Private market investments have been a staple of institutional portfolios for decades, and increasingly some of the barriers to investing are being eliminated, effectively enabling greater access to the asset class for high-net-worth and mass affluent investors. Those groups may want to consider taking advantage of the broadening market opportunity. Some of the most compelling reasons? The strong historical performance of the asset class, as well as the depth of the opportunity set relative to the shrinking number of publicly listed companies that can provide meaningful diversification for investors. 

While the returns and diversification benefits have been attractive, first-time private market investors should be aware of the differences between private investments and traditional stocks and bonds. But given the opportunity, investors may benefit from making private investments a part of their broader portfolio.