Demand for private markets is on the rise in the wealth industry. While many private banks are acting as a fund distributor, the role of fund manager has significant relative advantages in the asset class, Indosuez Wealth Management’s Su Qian told Global Private Banker.
Private markets are on the rise in the wealth management industry with individual investors accounting for around one-fifth of assets under management and this figure is forecasted to reach 37% within five years, according to a 2025 Morgan Stanley report.
While interest continues to grow, investors are gaining exposure to this asset class through varying approaches. One common method is to invest through funds being distributed by private banks. In an exclusive interview with Su Qian, Indosuez Wealth Management’s Asia head of investment management, there are certain disadvantages in such an arrangement.
“When you are acting as a distributor, you don’t have very transparent details and there will be a delay in communication,” Su said.
Tiera Capital
At Indosuez, it has a relatively unique approach to accessing private markets through Tiera Capital, the French private bank’s dedicated in-house brand for the asset class. Tiera has 25 years of track record and more than 60 professionals managing or advising on over EUR 11 billion (USD 12.8 billion) in assets. Through this internal capability, Indosuez conducts due diligence on individual deals or funds and manages portfolios by structuring solutions across primaries, secondaries, co-investments, and semi-liquids.
“Our offering is quite unique compared to the rest of the industry because we act as a fund manager rather than a fund distributor for private markets,” Su explained.
“If there is any major event, we can simply reach out to our internal colleagues and get information to determine what is market noise and what is reality. When you are acting as a distributor, you don’t have very transparent details and there will be a delay in communication. In-house investment management is in our DNA, whether it is Tiera Capital for private markets or Degroof Petercam Asset Management for public markets.”
Default rates still manageable
In late 2025, there were some concerns from private credit investors due to several high-profiled defaults, most notably by First Brands Group and Tricolor in the auto sector. These risks are once again appearing in headlines with a Fitch Ratings report citing a trailing 12-month US private credit default rate of 6.1% at the end of July 2026 – a record high maintained since April 2026.
Nonetheless, Su believes this is still a manageable risk, especially when compared to the overall market size.
“While there have been some media headlines about default concerns, we believe this is just market noise,” she noted.
“Of course, we are seeing some defaults occurring but they are very sector and company-specific. We should not generalize across the broader private markets. Moreover, securities-backed lending within US private markets is just around USD 1 trillion. Compared to the size of the overall US financial market, at around USD 240 trillion, this is unlikely to trigger systematic risks.”
