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VCs as Portfolio Curators: Democratizing Access to Private Markets
Over the past 20 years, capital flows have shifted dramatically from public markets to private markets. In 2000, there were just over half a trillion dollars in private capital. By the end of 2020, private markets had ballooned to more than $7.4 trillion in value.
Private markets have, for the most part, outperformed public market investments in recent years. As interest rates have remained low and growing companies have chosen to stay private longer, public markets simply haven’t been able to keep up with the wealth of opportunities available in private markets.
The result has been a record-setting decade of returns for anyone with access to private markets: VCs, investment firms, and accredited investors.
Retail Investors Are Locked Out of Private Markets
Retail investors have largely been locked out of the private market bonanza. In the US and elsewhere, they are prohibited by regulations from investing in most privately held assets. In cases where retail investors aren’t limited by law, their relatively small pools of capital — at the level of individuals — limits them from participating in private markets.
As a result, the flow of capital away from public markets and into private markets has…
