Navigating the Retail Frontier: Survey Insights on the Retailization of Alternative Assets

As private markets have grown, increased ability for retail investors to access diversification opportunities has become an industry focus. Although access to private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate has long been limited to institutional and ultra-high-net-worth investors, regulatory barriers to alternative assets are softening. At the same time, product innovation has produced a suite of vehicles capable of holding alternative and less liquid assets while offering retail investors more transparency, governance, and liquidity. 
 
To better understand the market's evolution towards retailization, the law firm Skadden designed a survey and retained Debtwire to interview 200 professionals from asset management firms. The full results of the survey will be revealed for the first time at this event, which will also serve as the public launch for the accompanying research report. As a preview: 

• An overwhelming 87% of industry respondents expect retailization to accelerate over the next 24 months, but they also cite challenges around workforce education, liquidity management, and valuation opacity. 
• With 85% of respondents agreeing that retailization will increase litigation exposure, and 87% of respondents citing fund managers as the most likely litigation target, the firms that treat governance as a competitive advantage, rather than a compliance burden, will be best positioned to convert this generational opportunity into durable market share.   

Please join ICI and partners in Skadden's litigation, investment management, enforcement, white collar and investigations, and ERISA practices for a panel discussion examining these exclusive survey findings and discuss the legal, regulatory, and operational implications of bringing alternative assets to the retail channel. 

This will be a hybrid event held in Skadden’s New York office and online. Upon registering for this event, you will be able to choose whether you will attend in person or virtually. 

If you are not in New York, we encourage you to attend online; the online format will be a 1-hour webinar that begins at 4 p.m. ET. If you choose to attend in person, the event will open with registration at 3:30 p.m. ET, followed by the panel discussion that will run from 4 to 5 p.m. ET, and a cocktail reception from 5 to 7 p.m. ET. 

Speakers