Private market investing means putting money into companies, loans, property and infrastructure that aren’t traded on a stock exchange. In the UK, individuals can get in through listed investment trusts, Long-Term Asset Funds (LTAFs), specialist funds and platforms, and direct deals such as loan notes and syndicates. Most direct deals are open only to high net worth or sophisticated investors.
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 a borrower.
Key points
- Private markets cover 4 main asset classes: private equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure.
- Anyone can reach all 4 through listed investment trusts. Direct deals are mostly limited to certified high net worth or self-certified sophisticated investors.
- Private assets are valued rarely and are hard to sell, so money can be tied up for years.
- The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) doesn’t cover losses on any of them.
Risk warning: Private market investments put your capital at risk. They are illiquid and you could lose all the money you invest. This article is general information, not financial advice.
What Are Private Markets?
Private markets are where money changes hands for assets that aren’t listed on a stock exchange. The price is agreed between the buyer and the seller, or set by a fund manager’s valuation, rather than by trading on an exchange.
A family business selling a minority stake to an investor is a private market deal. So is a loan to a property developer to build 20 flats, a fund buying a solar farm, or a technology company raising money from investors before it lists on a stock exchange.
| Public markets | Private markets | |
|---|---|---|
| How you buy and sell | On an exchange, any trading day | Through the company, a fund or a platform, with limited or no resale |
| How often it’s valued | Continuously, while the market is open | Usually quarterly or yearly |
| What has to be disclosed | Listing rules and regular reports | What the deal documents and the law require |
| Who can invest | Anyone | Depends on the product. Many direct deals are for high net worth or sophisticated investors only |
| Typical minimum | One share | From one share (listed trusts) to £25,000 or more per direct deal |
| Protection against investment losses | None. The FSCS doesn’t cover them | None. The FSCS doesn’t cover them |
Types of Private Market Investment
Private Equity
What you own. Shares in companies that aren’t listed, from young businesses backed by venture capital to established companies bought out by private equity funds.
How you make money. Mostly when the company is sold or lists on a stock exchange, sometimes from dividends along the way.
How long your money is tied up. Often 5 to 10 years. Some investors sell early to other investors who buy existing stakes, known as the secondaries market, usually at a discount.
How a UK individual gets in. Listed private equity investment trusts, LTAFs, venture capital trusts (VCTs) and EIS funds, private equity funds and platforms, and direct deals through syndicates.
Private Credit and Private Debt
What you own. A loan to a company or a project, made outside the banking system. Private credit and private debt mean the same thing. The loan is often documented as a loan note, a written promise to repay with interest by a set date.
How you make money. Interest, usually at a fixed rate, with the money repaid at the end of the term. Direct secured loans often run for 12 to 24 months.
How long your money is tied up. Until the loan is repaid, which can be later than planned if the borrower runs into trouble. A secured lender can take the security, usually property, but selling it to get the money back can take months or longer, and it may sell for less than the loan.
How a UK individual gets in. Listed debt investment trusts, private credit funds and LTAFs, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, and direct loan notes or secured loans, often through a single-deal company.
UK rules limit what an everyday investor can be offered. Since 1 January 2021 the FCA has banned the mass-marketing of speculative illiquid securities to retail investors. That covers many mini-bonds and loan notes whose money is lent on to others or used to buy or develop property. They can only be promoted to investors the firm has checked are high net worth or sophisticated.
P2P loans and investment-based crowdfunding are classed as restricted mass market investments. An everyday investor has to confirm they won’t put more than 10% of their net assets into them, not counting their home or pension.
Private credit sits at the riskier end of fixed income investments, and the risks for fixed income investors in the UK apply to it with less liquidity on top.
Real Estate
What you own. Property, a share of a property development, or a loan secured against property. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are listed on a stock exchange, so they count as public markets, not private.
How you make money. Rent, a share of the profit when a development is sold, or interest on a property loan.
