Catenaa, Friday, October 02, 2026- Private investor participation in private markets has grown across all regions in 2026, playing a growing role in long-term wealth creation.
According to Barclays’ Private Market Annual Report 2026, 72% of high-net-worth investors surveyed said they already invest in private markets, up from 50% in 2025.
“This trend reflects the broad opportunity set across private markets and the increasingly pivotal role played by private companies in the wider economy,” the report said.
At a regional level, the Middle East had the highest proportion of current investors among survey respondents (78%), followed by Europe, which saw the largest increase in the proportion of respondents currently investing compared to last year (from 47% to 76%).
Three in five (60%) said they were planning to increase allocations to private markets in the future, down from 79% in 2025.
However, Barclays said a much higher proportion of this year’s respondents are current investors, which could suggest some have already converted their intentions into active private-market investment over the past year.
Younger generations are significantly more likely to increase allocations in the future (84% Millennials vs. 59% Gen X and 36% Baby Boomers).
Regionally, Africa-based LPs remain the most likely to plan an allocation increase (70%), but the difference across regions is no longer significant.
Moreover, the report finds that for those not currently invested, concerns about liquidity, the timing and size of distributions, and capital lock-ups (the period during which investors cannot liquidate their holdings) remain the most commonly cited barriers, cited by 53% of respondents.
The report added that these concerns are lower among current investors and so may be linked to a lack of knowledge and expertise, which is a barrier for nearly half of non-investors (47%, up from 29% in 2025).
“This could suggest that the challenge for prospective investors is not simply willingness to commit capital, but confidence in understanding how private markets work and the role they can play in a wider portfolio,” Barclays said.
Encouragingly, investors are not navigating these decisions alone. Around seven in ten respondents (69%) identify their wealth manager as a key source of information when considering private market investments, underlining the important role advisers can play in helping investors understand the characteristics, risks and opportunities associated with the asset class.
