Aside from specific VC and PE funds, we must also consider what a more generalist equity asset manager will be seeking in terms of returns from private markets.

Private retail investors often access private markets, not through investing in private market funds or investment vehicles directly, but rather by investing with an asset manager who will select a number of different private market investments.

In these circumstances, there are additional factors to consider, which will help drive the retail investors' returns, which are based on the ability of the asset manager to select the optimal investment managers of the underlying funds.

That is, the people who will be making the underlying asset investment decisions.

The asset manager will earn their fee by selecting investment funds which can deliver attractive returns.

There is lots of criteria that can be used for this process, such as management experience and track record of fund performance.

It can also be the asset manager's role to weight the portfolio into growth areas with the highest return opportunities.

When doing this, they will also need to quantify the level of risk that the underlying investor is taking by focusing on these areas. The level of risk must be appropriate for the risk profile of the investor.

The benefit of using an asset manager is that the individual investor should get exposure to multiple investment funds, each with specific investment targets and returns and areas or sectors of expertise.

This should mitigate risk as well as enhance returns.