Building an evergreen funds platform is no easy feat. Breaking through the $1 billion AUM barrier is even harder and represents a significant milestone for those with ambitions to grow their private wealth channel.
Evergreen funds provide a lower cost, flexible solution to private wealth investors looking to gain efficient access to private equity and other private market asset classes. And the wave of adoption is swelling, with individual AuM projected to soar from $2.7 billion to $9.3 trillion by 2028.
Moreover, as companies stay private for longer, the total size of the private markets industry is predicted to expand from $14 trillion today to $20-25 trillion by 2030, further fuelling the evergreen fund engine.
Last year, in a clear sign of how popular more accessible private equity strategies have become with both retail and institutional investors, the firm reached a key milestone when its NB Global Private Equity Access Fund exceeded $1 billion in AUM.
The firm also successfully launched its NB Private Equity Open Access Fund in June 2025 under the EU’s ELTIF 2.0 framework, as it seeks to broaden private equity participation for European retail investors.
Photo: Speaking at IPEM Wealth 2026, José Luis González Pastor, Managing Director at Neuberger Berman, regarded the ELTIF regulatory framework as a game changer by opening the retail wealth market to asset classes previously reserved for institutional investors.
Initial scepticism stemming from regulatory uncertainty stymied broader adoption under ELTIF 1.0 but clearer regulatory rules have helped catalyse the number of ELTIF 2.0 fund launches, which González Pastor expects will keep growing at a faster pace, absorbing part of the older cohort of ELTIF 1.0 closed-ended funds.
Complementary access
Neuberger’s view is that although traditional closed-ended funds will likely become a less dominant way to offer private equity exposure within wealth channels, it does not believe that evergreen structures will “change the landscape” of private markets – instead the real change will be in access and distribution.
Over the long term, closed-ended funds are expected to remain for mostly institutional investors, while Neuberger’s evergreen fund universe seeks to serve a mix of both wealth and institutional clients.
“There's a lot of discussion about whether evergreens can replace closed-ended funds. We don't think so at all. Closed-ended funds give certainty to managers that the money will be there whereas evergreen products give you the flexibility to deploy more capital. It’s complementary” said González Pastor during a panel discussion at IPEM Wealth 2026.
Alignment and transparency are key
While capital deployment and cash management are core pillars of a successful evergreen product, alignment and transparency are equally as important. In that regard, the firm has sought to adapt its technology infrastructure in order to deliver an individual client experience that closely mirrors that of public markets: for example, monthly reporting, monthly NAVs, fund transparency and fact sheets more akin to mutual funds.
At Neuberger, the firm has repurposed existing public markets infrastructure - such as equity and fixed‑income reporting or investor‑relations processes - and adapted it for private markets evergreen funds, thereby allowing it to avoid having to build a new platform from scratch.
Photo: Speakers discuss what the evergreen era will mean for the mutualisation of private markets.
In González Pastor’s view, firms that successfully adapt to this higher‑frequency, service‑intensive model will manage the jump from an institutional mindset to a wealth‑oriented one. Those that retain a purely institutional approach are likely to struggle.
Neuberger maintains a laser focus on alignment.
This is achieved by ensuring that at all times the same underlying investments that go into its closed-ended structures are also included in its evergreen funds. There should be no difference in asset quality or segregation of assets – this is a key criterion for institutional investors investing through these vehicles who expect to see the same companies represented.
Ultimately, it is about delivering a platform that gives institutional quality investments to individual investors.
Photo: Manuel Kalbreier joins a discussion about private markets distribution in Europe.
A clear liquidity philosophy
The quality of investor experience in an open-ended evergreen depends on how well matched liquidity is with the underlying assets in the portfolio. After all, these are products that must cater to monthly subscription and quarterly redemption cycles. Potential for liquidity access is a key feature of these products, unlike closed-ended funds where the investor commits to a series of capital calls over time.
To cater to this liquidity provision requires having the ability to draw upon a deep pool of well diversified investments (transactions, vintages) as part of an evergreen fund’s ongoing portfolio management, to ensure capital inflows and outflows are kept in sync. While the use of a cash buffer is a way to ease liquidity, the core mission should be to build a portfolio that offers “natural exit liquidity”.
Evergreens are, therefore, a good solution for individual clients to gain access to private market assets, without the cost and complexity associated with closed-end structures.
As Manuel Kalbreier, Head of Alternatives Specialists EMEA, Neuberger Berman, explained at IPEM Wealth, it is important to clearly communicate one’s liquidity philosophy, and explain to clients the circumstances in which the liquidity profile could differ, depending on the underlying asset(s):
“Is it a private debt asset that has, maybe, a natural maturity after three years or five years, or 18 months? Or is it a private equity investment that has a liquidity that could be in four, five or six years?” said Kalbreier.
Private Markets Academy
This point alone highlights how important investor education is when it comes to providing evergreen solutions.
Strong educational commitment and distributor support are central to Neuberger’s wealth channel strategy. To facilitate this, Neuberger has established its Private Markets Academy in numerous jurisdictions to “educate, elevate and empower”.
The Academy provides regular training sessions, webinars and structured educational programmes to arm distributors with the knowledge needed to explain private markets strategies to their end clients.
By supporting distribution partners, who after all sit between the fund manager and the end client, Neuberger ensures they are given the right content and the right tools needed to make this dual role feasible and friction-free.
For example, one aspect that distributors pay close attention to is how efficient the fee structure is. If it is too high, with several layers of fees, the risk is that performance deteriorates, as well as the client’s overall experience. This in turn can impact the distributor’s reputation.
To tackle this challenge, Neuberger pursues direct investments in its evergreens.
These include co-investments, which typically have no management fees or carried interest to the lead sponsor, and GP-led secondaries (via continuation vehicles) where the fees are significantly more modest compared with traditional primary or LP-secondary funds.
As the evergreen universe expands, Neuberger’s platform will continue to facilitate investor access and, as a result, enhance the private markets experience for both its institutional and wealth clients over the coming years.