January 7, 2026 - Investors pouring money into private credit and other alternatives are gravitating to specialist managers with long histories in these complex and often unfamiliar asset classes. This preference has helped drive a string of mergers and partnerships playing out between alternative specialists and diversified asset managers looking to establish a presence in the booming space.

Every year, Crisil Coalition Greenwich asks institutional investors to name the managers they are currently using in every asset class in their portfolios. As recently as 2021, diversified asset managers accounted for more than half the mentions in alternative asset classes. That changed as private markets began to grow, mature and take on a bigger position in institutional portfolios. Today, alternatives specialists account for more than 60% of citations.

“Investors want managers with long track records, experienced investment teams and proven capabilities,” says Global Co-Head of Investment Management at Crisil Coalition Greenwich Parijat Banerjee. “A strong historic presence in private markets is much more important than AUM, global reach, administrative and reporting capabilities, and other factors that large traditional asset managers have historically counted as strengths.”

Traditional managers have several reasons to partner with private market specialists. One factor is speed. Retail demand is surging fast, and managers understand that providers who quickly establish themselves on wealth management platforms and other retail investment channels will have a first-mover advantage. Often, firms can get to market much quicker by partnering with a private market specialist than by building a new offering internally.

“As speed to market with new products remains critical for traditional asset managers and retail distribution continues to be key for alternatives players, we believe such partnerships will endure, rather than managers trying to go it alone,” says Parijat Banerjee.

Alternatives Make Up More than Half of Asset Management Revenues
The rapid growth of private markets is forcing individual asset managers and the industry as a whole to reconsider some standard metrics used to measure business performance. While assets under management (AUM) is perhaps the most widely used indicator of market position and business performance, the rise of private markets is making AUM a much less relevant data point.

A new Crisil Coalition Greenwich report, Private markets see a rapidly evolving provider landscape, analyzes how the growth of private markets is affecting the evolution of the asset management industry. The report uses proprietary data to project future increases in demand for private assets, identify the criteria investors are using to select managers in private markets, and to break down the competitive landscape across traditional asset managers and private market specialists.