Precision Access and Purposeful Integration
BY NICK J. EVANS
CM Wealth ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF INVESTMENTSExposure is not a strategy. Return dispersion in private markets is extreme. At CM Wealth, we focus on manager selection, not just fund access, leveraging deep networks and rigorous diligence to uncover differentiated opportunities.
Private Capital is no longer exclusive. Private markets remain inefficient. The real challenge is accessing, identifying, and securing top-tier managers who can deliver meaningful results.
Integration with intent. Private capital strategies are incorporated only when they serve a defined role - whether for long-term growth or diversification - tailored to each client’s broader allocation strategy. Our objective is to be fee efficient and maximize return relative to risk.
Private capital has undergone a transformation. Twenty years ago, it was unique to invest in the space. It is now accessible to a much wider audience through retail platforms, feeder funds, and semi-liquid (evergreen) structures. This “democratization” has brought clear benefits: increased liquidity in private markets, more financing options for companies, and broader participation in innovation and economic growth.
But broader access comes with higher stakes. Private markets remain inefficient, and the dispersion of returns is extreme. The difference between top-quartile and median managers can be measured in hundreds of basis points annually. From 2000 to 2020, median private equity funds returned 13.6% IRR, compared to 21.1% for top quartile and just 7.5% for bottom quartile. 1 This difference compounds into significant wealth gaps over time. In this environment, access alone is not a strategy. Indiscriminate exposure can be detrimental.
CM Wealth has been investing in private capital for 25+ years. To this day, we believe the real advantage lies in identifying and securing relationships with managers who combine skill, discipline, and alignment with investor outcomes. This requires more than screening popular databases; it demands deep networks, proprietary sourcing, and rigorous due diligence.
Precision over Presence
Private capital should never be a portfolio construction afterthought or a marketing checkbox. It must serve a defined role within a portfolio – whether to drive long-term growth, enhance diversification, or capture structural trends. Our integration process begins with clarity: what is the client’s broader allocation strategy, and how does private capital complement it? From there, our philosophy rests on four pillars:
Intelligent sourcing through deep networks and proprietary relationships
Tactical allocation to strategies that complement client objectives
Purposeful integration within holistic portfolio construction
Fee and tax efficiency to optimize net return relative to risk
This translates into exposure that drives meaningful value. Whether it’s a niche growth equity manager in healthcare, a specialist in lower middle-market buyouts, or a credit fund targeting dislocated opportunities, it’s often capacity-constrained strategies unavailable through retail platforms.
Liquidity, Fees, and Lessons from History
History offers perspective. In the aftermath of the dot-com crash, investors sought downside protection and diversification beyond traditional stocks and bonds. Asset managers responded by packaging hedge fund-like strategies into funds with daily liquidity. Many underperformed, revealing the complexity of translating institutional strategies into regulated formats.
Today’s semi-liquid private equity vehicles echo that trend. While these structures can serve a purpose, alignment matters. A semi-liquid wrapper should only be paired with underlying investments that can reasonably support periodic liquidity. Otherwise, structural tension emerges. Funds must deploy capital when inflows occur and sell when outflows demand, which could result in buying when you should be selling, or vice versa. In stressed markets, this can lead to redemption gates or forced sales of high-quality assets, leaving remaining investors with less attractive holdings. Liquid sleeves (typically 5–25% of NAV) aim to mitigate this risk, but they often hold lower-returning assets, diluting overall performance.
By contrast, committed capital structures allow managers to be patient, deploying and harvesting when opportunities align with value. Historically, drawdown structures have earned an illiquidity premium. But outcomes hinge on manager skill, not illiquidity alone. In addition, top-returning private managers may not raise perpetual vehicles, and commitment minimums may exceed $5 million.
Equally critical is fee efficiency. Many offerings stack fees (management, performance, and platform) that quietly erode performance. The result is institutional-level gross returns but retail level net returns. At CM Wealth, we view fee efficiency as a source of alpha. Net returns ultimately define success. Through proprietary commingled vehicles and strategic partnerships, we seek to lower minimums, diversify exposure, and reduce costs - preserving more of the return for our clients.
The Future Belongs to the Selective
Investors now face a landscape crowded with products, structures, and promises, each carrying various trade-offs. Access has expanded, but outcomes still hinge on selection, fee discipline, and structure fit.
At CM Wealth, our commitment is clear: deliver meaningful exposure, always with client objectives at the center. Our role is to navigate complexity with clarity, ensuring every allocation serves a purpose and compounds toward long-term success. Private capital can be powerful when used with intent.
1 PitchBook.com through 2Q 2025, as of December 2025. Vintage 2000-2020 private equity, aggregated, global primary funds access point, all sizes. 2600+ fund data points.