What financial advisors are prioritising and what it means for brand builders & capital raisers in the private markets
Blackstone’s latest Advisor Pulse – Winter 2025 reflects the views of financial professionals across the US, EMEA and APAC who participated in programming between November 2025 and January 2026, with an average of approximately 180 respondents per question.
For private market brand builders and capital raisers, this is practical distribution context. The wealth channel is evolving quickly, and positioning must evolve with it.
1. Elevated Equity Valuations and Volatility Are in Focus
The report opens with a focus on elevated equity valuations and volatility.
This establishes the context in which allocation decisions are being evaluated. Advisors are explicitly situating portfolio decisions against public market conditions.
For private market fundraising teams, this matters because portfolio framing becomes central. When advisors are assessing valuation levels and volatility, alternatives are evaluated within that broader allocation conversation rather than in isolation.
2. Long-Term Capital Appreciation and Diversification Remain Core Objectives
The survey shows that clients are seeking long-term capital appreciation and enhanced diversification.
This reinforces two structural themes relevant to private markets:
Advisors are anchored in long-duration objectives.
Diversification remains a primary client mandate.
For brand builders, this underscores the importance of articulating portfolio role. Strategies positioned purely around performance metrics may miss the way advisors are framing client outcomes. Materials that connect private market exposure to long-term capital growth and diversification objectives align more directly with advisor priorities reflected in the report.
3. Advisors Expect to Increase Private Market Allocations
One of the most consequential findings is that surveyed advisors expect private market allocations to increase more than other asset classes this year.
For capital raising teams, this is a distribution data point. Advisors are planning incremental exposure to private markets within portfolios.
Operationally, this supports:
Continued investment in wealth channel coverage
Development of advisor education content
Product structures designed for retail accessibility
Reporting frameworks suited to advisor expectations
This finding shifts private markets from a peripheral allocation to an expanding sleeve within advisor-managed portfolios.
Always Be Fundraising: Private Wealth
Always Be Fundraising: Private Wealth explores how private fund managers are adapting their products, narratives, and fundraising strategies to meet the needs of advisors and private wealth clients, without losing institutional discipline.
In this mini-course, we examine the evolution of private markets offerings for private wealth, the factors driving increased adoption, and the implications for fundraising teams as semi-liquid and evergreen structures become more prevalent.
Taken together, the Winter 2025 Advisor Pulse outlines a coherent wealth-channel environment:
Public market conditions are part of the allocation discussion.
Clients remain focused on long-term growth and diversification.
Advisors anticipate increasing exposure to private markets.
Private real estate is viewed favorably within that allocation shift.
For brand builders and capital raisers, the relevance lies in alignment.
Messaging, product positioning and educational resources should reflect how advisors are framing portfolio decisions. Firms that align materials with these documented priorities are better positioned to convert advisor interest into committed capital.