No Longer Alternative: How RIAs Are Investing in Private Markets
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Private market investments may be categorized as “alternative” assets, but that designation no longer aligns with how many RIAs are using them in portfolio construction.
In our 2025 RIA Private Markets Survey, we asked more than 100 RIAs how they are using private markets, which asset classes appear most attractive, and where they see challenges and opportunities. Nearly half said they currently allocate 10% or more of their assets under management (AUM) to private market investments, and 81% expect to maintain or exceed that level within five years (Exhibit 1).
For these RIAs, the results are clear: Private markets have shifted from a niche allocation to a core building block of client portfolios, driven by the potential for higher returns, diversification benefits, and access to a broader universe of opportunities.
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EXHIBIT 1: Current vs. Target Allocations to Private Markets
The release of this year’s survey comes on the heels of the 3rd annual KKR RIA Forum and RIA Advisory Board meeting, hosted at KKR’s New York Headquarters in October 2025. The KKR RIA Advisory Board consists of top executives and decision-makers from leading RIA firms who provide strategic guidance, industry insights, and thought leadership to KKR, while networking and sharing ideas amongst each other. A wider group of clients, primarily including CIOs, Directors of Research, and other key decision-makers from leading RIAs across the United States, attended the Forum.
“In more and more of our conversations with RIAs, they recognize that they need solutions beyond what is available in public markets to achieve their clients’ goals,” said Doug Krupa, Head of Global Wealth Solutions in the Americas at KKR. “For many of these advisors, the most common question we get now is not, ‘if,’ but how – how to educate clients, how to integrate private markets in portfolios, and how to deal with common implementation issues.”
The enthusiasm we captured isn’t an isolated signal—it aligns with the prevailing trend emerging across the RIA market. According to recent survey data from Cerulli, the average allocation to private markets was just 2.3% across RIA portfolios, yet 28.7% of RIAs anticipated increasing their allocations by 2026.1 While Cerulli’s survey captured a broad cross-section of the RIA market overall, KKR’s RIA survey focused more narrowly on current private market allocators—mostly those already engaging with or actively considering private investment opportunities. Together, the two data sets illustrate both the broader industry trajectory and the perspective of RIAs at the forefront of private market adoption.
1. Asset Classes on the Rise
The survey took a closer look at where RIAs see the greatest potential in private markets. Compared with our 2024 results, significantly more respondents plan to increase allocations to private infrastructure, private equity, private credit, and private real estate (Exhibit 2), while fewer expect to just maintain or reduce their allocations.
Private infrastructure registered the largest jump, with the share of respondents planning to increase allocations rising from 32% to 76%. Investors are gravitating toward the asset class based on three historical strengths: capital preservation, inflation protection, and the potential for asset appreciation supported by operational improvements.
Beyond investor interest, private infrastructure has emerged as a distinct and rapidly expanding asset class as global demand for modernized essential systems increasingly exceeds the capacity of public funding sources. As KKR Global Head of Macro & Asset Allocation Henry McVey noted in September 2024, “More traditional suppliers of infrastructure funding, such as governments and corporations, have recently become hindered by their excessive debt loads.” He also noted that, “those economic areas experiencing explosive growth of late, such as data and the energy transition, are increasingly being backed through private sources, not government entities.” The GMAA team forecast that $3.7 trillion a year in infrastructure investment will be needed through 2035 to meet global GDP needs.
Private equity followed a similar trajectory, with the proportion of those intending to increase allocations moving from 45% in 2024 to 74% in 2025. Alisa Amarosa Wood, a Partner and leader on KKR’s evergreen Private Equity strategies, and Paula Campbell Roberts, KKR’s Chief Investment Strategist for Global Wealth, highlighted the appeal of private equity for individual investors in a recent article, noting, “For investors seeking stronger long-term returns and greater resilience, incorporating private equity into a diversified portfolio, alongside other private markets investments, can enhance performance, broaden opportunity, and better navigate market uncertainty relative to a traditional 60/40 allocation.”
This upward momentum carried through to private credit and real estate. The percentage of RIAs planning to increase allocations to private credit climbed from 15% to 53%, while those intending to boost exposure to private real estate rose from just 8% in 2024 to 42% in 2025. This trend aligns with what Julia Butler, CEO of KKR’s evergreen real estate strategy, highlighted at the RIA Forum: sentiment in real estate markets has been more positive in recent months due to the combination of steadier pricing, the tax-efficiency of real estate income, attractive entry points, and solid supply-demand dynamics in many regions and sectors.
EXHIBIT 2A: Percentage of RIAs Planning to Increase their Allocation to Private Markets over the Next 12 Months (2024 vs. 2025)
EXHIBIT 2B: RIAs Expect to Increase or Maintain Allocations to Private Markets and Decrease or Maintain Allocations to Public Markets
The desire to gain exposure to private markets contrasts with a stark drop-off in the appetite for traditional stocks and bonds. A substantial 90% of RIAs said they planned to decrease or maintain their exposure to public fixed income this year—aligning with broad expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, flattening fixed income returns. In public equities, 84% said they intended to decrease or maintain their current exposure, dovetailing with ripples of concern about overconcentration, particularly in companies heavily investing in or exposed to artificial intelligence. The sheer number of public companies has also been shrinking, while private markets have been growing larger over the last two decades (Exhibit 3). As KKR’s Chief Investment Strategist for Global Wealth Paula Campbell Roberts noted at the RIA Forum, “It’s going to be very challenging for the next five years of the S&P 500 to look like the last five years.”
