As a UK individual you can invest in private equity through listed private equity investment trusts, Long-Term Asset Funds (LTAFs), venture capital trusts (VCTs), EIS funds, private equity funds and platforms, or direct deals through syndicates and investor clubs. Which one fits depends on how much you invest, whether you qualify as a high net worth or sophisticated investor, and how long you can leave the money tied up.
I’ve invested in over 100 businesses and funded more than 750 others with over £1bn, so I’ve looked at private deals as an investor, as a lender and as the founder raising the money.
Key points
- Listed private equity investment trusts are open to everyone, can sit in an ISA or SIPP, and can be bought for the price of one share.
- Unlisted funds, syndicates and direct deals are mostly open only to certified high net worth or self-certified sophisticated investors.
- Each route trades off the minimum, how easily you can sell, the fees and how much say you have over what you back.
- Private equity is valued and sold far less often than listed shares, so money can be tied up for 5 to 10 years or more.
Risk warning: Investing in private companies puts your capital at risk. These investments are illiquid and you could lose all the money you invest. This article is general information, not financial advice.
Can an Individual Invest in Private Equity in the UK?
Yes. Some routes are open to anyone with a brokerage account, and others are open only to investors who meet a legal test of wealth or experience.
Private equity means shares in companies that aren’t listed on a stock exchange. Because these shares are hard to value and hard to sell, UK law limits who can be sent promotions for them. A firm promoting an unlisted investment either has to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or rely on an exemption for investors judged able to take the risk. That exemption is what decides most of your access.
The Investor Categories That Decide Your Access
| Category | How you qualify | What opens up |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday (retail) investor | The default for everyone | Listed trusts and VCTs. LTAFs and equity crowdfunding, after risk warnings and an appropriateness test |
| Certified high net worth | Income of £100,000 or more in the last financial year, or net assets of £250,000 or more throughout that year, not counting your main home or pension | Unlisted deals, private equity funds, syndicates |
| Self-certified sophisticated | For example, more than one investment in an unlisted company in the last 2 years, membership of a business angel network for at least 6 months, or being a director of a company with turnover of at least £1m | Unlisted deals, private equity funds, syndicates |
| Professional client | Assessed by the firm, usually on experience and the size of your portfolio | Institutional-style funds |
The high net worth test is set out in article 48 of the Financial Promotion Order. You confirm you meet it by signing a statement, and that statement lasts 12 months.
The sophisticated investor tests sit in article 50A of the same order. You only need to meet one of them.
You may see “accredited investor” in American guides. It’s a US term set by the SEC and has no legal meaning in the UK.
Ways to Invest in Private Equity in the UK
The routes differ on the minimum, who can use them, how easily you can get your money back out, what they charge and whether they fit inside a tax wrapper.
| Route | Typical minimum | Who can invest | Getting your money out | Main costs | Wrapper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listed PE investment trusts | One share | Everyone | Sold daily on the stock market, often below asset value | Ongoing charges, dealing costs | ISA, SIPP |
| LTAFs | Set by the platform | Retail, after an appropriateness test | Usually quarterly, with 90 days’ notice or more | Fund charges | ISA (from April 2026), SIPP |
| VCTs | Set by each VCT | Everyone | Hard to sell; held 5 years to keep the tax relief | Initial and annual fees | Its own tax relief |
| EIS funds | Often £10,000 or more | Usually high net worth, sophisticated or advised | Tied up until each company exits | Fund fees | Its own tax relief |
| PE funds and platforms | £10,000 (evergreen) to millions (drawdown) | High net worth, sophisticated or professional | Evergreen: limited windows. Drawdown: 10 years or more | Around 2% a year plus 20% of profits over a hurdle | Some through a SIPP |
| Syndicates and investor clubs | Often £25,000 per deal | High net worth or sophisticated | Tied up until the company is sold, often 3 to 5 years or more | Arrangement fees, sometimes a share of profits | None, unless the company qualifies for EIS |
Listed Private Equity Investment Trusts
An investment trust is a company listed on the London Stock Exchange whose business is investing. A private equity trust uses the money its shareholders put in to buy stakes in unlisted companies, either directly or through private equity funds. You buy and sell its shares like any other listed share, so this is the only route with no minimum beyond the price of a share. You can hold them in an ISA or a SIPP.
The share price can differ from the value of the trust’s holdings. The value of what the trust owns, per share, is its net asset value (NAV). The shares often trade below it, called trading at a discount. A discount means you buy £1 of private companies for less than £1, and it also means you may have to sell below NAV when you want out.
