow Wealth funds, and in certain cases, to retail investors.Willow Wealth Markets LLC is an indirect subsidiary of Willow Wealth Inc..Willow Wealth Markets LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”). Information on all FINRA registered broker-dealers can be found on FINRA’s BrokerCheck. Despite its affiliation with Willow Asset Management LLC, Willow Wealth Markets LLC has no role in the investment advisory services received by Willow Wealth clients.
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