April 2025

In this month’s Alternative Investor, we unpack the biggest moves in alternatives and dive into the accelerating trend of retailisation.

In the news, volatility returned, and equity hedge funds stumbled. EQT Group closed a €21.5bn infra fund, while Pophouse Entertainment raised €1.2bn for music IP and Oakley Capital hit €4.5bn in six months. Software-focused Turn/River Capital secured $2.5bn, and secondary giants Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) and Pantheon brought in $11bn and $1.1bn. Strategic tie-ups – from Emirates NBD with BlackRock to Warburg Pincus LLC with Hassana – highlight a global push. We also saw the $6.1bn Celtics deal. Amid it all, BlackRock’s Larry Fink called to democratise private markets through tokenisation and new portfolio models.

Featured Articles:

• Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Federico Vettore highlights the rapid uptake of semi-liquid evergreen funds among European individual investors.Dechert LLP’s Marianna Tothova focuses on Europe’s evolving regulatory landscape, where ELTIFs and LTAFs are enabling greater retail access to private assets – tempered by conservative investor behaviour, liquidity constraints and compliance demands.

  S64’s Tarun Nagpal discusses the broader shift toward more flexible investment structures.

  VISTRA’s Matthew Podolsky examines the key drivers of retailisation and the operational complexities it presents from an administrator’s perspective.

In Letter from America, Prosek Partners’ Mark Kollar looks at Rule 506(c), and how relaxed verification rules could signal a more public-facing future for private fund marketing.

We wrap up with our regulatory review from RQC Group, which reviews the FCA’s multi-firm report on private market practices, its new five-year growth strategy, and enforcement action against Crispin Odey. In the US, RQC also covers the SEC’s updated Marketing Rule FAQs and the easing of verification burdens for Rule 506(c) offerings.