How long your money is tied up. A development loan usually runs until the units are sold or refinanced. A share in a development or a building lasts until the property is sold.
How a UK individual gets in. Listed property investment trusts, private property funds, property crowdfunding platforms, property debt such as development loans, and direct developments through a single-deal company.
Property overseas adds currency risk and a different legal system. In Dubai, prices and rents are in dirhams, which are pegged to the US dollar, so a sterling investor carries the dollar’s movements against the pound. In Indonesia, foreigners generally can’t hold freehold land directly, which shapes how investing in Bali property is structured. There’s more on the market in Dubai in investment opportunities in Dubai.
Infrastructure
What you own. A share of assets such as energy networks, solar and wind farms, toll roads and data centres.
How you make money. Long-term income from users or under contracts, often with payments linked to inflation.
How long your money is tied up. Infrastructure assets are held for decades. Funds that own them directly have long lives and limited windows for getting your money out.
How a UK individual gets in. Listed infrastructure and renewable energy investment trusts, and multi-asset LTAFs that hold infrastructure alongside other private assets. Direct infrastructure deals for individuals are rare.
How to Invest in Private Markets in the UK
The vehicle decides which asset classes you can reach, who can use it, the minimum and how easily you can get your money out.
| Vehicle | Asset classes you can reach | Who can invest | Typical minimum | Getting your money out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listed investment trusts | Equity, credit, property, infrastructure | Everyone | One share | Sold daily, often below asset value |
| LTAFs | Usually several in one fund | Retail, after an appropriateness test | Set by the platform | Usually quarterly, with notice and possible limits |
| Private funds and platforms | Equity, credit, property | High net worth, sophisticated or professional | Often £10,000 or more | Limited, or none until the fund ends |
| P2P and crowdfunding platforms | Credit, property, equity | Everyone, within the 10% limit for everyday investors | Often under £1,000 | Limited. Some platforms run a resale market |
| Direct deals through SPVs and syndicates | Equity, credit, property | High net worth or sophisticated | Often £25,000 per deal | None until a sale or repayment |
The Association of Investment Companies groups listed trusts by sector, including debt, property and infrastructure, so you can compare charges and discounts in one place. LTAFs became eligible for stocks and shares ISAs from April 2026.
Investing Through an SPV or Syndicate
A special purpose vehicle (SPV) is a company set up to make one investment. Investors put their money into the SPV, and the SPV buys the shares, makes the loan or funds the property. Each investor then holds shares or notes in the SPV, in proportion to what they put in.
SPVs exist because founders and borrowers want to deal with one counterparty instead of dozens, and because a high minimum ticket can be met by pooling smaller amounts. A syndicate is the group of investors behind it, usually led by someone who finds the deal, does the checking and agrees the terms.
What you receive is the deal documents, such as the investment memorandum and the SPV’s own terms, and regular reports on how the investment is doing. Money comes back as interest and repayment on a loan, or your share of the proceeds when the company or property is sold.
Before you invest, check who controls the SPV and its bank account, what it charges and when, and what happens if the borrower defaults or the company fails.
Off Market is my co-investment club. I source each deal, carry out the due diligence and put my own money into every one, across equity in private companies, loan notes and secured lending, and property in the UK, Dubai and Bali. Members invest alongside me directly or through an SPV. Capital at risk: these investments are illiquid and you could lose all the money you invest.
Who Can Invest in Private Markets in the UK
Anyone can buy shares in a listed investment trust. LTAFs, P2P lending and investment-based crowdfunding are open to everyday investors after risk warnings and an appropriateness test, and P2P and crowdfunding carry the 10% limit on net assets.
Most direct deals, private funds and loan notes can only be promoted to certified high net worth investors, with income of £100,000 or more or net assets of £250,000 or more, or to self-certified sophisticated investors who meet a test of investing or business experience.
