Stuart Haigh
Advisers should be testing how private markets managers select, value and structure their investments following ASIC’s latest private credit surveillance, according to Spire Capital, a research and fiduciary partner specialising in global private markets.
ASIC’s second review of the sector, released this week, covered 24 private credit funds with a combined $18 billion in assets and found that complex structures, opacity and deficient disclosure practices persist across parts of the market.
Stuart Haigh, partner and head of investments at Spire Capital, says the findings are a reminder that manager selection, governance and how exposure is structured matter as much as the asset class itself.
“Access to private markets is everywhere now, so the harder question is how to build a portfolio, and what matters for any investor is knowing what they own, how it’s valued and how liquidity works.
“When we access a semi-liquid fund, there are a range of factors we want to understand before anything else, and they are the same things I would encourage advisers to look at before recommending one.”
Haigh says, “advisers should understand how a manager values its assets and who checks those valuations. They should also look at the total cost of a client’s portfolio, including every layer of fees.
Semi-liquid funds don’t create liquidity, they manage it. The problems arise when monthly or quarterly liquidity is treated as a promise rather than a feature with conditions attached, and when the differences between funds are overlooked.
Haigh continued, “a fund that relies on a single exit, whether that is a cash buffer, new applications or one underlying manager, has nowhere else to turn if that source dries up.”
Advisers should also ask how selective a manager is, noting that the most important decision in private markets is often saying no. Spire Capital declined 97 to 99 per cent of the opportunities it screened in the two years to June 30, 2026.
Private markets have a place in a lot of client portfolios, and the time to understand how a fund’s liquidity works.