FE fundinfo's Maryam Longrus: Public and Private Market Comparisons Lost in Translation

Comparing apples with oranges

This article by Maryam Longrus, Head of Private Markets at FE fundinfo, was published in Investment Week in February 2026.

For much of the past 15 years, private markets have been on a stratospheric valuation journey.

What was once the preserve of large institutions and well-connected investors is now firmly on the radar of a far broader audience.
That shift is only accelerating. The inclusion of long-term asset funds (LTAFs) within Stocks and Shares ISAs from April 2026 marks a defining moment for privates, signalling a move away from being an adjunct to portfolios to becoming a core building block for many retail investors.

But while access is expanding, the challenges facing investors are far from resolved. As public and private markets converge, significant work is required to make many very different asset classes genuinely comparable, interpretable and scalable.

A blurred line, not a level playing field

The dividing line between public and private markets has historically been clear. Public markets are accessible, liquid and governed by well-established disclosure standards. Privates, meanwhile, offer the potential for long-term value creation and an illiquidity premium but with fewer formal requirements around transparency and reporting.

That distinction is now blurring. Growing investor demand for diversification is driving greater interest in private assets, with many seeking exposure to both markets as part of a single investment strategy.

One of the most persistent challenges investors face is the stark difference in reporting standards between public and private asset classes.

Public markets operate under strict, legally mandated disclosure regimes, with regular financial reporting, such as quarterly earnings and established information distribution channels. Private markets remain far more flexible in what they disclose, how often they report and how data is disseminated.

Similarly, as investors seek to understand the correlation of privates to public markets during portfolio construction, focus can be drawn away from manager selection in private markets.

While private markets maintain their own unique characteristics, it is important not to lose sight of diligence criteria such as a manager's track record within the given strategy and sector, even as the two asset classes come closer.

This imbalance creates friction. Investors are increasingly expected to assess private assets alongside public holdings but they are often forced to do so using fundamentally different data sets, metrics and assumptions.
Public and private markets speak different languages, offering an apples-for-oranges comparison.

Transparency moves up the agenda

Transparency has climbed rapidly up the industry's priority list. Heightened media scrutiny, combined with early regulatory moves around valuations and ESG disclosures, has brought long-standing opacity into sharper focus.

The Financial Conduct Authority's intention to regulate ESG ratings providers is one example of the broader direction of travel.

By 2025, it had become clear transparency challenges were not receding on their own. Instead, they were creating sustained complications for those trying to navigate a converging market landscape.

This is no longer an unsolvable problem. Aligning data across public and private markets is increasingly achievable but only if the industry is willing to invest in the right technology.

Comparable, structured and consistent data is essential if investors are to properly understand how private market exposure contributes to overall risk and return.

We can expect to see the emergence of greater standardisation in reporting frameworks, driven by data platforms, which have the potential to bridge the gap between public and private markets by translating disparate data points into a common analytical framework.

This needs to go deeper than the fund level. Secondary and co-investments are on the rise, which necessitate greater attention to the details of the underlying holdings. As fund level analytics increase, the transparency of portfolio holdings and exposures also needs to be strived towards.

Distinct asset class emerges

Convergence does not mean uniformity. In fact, the next phase of market evolution is likely to create a more clearly defined hybrid asset class, blending characteristics of both public and private markets while retaining its own risk and return dynamics.

We are already seeing this through the growth of semi-liquid structures, evergreen funds and blended public-private strategies. As these models mature, performance measurement, liquidity management and governance will come under increasing scrutiny.

The absence of uniform indicators in private markets has long been cited as a barrier, but this is becoming less of an excuse and more of a challenge that technology can overcome.

Data and transparency are fundamental to the next phase of private market development.

Democratising access to private assets without democratising understanding would be a mistake. Greater caution and greater clarity will be required.

As markets merge, investment decisions must be grounded in accurate, comparable information.