Why Invest in Private Markets
The case for investing in private markets rests on access and income. Some companies raise large rounds privately and list late or never, so the stock market doesn’t offer them. Private credit pays interest that is agreed up front. Property and infrastructure can produce income that is linked to inflation.
Against that, private assets look steadier than shares partly because they’re valued less often, not only because they’re less risky. Fees are higher than on a tracker fund. Money is tied up for years. And results vary widely from one manager or deal to the next, so what you get depends heavily on which one you pick.
What Private Credit Costs
Say you put £25,000 into a 12-month secured loan note paying 10% a year, through a platform that charges investors 1% a year.
| Repaid on time | 12 months late, interest keeps running | 12 months late, no further interest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interest | £2,500 | £5,000 | £2,500 |
| Platform fee | −£250 | −£500 | −£500 |
| Net return | £2,250 | £4,500 | £2,000 |
| Time your money was tied up | 12 months | 24 months | 24 months |
| Net return a year | 9% | 9% | 4% |
On time, you keep £2,250 on £25,000. If the borrower repays a year late and the terms keep interest running, the yearly return holds, but your money is tied up twice as long. If the terms stop interest at the original end date and the fee keeps running, the same loan returns 4% a year.
A private credit fund spreads the money across many loans, which reduces the damage one late loan does. Its fees, often around 1% to 2% a year, come out of the fund’s returns before you see them.
The Risks of Private Market Investing
Your money is tied up. Direct deals pay out only on repayment or a sale. Funds that hold private assets pay out at set dates and can limit how much leaves at each one.
Valuations are estimates. Private assets are valued by models and updated quarterly or yearly. The FCA’s review of private market valuation practices looked at how firms value these assets and where conflicts of interest can affect the numbers.
Security can fail. A loan secured on property can still lose money if the property sells for less than the debt, and recovering through the security can take a long time.
Single deals concentrate the risk. One failed company or unpaid loan can be a large part of a small portfolio.
Overseas assets add currency and legal risk.
Unregulated schemes and fraud. Check that any firm promoting an investment is on the FCA Register, and check the FCA’s warning list for firms that aren’t.
No compensation for investment losses. The FSCS can protect you if an authorised firm fails, but not if an investment loses value.
Questions to Ask Before You Invest
When I lend, I ask what every funder asks: how much, what for, how it will be repaid, when, and what happens if it goes wrong, which means what security there is. The same questions work from the investor’s side of any private deal.
From the investor’s side, also check who controls the money once it leaves your account, what all the fees are, including any taken by the platform and the SPV, and how you get out, on what date, and what happens if that date passes.
FAQs
What are some examples of private market investments?
Shares in a company that isn’t listed, a loan note funding a property development, a stake in a solar farm, a share of a buy-to-let portfolio held in a private fund, and a P2P loan to a small business are all private market investments.
Is it smart to invest in private markets?
It depends on how long you can leave the money untouched and how much you know about the asset. Private markets give access to companies, loans and property the stock market doesn’t offer, but the money is illiquid, valuations are estimates and fees are higher. They suit money you won’t need for several years.
Can I hold private market investments in an ISA or SIPP?
Yes, in some forms. Listed investment trusts can go in both. LTAFs can go in many SIPPs and, from April 2026, in stocks and shares ISAs. P2P loans and some crowdfunding loans can go in an Innovative Finance ISA. Direct stakes held through an SPV usually can’t go in an ISA.
What is the difference between private markets and alternative investments?
Private markets are investments that aren’t traded on an exchange. Alternative investments is a wider term for anything outside ordinary shares, bonds and cash, including commodities, art, hedge funds and listed property. The wider category is covered in alternative investments.
How long is money tied up in private markets?
A direct secured loan often runs for 12 to 24 months. A private equity deal or fund can tie money up for 5 to 10 years or more. Listed investment trusts can be sold on any trading day, though often below the value of their assets.
Next read
If you qualify as a high net worth or sophisticated investor, Off Market is where you can invest alongside me in private companies, loans and property, in deals 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.
