Historically dominated by pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth vehicles, private equity is now welcoming individual investors into its universe, often through new product structures tailored to smaller ticket sizes and periodic liquidity. While the opportunity is real, so are the risks. Retail investors are drawn by the promise of accessing high-growth private companies that are staying private longer and by the smoother volatility profile that private assets can offer. Buyout strategies are also increasingly viewed as a counterbalance to public equity concentration risks. However, industry experts caution that many retail-focused offerings can obscure the full cost of investment. Despite headline fees advertised as low as 1%, deeper layers of charges including overheads, legal expenses, and performance fees can push average lifetime costs to nearly 24%, according to Harvard research cited in the article. That translates to an annualised drag of nearly 8% on performance....
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