The Association of Investment Companies groups these trusts into a private equity sector, where you can compare their holdings, charges and current discounts.
Long-Term Asset Funds
The FCA created the LTAF in 2021 so that ordinary investors and pension schemes could hold illiquid assets such as private equity, private debt and infrastructure inside a regulated, open-ended fund. LTAFs have been available in some SIPPs since 2025 and became eligible for stocks and shares ISAs from April 2026.
They’re classed as a restricted mass market investment. Before you can buy, the platform shows you risk warnings, asks you to confirm which type of investor you are, and checks you understand the product.
The trade-off is getting your money out. LTAFs deal far less often than ordinary funds: redemptions are usually quarterly, with a notice period of at least 90 days, and many LTAFs can limit how much they pay out in any one window. If a lot of investors ask for their money back at once, you may get only part of yours each quarter.
Venture Capital Trusts
A VCT is a listed company that invests in small, unlisted UK businesses, usually at an earlier stage than a typical private equity trust. Anyone can invest. Investors get income tax relief, which fell from 30% to 20% from April 2026, as long as they hold the shares for 5 years.
VCTs are listed, but the market in their shares is thin, and most investors sell back to the VCT itself through a share buyback, usually at a discount to NAV.
EIS Funds
An EIS fund is run by a manager who picks a portfolio of companies that qualify for the Enterprise Investment Scheme and invests your money across them. The shares are held in your name, so the tax reliefs on each company come to you, with their own conditions on holding periods and the companies that qualify.
These companies are small and early, and the money stays in until each one is sold. Many EIS funds set a minimum of £10,000 or more and are aimed at high net worth, sophisticated or advised investors.
Private Equity Funds and Platforms
A traditional private equity fund is a drawdown fund. You commit an amount up front, the manager calls it in over the first few years as it finds deals, and the fund runs for 10 years or more before the last companies are sold. Minimums for investing directly are often in the millions.
Evergreen funds have no fixed end date. They take new money in and pay some out at set dealing dates, with limits on how much can leave in each window. Feeder platforms pool many smaller investors into one commitment to a large fund, which brings the minimum down to around £10,000 on some platforms.
Fees in either structure usually follow the same model: around 2% a year for management plus around 20% of profits once returns pass a set level, called the hurdle. That share of profits is known as carried interest.
Direct Deals Through Syndicates and Investor Clubs
Here you back one company at a time and choose each one. A syndicate is a group of investors who invest together on the same terms, usually behind a lead investor who finds the deal and does the checking.
Investors can put money straight into the company. Or, where the minimum ticket is high or the founder wants one name on the share register instead of dozens, everyone’s money goes into a company set up just for that deal, known as a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which then invests as a single shareholder.
Off Market is my private investor club. I source each deal, carry out the due diligence, negotiate the terms and put my own money into every one, then members choose whether to invest alongside me. The typical minimum is £25,000 per deal. Capital at risk: these investments are illiquid and you could lose all the money you invest.
The trade-off with any direct deal is concentration. A fund spreads your money across many companies. A single deal puts it all on one, and if that business fails, the money is gone.
Equity crowdfunding is another way to back individual companies, with minimums low enough for retail investors.
How Much Money You Need to Invest in Private Equity
Each route has its own typical minimum, so the amount you have narrows the choice before your investor category does.
- Under £1,000: listed private equity investment trusts, and some VCTs.
- Around £10,000: evergreen private equity funds through platforms, and many EIS funds.
- £25,000 or more per deal: syndicates and investor clubs.
- Millions: commitments directly into traditional drawdown funds.
Because single deals concentrate the risk, the amount per deal matters as much as the total. Someone putting £100,000 into direct deals at £25,000 each holds 4 companies, which is still a concentrated position. The same £100,000 in a fund or trust is spread across dozens or hundreds of companies.
What Private Equity Costs
Private equity charges more than a tracker fund, and the fees come out every year of a hold that can run for 5 to 10 years.
Say you put £50,000 into a fund charging 2% a year in management fees and 20% of profits once returns pass 8% a year, and over 5 years the fund turns your £50,000 into £100,000 before fees.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Value before fees | £100,000 |
| Management fees (2% of £50,000 for 5 years) | −£5,000 |
| Profit after management fees | £45,000 |
| Carried interest (20% of £45,000) | −£9,000 |
| What you get back | £86,000 |
The fund made £50,000 of profit and you keep £36,000 of it. Fees took £14,000. The return still clears the 8% hurdle, so the manager is paid its full share. This assumes the common structure where the manager catches up to 20% of all profits once the hurdle is passed.
