ING built Europe's largest evergreen alternatives platform by treating private markets as "slow money" requiring human-centric design.

In a recent Alt Goes Mainstream The DNA podcast interview, Ken Wong—Partner and Head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure at EQT—makes the case that applying private equity operational playbooks to infrastructure assets in developed Asia generates equity-like returns in a market that remains dramatically underpenetrated relative to Western counterparts.

In a recent Alt Goes Mainstream's The DNA podcast series, Jean Salata—Chairperson of EQT Asia and founder of the former Baring Private Equity Asia—argues that Asian private markets offer superior risk-adjusted returns due to market inefficiency, underpenetration, and multi-decade growth tailwinds that developed markets can no longer match.

Private markets crossed a Rubicon in 2025—the year the industry's decades-long focus on institutional capital gave way to an all-out assault on retail investor wallets. What began as a trickle of wealth management products became a flood: retail capital in private markets surged at a nearly 60% CAGR over four years to reach approximately $360 billion in assets, with private equity vehicles alone expanding 56% in 2024.

Private markets found their liquidity release valve in 2025. With distributions frozen at post-crisis lows and $2.9 trillion in unsold assets choking the system, the secondary market exploded to over $200 billion in annual volume—transforming from a niche corner of private equity into essential infrastructure for the entire industry.

AI reshaped private markets in 2025—both as an investment thesis and an operating reality. The industry poured hundreds of billions into data center infrastructure while simultaneously racing to deploy AI tools across deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio operations. But the year also revealed that capital isn't the constraint—power is.

Private credit crossed $2 trillion in AUM in 2025, cementing its status as the dominant force in alternative investments. But the year also brought the asset class's first real stress test since the 2008 financial crisis—exposing cracks that had been papered over during 16 years of benign conditions.

Private markets emerged from a three-year fog in 2025—but into an environment of radical transformation rather than simple recovery. Global buyout dealmaking hit $2 trillion (+14% YoY), the third-most-active year on record. For the first time since 2015, distributions to LPs finally exceeded capital contributions. Yet underneath these headline numbers, the industry confronted existential questions about its business model, investor base, and relationship with regulators.

What's New Morgan Stanley Investment Management's 2026 Private Equity and Private Credit Outlooks signal a decisive inflection point for alternative investments, with M&A activity recovering from a three-decade low relative to GDP and private credit yields expected to remain elevated in the 8.0-8.5% range despite rate cuts. The reports highlight that PE-backed companies leveraging AI adoption are creating a widening performance gap, while scaled private credit platforms are p

What's New According to iCapital Chairman and CEO Lawrence Calcano in a recent episode of the Alts Pulse podcast , Asia has emerged as the firm's largest international market with $18 billion in assets under management, surpassing Europe ($12B), Canada ($7B+), and Latin America ($5B). The platform has opened new offices in Tokyo and Australia within the past year, signaling aggressive expansion as wealth channels worldwide accelerate adoption of alternative investments. Why I

KKR's High Grading: Outlook for 2026 report reveals that the global economy is entering a mature phase where "easy" productivity gains are largely priced in, prompting a strategic pivot to "High Grading." According to Henry H. McVey, Head of Global Macro & Asset Allocation at KKR, this approach advocates upgrading portfolios, capital structures, and counterparties to emphasize resilience and quality over pure market beta.

Mercer's inaugural "Private Markets in Motion" report reveals overwhelming optimism among private debt managers, with 80% expecting an increase in fund managers raising capital over the next three to five years and 87% anticipating growth in limited partner allocations to the asset class. The survey of 57 global firms managing over $2 trillion in assets finds wealth management clients will drive the fastest-growing inflows, as the democratization of private markets accelerate

In Apollo Global Management's 2026 APAC Outlook, Matt Michelini, Partner, details how Asia Pacific stands at an inflection point where structural strengths, demographic tailwinds, and industrial transformation are converging to create the world's most attractive investment environment—with the region driving roughly 60% of global GDP growth in 2025 while Asian banks controlling 80% of corporate lending increasingly turn to private capital partners to address balance sheet con

Robert Seminara, Partner and Head of Europe at Apollo Global Management, writes in the firm's 2026 EMEA Outlook that Europe stands at a fundamental inflection point defined not by a single macro cycle but by a comprehensive rewiring of the region's financial and industrial architecture—where partnership has re-emerged as the ultimate competitive advantage and private capital is becoming central to unlocking the next chapter of continental growth.

Apollo Global Management's 2026 Real Estate Outlook, penned by Scott Weiner, Partner and Global Head of Real Estate Credit, declares that commercial real estate has emerged from its post-rate-shock turbulence with renewed conviction, as capital markets reopen, valuations stabilize, and AI infrastructure buildout becomes a transformative growth engine—with Barclays estimating over $2.3 trillion already committed to data centers this year and another $3 trillion expected throug

According to Olivia Wassenaar, Partner and Head of Sustainability & Infrastructure at Apollo Global Management, the AI revolution is driving an unprecedented surge in power demand that traditional generation cannot match, creating what the firm's 2026 Infrastructure Outlook calls one of the most attractive opportunity sets in private markets as data centers' share of US electricity consumption is expected to double by 2030 and quadruple over the following decade.

What's New John Cortese, Partner and Co-Head of Corporate Credit at Apollo Global Management, argues in the firm's 2026 Credit Outlook that the technical backdrop defining credit markets has fundamentally shifted, as $1.5 trillion in announced hyperscaler capex and reviving M&A activity are flooding markets with new issuance—transforming what was a seller's market into one that rewards disciplined buyers with the broadest opportunity set in a decade. Why It Matters The conv

Apollo Global Management's 2026 Private Equity Outlook, authored by David Sambur and Matt Nord, Partners and Co-Heads of Equity, reveals that the biggest opportunities are emerging from market inefficiencies created by index crowding, capital stress, and neglected industrial assets—areas where disciplined buyers can exploit valuation gaps that passive investing has created.

Apollo Global Management's 2026 macroeconomic outlook from Chief Economist Torsten Slok warns that the US economy faces a near-term stagflationary environment—with growth softening due to trade frictions and tariffs while inflation remains stuck near 3%—before an AI-fueled reacceleration takes hold, creating a complex backdrop that Slok compares to the 1970s and requires investors to position for higher-for-longer interest rates.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management's 8th Annual Alternative Investments Outlook 2026 declares that private markets have become essential infrastructure for modern investing, with assets under management now exceeding USD 20 trillion globally.