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Private markets have been evolving at an incredible pace — and it’s been exciting to see the industry broadening the investor base. The next wave of growth will depend not only on expanding access, but on giving investors timely, transparent, and actionable insights to invest with confidence.
Private markets have historically operated at a different pace from public markets. Longer reporting cycles, less frequent valuations, and limited visibility were widely accepted because the underlying assets were inherently illiquid and investment horizons stretched over years, not days.
Today, that model is beginning to evolve. As private markets expand into wealth channels and semi-liquid fund structures gain traction, expectations around transparency are rising. Investors recognize these assets will never offer the public-market immediacy, but they do expect greater visibility, timelier reporting, and increased confidence in the information they receive.
Growth is raising expectations across the market
State Street’s fifth annual 2026 Private Markets Study, based on a global survey of 480 private markets participants, reflects the growing significance of this challenge. More than half of European respondents (53 percent) said reducing NAV production timelines is essential or very important for supporting the distribution of semi-liquid private market funds through wealth channels.
This signals a clear shift in client expectations. Individual investors are accustomed to receiving frequent, high-quality updates on portfolio performance, asset values, and investment activity. As a result, asset managers, administrators, and service providers are under growing pressure to improve transparency while operating within asset classes that remain inherently complex and often challenging to value.
What was once viewed as a back-office task is now central to the industry’s growth agenda. The ability to deliver more timely information to investors is increasingly a core part of the value proposition.
Balancing speed with accuracy at scale
The challenge is not simply producing information faster, but ensuring that information is reliable and trusted.
The survey highlights the scale of this challenge. In Europe, 70 percent of respondents identified valuation accuracy and anomaly detection as major barriers to shortening NAV production timelines. A further 65 percent cited difficulties in producing timely valuations at the individual asset level.
While speed is essential, there can be no compromise on data quality and accuracy.
That creates a difficult balancing act. Unlike listed securities, many private market assets lack continuously observable market prices, with valuations often dependent on a combination of financial data, comparable transactions, and expert judgment. As reporting cycles become more compressed, firms must enhance timeliness while maintaining the rigor, consistency, and controls that underpin investor trust.
Connectivity is critical
The findings also point to a deeper structural issue behind many of these challenges. Among European respondents, 58 percent reported operational or data gaps among service providers with concerns around data integrity — including accuracy, timeliness, and transparency — at the forefront.
Historically, private market ecosystems have been built around specialized providers, bespoke processes, and disconnected data environments. That approach worked well in a market dominated by institutional investors and longer reporting cycles.
As private markets continue to grow, the limitations of fragmented operating environments become more apparent. Managers, administrators, custodians, and other providers need to exchange larger volumes of information, while reporting requirements become more demanding. In this context, any delays or discrepancies can have a greater impact on investor confidence.
This is why connectivity is emerging as a key priority. Firms increasingly recognize that improving transparency is not about producing more information, but about creating connected environments where information can flow efficiently across the investment lifecycle — reducing duplication, improving consistency, and supporting better decisions.
Trust underpins sustainable growth
Private markets are not meant to replicate public markets. Investors recognize that underlying assets are different and that some degree of complexity is unavoidable.
However, investors do expect more visibility into those assets. The firms that succeed in the next phase of private markets growth will be those that can provide greater transparency and confidence, while recognizing the unique characteristics of private market assets. That requires faster information flows, stronger data quality, and more connected ecosystems across the private markets value chain.
Speed, transparency, and connectivity are central to building investor trust. As private markets continue to broaden their investor base, that trust will become one of the industry’s most valuable assets.
Explore State Street’s 2026 Private Markets Study for deeper insights into growth, distribution, and operational trends across private markets
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