Private Market Investing
Browse all Private Markets Content
Private market investing is reshaping how capital flows and value is created. To keep up, investors and professionals need sharper skills, stronger insights, and strategies that work in real time.
At a Glance
- Private markets are reshaping modern portfolios
- Complexity and opacity are challenges across asset classes
- Independent research is critical to informed decision-making
- Investors need stronger frameworks to navigate risks and trade-offs
Private equity, private credit, venture debt, and other alternatives are no longer niche—they’re core to modern portfolios. They offer the potential for high returns and diversification, but also bring challenges: opaque structures, limited liquidity, higher fees and different governance standards.
CFA Institute Research and Policy Center provides research, learning pathways, and policy guidance to help professionals navigate this complex environment. Our global surveys and governance research highlight best practices and emerging risks. And our critical reviews of private equity and alternative credit help make clear the opportunities and the trade-offs.
The DOL Pathway for Private Assets in 401(k)s — Are the Guardrails Strong Enough?
By Kurt Schacht, CFA
Cracks in Private Markets and the Risks of Semi-Liquid Funds
Mark Higgins, CFA, and Leyla Kunimoto
Infrastructure Debt: Alternative Credit to Finance the Future
By Simon Beckman, Philip Clements, CFA, Matthieu Le Bret, and Alfonso Ricciardelli, CFA
Private Capital Frontiers - Register Today!
Private markets are transforming. Are you ready to lead the shift? A different webinar each month.
Avoiding Retail Confusion Regarding Private Market Assets
The panel will examine how risks are disclosed to retail investors in offering and marketing material and how product advertising is reviewed by regulators; it will also explore strategies that both the securities industry and securities regulators could implement to avoid investor confusion and hardship. The full IAC meeting agenda can be found here.
Panelists: (discussion begins at 19:05)
- Stephen Deane, Senior Director for Capital Markets Policy at CFA Institute
- Mark Higgins, Senior Vice President, IFA Institutional
- Kevin T. Gannon, Chairman/CEO, Robert A Stanger & Co Inc.
- Joe Sheirer, Senior Vice President of Corporate Financing & Advertising Regulation, FINRA
- Jason Zweig, Journalist, Wall Street Journal
Read the Bloomberg article SEC Sounds Alarm on Disclosure Bloat at Private Credit Funds (requires a subscription)
Private Credit’s Verification Problem
By Saad Muhayyodin Maan
Alternative Credit: The Rise of Consumer Lending
By Patrizia Lando, and Alfonso Ricciardelli, CFA
Continuation Funds: Ethics in Private Markets, Part I
By Stephen Deane, CFA, and Ken Robinson, CFA, CIPM
Comment Letter to FAF on the Review of the Private Company Council
By CFA Institute
Capital Formation in Africa: A Case for Private Markets
By Olivier Fines, CFA, and Phoebe Chan
Private Markets: Governance Issues Rise to the Fore
An Introduction to Alternative Credit
The Economics of Private Equity: A Critical Review
Private Markets Webinar Series sponsored by PGIM
These three webinars explore key private markets issues: whether diversification still delivers, how liquidity risk affects alternative investments, and why private and public valuation methods differ — highlighting implications for portfolio construction, risk management, and investor decision-making.