EXHIBIT 3: The Number of Private Companies Is Growing, While Public Markets Have Been Shrinking
When asked what drives their interest in private markets, RIAs most often cited diversification, higher return potential, and lower correlation to public markets (Exhibit 4). That diversification benefit has become especially relevant in the current environment. As our Global Macro & Asset Allocation team noted in its Mid-Year Outlook, the rolling 24-month correlation between stocks and bonds turned positive as inflation rose in 2022. Since then, correlations have averaged around 60%, a sharp reversal from the common understanding that bonds serve as the counterbalance to stock movements. This shift underscores why many RIAs are looking beyond traditional stock-bond portfolios to achieve diversification amid a higher-for-longer inflation regime.
EXHIBIT 4: Returns, Diversification, and Income Are Driving RIA Interest in Private Markets
These drivers of private market interest show up clearly in the areas RIAs find most compelling. Among the four major categories—private equity, private credit, private infrastructure, and private real estate—interest was highest in asset-based finance (73%), followed by core-plus infrastructure (71%) and buyout funds (70%) (Exhibit 5).
EXHIBIT 5: RIAs Sub-Strategy Preferences Bear Out Need for Higher Returns and Diversification
Portfolio Objective | Potential Private Market Strategy |
|---|---|
Enhanced returns |
|
Diversification |
|
Need for alternate sources of income |
|
Navigate sticky inflation |
|
2. Scalability: Evergreen Models are the New Default Structure
Equally important to where RIAs allocate are the structures they use to access those opportunities. Nearly nine in 10 advisors surveyed—87%—reported using evergreen vehicles for private markets exposure in 2025 (Exhibit 6). The potential advantages for clients include operational efficiency, simplified subscription and onboarding, ability to scale across client portfolios, potential for quarterly liquidity, and easier reporting.
Evergreen vehicles’ capacity for perpetual subscriptions and enhanced liquidity relative to drawdowns is a core ingredient in their growing popularity, smoothing out strategy onboarding for RIAs and providing operational consistency. Drawdown funds, on the other hand, typically are less liquid and come with longer investment periods, which can require additional planning by RIAs related to capital calls, unplanned distributions and lockup details, as they work around the cash flow needs of those on their client rosters. Our private equity team has written extensively about the ways evergreen vehicles and drawdown funds can complement one another in investor portfolios. Some investors may use drawdown vehicles to express specific views on a region or sector, while reinvesting drawdown fund distributions into evergreen vehicles to ensure they maintain the desired level of exposure to an asset class through the life of the fund. Reflecting this range of use cases, KKR supports advisors across structures—evergreen, drawdown, interval, and third-party feeders—providing the flexibility RIAs need to tailor solutions to client-specific objectives. Ultimately, the right vehicle depends on each client’s goals, liquidity needs, and overall portfolio design.
The recurring theme of operational efficiency also comes through in how RIAs are leveraging technology: More than three-quarters now use third-party platforms to support client onboarding, subscription documents, and to manage private market investments at scale. These providers help streamline and integrate data collection and reporting, reducing operational burdens for advisors.
EXHIBIT 6: Evergreen Vehicles and Third-Party Platforms Edging Out Drawdown Funds
3. From Buy-In to Scale: Closing the Educational Gap
As the role of private markets within investor portfolios crystallizes, the focus turns to implementation—how RIAs will deliver access and scale allocations effectively. When asked about the major considerations in addressing this, RIAs pointed to client education as the foremost challenge (Exhibit 7), along with navigating differences in liquidity access, fee structures, and operational complexities related to reporting, technology, and subscription models.
EXHIBIT 7: Challenges in Implementing Private Markets Shift from Access to Scale
These findings highlight the importance of ensuring both advisors and their clients feel confident navigating private market investments—and the need for managers to prioritize this focus. KKR continues to invest in educational resources that provide scalable training, actionable insights, and practical implementation frameworks. Through Alternatives Unlocked–our open-access learning platform–advisors can access curricula designed for their practices as well as our ongoing thought leadership. We also provide tailored training designed to address gaps in understanding at every level—from investment teams and due diligence groups to advisors and end clients.
Clearly, as more RIAs look to private markets to solve clients’ key challenges, maintaining a strong client experience becomes increasingly important. RIAs need more support contextualizing the benefits and challenges of private markets for their clients and managing the operational aspect of implementation.