A listed trust charges less in most cases, but the discount adds a different effect. Say a trust’s NAV is £10 a share and you buy at a 25% discount, paying £7.50. Over the next few years the NAV rises 20% to £12.
| What happens to the discount | Share price | Your return |
|---|---|---|
| Stays at 25% | £9.00 | +20% |
| Narrows to 10% | £10.80 | +44% |
| Widens to 40% | £7.20 | −4% |
The companies inside the trust did the same in all 3 cases. Only the discount changed.
The Risks of Investing in Private Equity
Your money is tied up. A drawdown fund runs for 10 years or more. An LTAF pays out at set dates and can limit how much leaves. A direct deal pays out only when the company is sold or someone buys your shares.
The value you see is out of date. Private companies are valued quarterly or yearly, so the figure on your statement can lag what the business is worth now, in either direction.
Trust discounts move. A discount can widen just when you need to sell, as the example above shows.
Single companies fail. In a direct deal or a small portfolio, one failure can be a large share of your money, and you can lose all of what you put into that company.
Fees compound. Annual fees on a long hold come out every year, whether or not the fund performs that year.
Capital calls. In a drawdown fund you commit money you haven’t paid yet, and you have to have it ready when the manager calls it.
No compensation for losses. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme can protect you if an authorised firm fails, but it doesn’t cover an investment that loses value.
Which Route Suits Which Investor
| If you… | Look at |
|---|---|
| Have under £10,000, or may need to sell at short notice | Listed private equity investment trusts |
| Want private assets inside an ISA or SIPP and can wait to get money out | LTAFs |
| Pay UK income tax and accept small-company risk | VCTs or EIS funds |
| Qualify as high net worth or sophisticated and want a manager to choose the companies | Private equity funds and platforms |
| Qualify as high net worth or sophisticated, have £25,000 or more per deal and want to choose each company | Syndicates and investor clubs |
How to Start Investing in Private Equity
- Work out how much you can leave untouched for 5 to 10 years. Money you may need sooner suits a listed trust, which you can sell on any trading day.
- Check which investor category you fall into. It decides whether unlisted funds and direct deals are open to you.
- Choose the route from the tables above.
- Compare total costs and exit terms, not only the headline fee: dealing dates, notice periods, limits on withdrawals and how carried interest is worked out.
- Read the documents. For a direct deal, that’s the investment memorandum, the full case for the investment, with the business, the numbers, the terms and the risks. When I read one as a lender I look at the security and how the money gets repaid, as an investor at the valuation and the exit, and as an operator at whether the founder can deliver the plan.
- Size each position so that losing all of one investment doesn’t change your plans.
FAQs
Can a normal person invest in private equity?
Yes. Anyone can buy shares in a listed private equity investment trust or a VCT through a normal investment account, and since April 2026 LTAFs can be held in a stocks and shares ISA. Unlisted funds, syndicates and direct deals are mostly open only to certified high net worth or self-certified sophisticated investors.
Can I hold private equity in an ISA or SIPP?
Yes, through listed private equity investment trusts, which can go in both, and through LTAFs, which some SIPPs offer and which became ISA-eligible from April 2026. Some SIPP providers also allow certain unlisted private equity funds. Direct stakes in private companies usually can’t go in an ISA.
Is private equity worth it for individual investors?
That depends on how long you can leave the money tied up and what you pay in fees. Private equity gives you access to companies you can’t buy on the stock market, but the money is illiquid, valuations lag, and fees take a larger share of returns than on listed funds. It suits money you won’t need for 5 to 10 years.
What is the difference between private equity and venture capital?
Venture capital is a type of private equity that backs young, fast-growing companies, often before they make a profit. Private equity more broadly buys into established, profitable businesses, sometimes taking control. The full comparison is in private equity vs venture capital.
What is PISCES?
PISCES, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System, is an FCA sandbox that lets shares in private companies trade on set dates through approved operators, including the London Stock Exchange and JP Jenkins. It’s open to institutional, high net worth, sophisticated and some other eligible investors, but not to general retail investors.
Next read
If you qualify as a high net worth or sophisticated investor and want to back individual companies, Off Market is my private investment club, where every deal is one I’ve sourced, checked and put my own money into. Capital at risk: these investments are illiquid and you could lose all the money you invest.
