Private markets can offer exciting opportunities for investors with a longer investment horizon who are looking for higher returns and lower volatility compared to traditional asset classes. Thanks to their low correlation to public markets, these investments can also provide a welcome source of diversification.

At Julius Baer, we have a broad spectrum of private markets investment opportunities: from single funds and funds of funds to impact programmes and bespoke mandates. So, whether you’re new to this asset class and looking for an accessible entry point, or an experienced private markets investor looking for co-investment opportunities, we have you covered.

How does it work?

At Julius Baer, one of the key responsibilities of our relationship managers is ensuring that their clients’ asset allocation is in line with their situation, risk profile, and goals. So, before your relationship manager discusses concrete private markets solutions with you, they will first determine whether the asset class would be a good fit. Among other things, this means getting an in-depth understanding of your investment horizon, your liquidity situation, your risk appetite, and your return expectations.

During this process, your relationship manager will likely bring one of our dedicated private markets specialists on board. This advisor will be your relationship manager’s key point of contact for everything relating to private markets, and will support them with everything from guidance on our private markets offering, portfolio construction, and cash-flow to post-investment support. Together, they will help you select and implement the private markets solution that best suits your needs.

The products and services offered depend on the domicile of the client and the legal entity of Julius Baer.

The term for a private markets fund of funds can often be ten to 12 years. However, the lifetimes of the single investments within that fund can be much shorter. For example, a private equity manager might invest in a company in year three and re-sell it in year five, resulting in a corresponding capital call and distribution from and to the funds’ investors.

There are three main ways to invest in private markets, and each comes with a different level of risk.

The first way is to invest in a portfolio of private market funds (fund of funds). This is the most diversified option and the risk of losing capital with this option is thus relatively low.

The second option is to invest in a single fund. Here, the risk of losing capital is higher.

The third option is to invest directly in private companies. As the least-diversified form of private markets investment, this option carries the highest level of risk.

However, the level of risk associated with all of these options can be mitigated through good due diligence and, in the case of funds, by investing with high-quality fund managers.

We receive and analyse quarterly reports from all funds on behalf of our clients. These reports closely track the evolution of funds in terms of cash flows, investments, valuations, and performance. In addition, we provide our clients with a dedicated consolidated quarterly report, giving them a single and comprehensive source of information about their private markets investments.

To invest successfully in private markets, capital must be deployed regularly and in a disciplined manner over multiple years. Investors should therefore not try to time the market. If anything, investing during or after market disruptions has supported superior performance in private markets.

At Julius Baer we understand that life can be unpredictable and that unforeseen situations sometimes arise. That’s why we have created a platform that makes it possible for our clients to dispose of their private markets assets: in the event that a client faces a cash bottleneck, we can place the investment on our auction platform, thus giving them the possibility to divest.

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