4. Client Outcomes as the Primary Driver
Knowing that a positive client experience is key to successfully implementing any strategy, we also asked our survey respondents about their clients’ biggest investment challenges. Tax efficiency topped the list, with 59% of respondents naming it as a priority for clients (Exhibit 8). Coming in a cluster not far behind were growing wealth, transferring wealth, and diversification as a means of managing volatility. Together, these priorities reinforce the broader trend we've highlighted elsewhere: Many clients are focused on bottom-line results and the long-term stability of their portfolios.
EXHIBIT 8: Clients Have Pressing Need for Performance, Diversification, and Stability
5. Building Efficiency and Deepening Relationships Through Private Markets
When we asked RIAs what they’re prioritizing in their practices today, operational efficiency topped the list, followed by expanding client relationships (Exhibit 9). In our view, these two themes often go hand in hand. Many firms have made meaningful operational enhancements through technology—streamlining workflows, integrating data systems, and adopting digital client tools that have made it easier to expand into new areas such as private markets. At the same time, RIAs are increasingly centralizing investment and research functions to achieve greater scale and consistency across client portfolios. According to Cerulli,5 strategic acquirers with centralized operations achieved 3.7% organic growth, compared with 2.8% for financial acquirers—a roughly 32% higher growth rate driven by integration, shared investment research, and operational leverage.
EXHIBIT 9: Practice Management Priorities Point to Importance of Retaining and Attracting New Clients
This focus on efficiency and scale comes as data show that high-net-worth clients are more willing than ever to change advisors in pursuit of better alignment. PwC survey data indicate that a significant share of investors have switched or added advisors in recent years due to unmet needs, limited product access, and a desire for greater personalization.6 For RIAs, that dynamic presents both a challenge and an opportunity—particularly for those who can offer broader access to private market investments. In a 2025 survey conducted by CAIS and Mercer, 81% said they help clients meet goals, 79% of advisors said private markets differentiate their practice, and 62% reported they help win new clients.7
In short, RIAs increasingly recognize that integrating private markets can help them deliver the tailored, outcome-oriented solutions clients expect, strengthening both client acquisition and retention.
Conclusion: The Next Phase of Maturity
The organic growth and acceptance of private markets within the fiduciary wealth channel have played out over several years, and many forward-thinking RIAs have embedded these investments as a core component of portfolio design.
The ability to further scale allocations will increasingly depend on operational discipline, client and advisor education, clear communication of outcomes, and manager partnerships that provide both access and insight. KKR remains dedicated to helping RIAs evolve through dedicated education, capabilities, and solutions tailored to the needs of today’s wealth clients.
Advisors, we'd love to connect with you.
The survey prior to the 2025 KKR RIA Forum collected responses from 108 RIA stakeholders on a range of topics linked to private markets. Nearly 75% of those polled are members of the investment teams or among the executive leadership of their firms. More than 81% of the advisors surveyed have at least $500 million of assets under management, and more than 30% manage $5 billion or more.
REFERENCES
1 Cerulli Associates. “The Cerulli Report: US RIA Marketplace 2024 — Redefining the Framework of Independence.” November 2024, page 180, Exhibit 7.04.
2 Source: Please see Exhibit 1 in our KKR.com article, “Staying on Course in Private Equity.” Based on Cambridge Associates LLC data as of September 30, 2024, reflecting 455 basis-point outperformance (actual pooled horizon return, net of fees, expenses and carried interest) of the Global Private Equity Index (showing funds formed between 1986-2023) vs. the MSCI World Index.
3 Please see Exhibit 6 of our KKR.com article, “Private Infrastructure: An Asset Class for All Economic Conditions,” published in December 2024. The chart shows that private infrastructure gave a higher quarterly return in the year prior to a recession and during a recession between 20024 and 2024. Note: Analysis taking the average of the quarterly returns from 1Q04-2Q24 4 quarters before or in quarters defined as recessions by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Private Equity, Private Infrastructure, Private Credit, and Private Real Estate refer to the respective Cambridge Associates Benchmark Index and are quoted in net return. Global Equities refers to the MSCI World Index. Listed Infrastructure refers to the S&P Global Infrastructure Index. Global Bonds refers to the Bloomberg Global Agg Index. Global Equities, Listed Infrastructure, and Global Bonds are gross returns. Source: NBER, Bloomberg, MSCI, Cambridge Associates, KKR GBR analysis.
4 Please see Exhibit 5 of our KKR.com article, “Private Infrastructure: An Asset Class for All Economic Conditions,” published in December 2024. The chart shows that private infrastructure achieved an attractive Sharpe ratio relative to most other public and private asset classes. The data in the chart is as of December 30, 2023. Private Real Estate modeled using the Cambridge Associates Real Estate Index. Private Infrastructure modeled using the Cambridge Associates Infrastructure Index. Private Equity modeled using the Cambridge Associates Private Equity Index. Private Credit modeled using the Cliffwater Direct Lending Index. Source: KKR GBR.
5 Cerulli Associates. “The Cerulli Report: US RIA Marketplace 2024 — Redefining the Framework of Independence.” November 2024
7 CAIS and Mercer. “2026 Report: CAIS-Mercer Alternative Investment Survey -- The State of Alternative Investments in Wealth Management.” December 2025.
